Kingdom of Kush

South of Egypt, along the Nile in what is now Sudan, the Kingdom of Kush grew into one of the great powers of the ancient world. For centuries Egyptian records described Kush as a rival and a source of gold, ivory and soldiers. Then, in the 8th century BCE, the relationship flipped.

Around 728 BCE the Kushite king Piye marched north and took control of Egypt. He and his successors ruled as Egypt's 25th Dynasty for close to a century, restoring temples and reviving old traditions, until Assyrian invasions pushed them back south. Kings such as Taharqa are named in records far beyond Africa.

Kush did not fade after Egypt. Its capital moved from Napata to Meroë, which became a major centre of iron-working and trade. The Kushites built pyramids at El-Kurru, Nuri and Meroë, around two hundred in all, which is more than Egypt. They also developed their own Meroitic script, one of the oldest writing systems in Africa, which scholars can read aloud but still do not fully understand.

Some of Kush's most famous rulers were women. The Kandakes ruled in their own right, and one of them, Amanirenas, led her armies against Rome in the 20s BCE. The war ended in a treaty with Augustus that favoured Kush. The kingdom declined in the 4th century CE as trade shifted and its neighbour Aksum grew stronger.