Chapter 12 – History of Ancient Kush

Section NotesKush and EgyptLater Kush

VideoImpact of Iron

ImagesKushite PyramidsAssyrian InvadersKushite Metalwork

Quick FactsChapter 12 Visual Summary

MapsAncient Kush, 2300 BC-AD 350Ancient KushAssessment Map: Ancient Kush

Close-upKush’s Trade NetworkRulers of Kush

Kush and Egypt

The Big Idea

The kingdom of Kush, in the region of Nubia, was first conquered by Egypt but later conquered and ruled Egypt.

Main Ideas

• Geography helped early Kush civilization develop in Nubia.

• Egypt controlled Kush for about 450 years.

• After winning its independence, Kush ruled Egypt and set up a new dynasty there.

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.

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 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 Napata.

• In 751 BC a Kushite king attacked and conquered Upper Egypt.

• By 716 Kush controlled all of Egypt.

Kushite Dynasty

• Kushite 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.

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.

Later Kush

The Big Idea

Although Kush developed an advanced civilization, it eventually declined.

Main Ideas

• Kush’s economy grew because of its iron industry and trade network.

• Some elements of Kushite society and culture were borrowed from other cultures while others were unique to Kush.

• The decline and defeat of Kush was caused by both internal and external factors.

Main Idea 1:Kush’s economy grew because of its

iron industry and trade network.

During this period, the economic center of Kush was Meroë, the new Kushite capital on the east bank of the Nile.

Meroë became the center of a large trade network, a system of people in different lands who trade goods back and forth. Kushites sent goods down the Nile to Egypt.

Kush’s exports, items sent to other regions for trade, included gold, pottery, iron tools, slaves, ivory, leopard skins, ostrich feathers, and elephants.

Kush’s imports, goods brought in from other regions, included jewelry and other luxury items.

From there, Egyptian and Greek merchants, or traders, carried goods to ports on the Mediterranean and Red seas and to southern Africa.

Main Idea 2:Some elements of Kushite society and

culture were borrowed from other cultures while others were unique to Kush.

Kushite Culture

• Egyptian influence– Buildings, gods, clothing, titles, pyramids

• Unique cultural elements – Daily life

– Houses

– Hunting prey

– Additional gods

– A written language, Meroitic, which has not been interpreted

Women in Kushite Society

• Some Kushite women rose to positions of authority, power or influence, especially religious authority. King Piankhi and later rulers made some princesses priestesses.

• Kushite women worked in the fields, raised children, cooked, performed other household tasks, and fought alongside the men during times of war.

• Some women served as co-rulers with their husbands or sons. A few, such as Queen Shanakhdakheto, even ruled the empire alone.

Main Idea 3:The decline and defeat of Kush was caused

by both internal and external factors.

Farmers allowed their cattle to overgraze the land, causing the soil to blow away.

Ironmakers probably used up the forests, decreasing production of weapons and trade goods.

Foreign merchants set up new trade routes bypassing Kush in favor of Aksum.

• The Kushite kingdom reached its height in the first century BC. Four centuries later, it collapsed due to internal and external factors.

Rise of Aksum

Aksum was located southeast of Kush on the Red Sea, in present-day Ethiopia and Eritrea.

Aksum’s trade, wealth, and power came at the expense of a weakened Kush.

In about AD 350 the army of Aksum’s King Ezana destroyed Meroë and took over the kingdom of Kush.

In the late 300s the rulers of Aksum became Christian and the last influences of Kush disappeared.

Click on the window to start video