Transcript 12.1 Kush and Egypt

12.1 Kush and Egypt
Pages 310-314
The Big Idea: The kingdom of
Kush, in the region of Nubia,
was first conquered by Egypt
but later conquered and ruled
Egypt.
Main Idea 1: Geography
helped early Kush
civilization develop in Nubia.
• South of Egypt along the Nile,
Africans established Kush, the first
large kingdom in northeast Africa,
in the region we now call Nubia.
• Today, desert covers much of Nubia
– located in the present-day
country of Sudan.
• In ancient times Nubia was very
fertile due to the heavy rainfall that
flooded the Nile every year.
• Ancient Nubia was rich in valuable
minerals such as gold, copper, and
stone.
Early Civilization in Nubia
• Thanks to the Nile’s floods, farming
villages thrived all along the Nile by
about 3500 BC.
• Over time some farmers became
leaders of their villages.
• Sometime around 2000 BC one of
these leaders took control of other
villages and made himself king of
Kush.
Early Civilization in Nubia
• Early kings ruled from their capital at
Kerma, on the Nile just south of a
cataract, or stretch of rapids.
• The cataracts were natural barriers
against invaders.
• As time passed Kushite society became
more complex, with farmers, herders,
priests, and artisans.
Main Idea 2: Egypt
controlled Kush for about
450 years.
• Kushites traded many products to
Egypt, including slaves, gold, copper,
stone, ebony (a type of dark, heavy
wood) and ivory (a white material
taken from elephant tusks)
• Kush grew wealthy and its army grew
stronger. Egypt’s rulers were afraid
that a powerful Kush might attack
Egypt.
• The pharaoh Thutmose I attacked
Kush around 1500 BC and conquered
all of Nubia north of the Fifth Cataract.
He destroyed the Kushite palace.
• Kush remained an Egyptian territory
for about 450 years. Egypt’s influence
over Kush grew tremendously.
• When the New Kingdom in Egypt
ended in the mid-1000s BC, Kush once
again became independent.
Main Idea 3: After winning
its independence, Kush
ruled Egypt and set up a
new dynasty there.
Conquest of Egypt
• By about 850 BC Kush had regained its
strength.
• Kings of Kush ruled from the city of
Napata.
• In 751 BC a Kushite king named Kashta
attacked and conquered Upper Egypt.
• After Kashta died, his son Piankhi
ruled.
• By 716 Kush controlled all of Egypt.
Kushite Dynasty
• After the death of Piankhi his brother
named Shabaka declared himself
pharaoh, beginning the Kushite
Dynasty.
• Worked to restore old Egyptian cultural
practices, such as pyramid-building
• Preserved old Egyptian writings
• Egyptian culture flourished.
STATUE OF
SHABAKA
End of Kushite Rule in Egypt
• Kushites remained strong in Egypt for
about 40 years.
• In the 670s and 660s BC Assyrians
from Mesopotamia invaded and
pushed the Kushites from Egypt.
• The Assyrians iron weapons gave them
a military advantage over the Kushite’s
weaker weapons.