Sudan National Museum
The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge. Where is the Kingdom of Kush?
We use the adjective Kushite in an Egyptian context to refer to the Twenty-fifth dynasty and the term was also used in the Bible to refer to King Taharqa, a ruler of this dynasty.
However, ‘Kushite’ can also be used more widely to refer to the region to the South of Egypt. We also use the term of Kush for the Kingdom of Napta and then Meroe, which was from 850 BC to AD 300 and during this time rulers from Kush ruled Egypt for around 100 years, from 747-656 BC.
Kush is one of the names given to the country known today as Sudan. The name Kush first appeared during the Middle Kingdom, from around 2400 BC. This period was associated with a culture called ‘Kerma culture’, after the site of Kerma. However, before this time there were several names for the tribes of people who lived in this region. Ta Sety means the Land of the Bow and was used for the region from the modern city of Aswan to Edfu in Egypt. Ta Nehsy (the land of the Black people) was also used for this area. Wawat was a local name for the Nile Valley from Aswan to the second cataract; however, there is no meaning for this term in Ancient Egyptian.
The term Nubian also refers to this region, but appeared later in history than the aforementioned terms. The name Nubia appeared in the third century BC. Some researchers believe that is was connected to the Egyptian word ‘nb’ meaning gold, because the people of this region controlled gold mines. Others have suggested that the name is linked to the Nubai people, who came to the Nile Valley from Darfur and Kurdofan in the West of Sudan, and that the name Nubian connected to the Nuba Mountains.
11 - Nuri - Royal Pyramids of Napata
20 kings and 54 queens have their tombs at Nuri. Taharaqa’s pyramid, 51.75m square and possibly as much as 50m high, was the largest built in Sudan. To the North there are a group of funerary temples and over the northern pyramid group a layer of late period houses and a church was built. The first pyramid here was that of Taharqa (690-664BC) the 5th and penultimate king of the 25th Dynasty. This was built in two stages and had an interesting burial chamber. The inner core remained intact until the end of the 19th C. Tanwetamani returned to El Kurru for his burial but all subsequent kings apart from the 24th Napatan rulers were buried here, including the last prior to removal to Meroe King Nastasen in 308 BC. The kings pyramids were accompanied to the west by smaller pyramids associated with their primary Queens and smaller shaft burials related to their minor queens. They were all robbed in antiquity. The area to the north of N1 had Christian houses built over it and a church was found (Building 100) to the West of Taharqa’s pyramid that incorporated elements of column drums and offering tables into its walls and floor.
12 - Meroe - Capital of Meroitic Empire
The site comprises a urban centre by the Nile, a sun temple in the plain, two main areas of pyramid tombs. The eastern of which is divided into two areas (Northern and Southern Group). The entire intervening region is covered in cemeteries from the Meroitic to modern period. Meroe was the capital of the Kushite Empire from 3rd Century BC to the 4th Century AD. The pyramids are the burial places of kings of Kush starting with King Arakamaniqo (c.285-247 BC). Although traces of occupation of the area date to the reign of Piye in the Napatan period, and possibly the 12th Century BC. Lesser officials were buried from the 7th Century BC and so the city itself may have been founded this early. Its later history included a post meroitic period, as the cemeteries around the city continued in use through the 6th century and final a church was built to the north of the city, and early Christian burials were found near Jebel Ardeb.