Ethiopian language and history? You have a very strange view of the Sudan.
by
Alistair Boddy-Evans
Updated October 06, 2017
The Kingdom of Kush (or Cush) was a powerful ancient state that existed (twice) in what is now the northern part of
Sudan. The second Kingdom, which lasted from 1000 B.C. until 400 A.D., with its Egyptian-like pyramids, is the better known and studied of the two, but it was preceded by an earlier Kingdom that between 2000 and 1500 B.C. was an epicenter of trade and innovation.
Kerma: the First Kingdom of Kush
The first Kingdom of Kush, also known as Kerma, is one of if not the oldest African states outside of Egypt.
It developed around the
settlement of Kerma (just above the third cataract on the Nile, in Upper Nubia). Kerma arose around 2400 B.C. (during the Egyptian Old Kingdom), and had become the capital of the Kush Kingdom by 2000 B.C.
Kerma-Kush reached its zenith between 1750 and 1500 B.C.; a time known as Classical Kerma. Kush flourished most when Egypt was at its weakest, and the last 150 years of the Classical Kerma period overlap with a time of upheaval in Egypt known as the
Second Intermediate Period (1650 to 1500 B.C.). During this era, Kush had access to gold mines and traded extensively with its northern neighbors, generating significant wealth and power.
The resurgence of a united Egypt with the 18th Dynasty (1550 to 1295 B.C.) brought this bronze-age kingdom of Kush to an end.
New Kingdom Egypt (1550 to 1069 B.C.) established control as far south as the fourth cataract and created the post of Viceroy of Kush, governing Nubia as a separate region (in two parts: Wawat and Kush).
The Second Kingdom of Kush
Over time, Egyptian control over Nubia declined, and by the 11th century B.C., the Viceroys of Kush had become independent kings. During the Egyptian Third Intermediate Period a new Kushite kingdom emerged, and by 730 B.C., Kush had conquered Egypt right up to the shores of the Mediterranean.
The Kushite Pharoah Piye (reign: c. 752-722 B.C.) established the 25th Dynasty in Egypt.
Conquest and contact with Egypt had already shaped Kush culture, though. This second Kingdom of Kush erected pyramids, worshiped many Egyptian gods, and called its rulers Pharaohs, though the art and architecture of Kush retained distinctively Nubian characteristics. Due to this blend of difference and similarity, some have called Kushite rule in Egypt, the "Ethiopian Dynasty," but it was not to last. In 671 B.C. Egypt was invaded by the Assyrians, and by 654 B.C. they had driven the Kush back into Nubia.
Meroe
Kush remained safe behind the desolate landscape south of
Aswan, developing a separate language and variant architecture. It did, however, maintain the pharaonic tradition. Eventually, the capital was moved from Napata south to Meroe where a new 'Merotic' kingdom developed. By 100 A.D. it was in decline and was destroyed by Axum in 400 A.D.
Sources
If anything, I'm still puzzled by everyone's fascination with a defunct civilization. It's 2017, move on. I'm tired of seeing the symbolism everywhere. The obsession with Babylon and Egypt are sad. I'd be reluctant to claim Kerma, Punt or Azania.
What have humans been doing so long? Think about it. Nothing special. Even if native African groups lived in Egypt not much was going on. It was the same in Europe too. Don't people understand that knowledge doesn't exist in a vacuum and if you want to advance you must borrow from others.
@DeathWish citing studies from 1948. Ancient Egyptians had even less African ancestry than Egyptians alive today. Modern Egyptians are basically the same as the ancient Egyptians with the only difference being that the former posses more Sub Saharan ancestry due to the slave trade.
