Kush

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Kush was an African Empire that lasted from the 20th Egyptian Dynasty to the 16th Century B.C. Kush was next to Nubia, and bordered the Nile River for 750 miles. **//It’s capital was//** Napata, then **//Meroe.//** Kushites worshipped Amen-Re. Kush was successful because of the rulers and viceroys, and the huge structures. Kush had a huge deposit of gold. They discovered how to separate gold from other minerals. This made them very rich. Here is why Kush is famous.

The Kushite Viceroys were very famous, as well as the Kings of Kush. There are statues of the Setau, the great Kushite Viceroy, in both the temples of Faras and Tumbos. Ameneope and Hur are also two less famous viceroys. Document of these men have been found in other places, such as El-Derr. But by far the greatest Kushite was Piankhy the King. **Piankhy the King led the Kushite army and subdued all of Egypt.** **He ruled over Egypt** and made Kush a part of Egypt once more. Piankhy created adoption to replace marriage in peace, so instead of marrying the other king’s daughter to show peace one could merely adopt one of the other king’s family. Piankhy led the Egyptian army on many conquests, one being an attempt to conquer Assyria. But after he failed at this, his conquests reduced and he started to take better care of his empire.

The Empire of Kush was renowned throughout Africa for its temples. El-Derr was one such temple, a rock-cut structure built by Ramses I. It was a huge monument to the gods. Quasr Ibrim was a legendary stone castle. The viceroy Amenope had a state of himself in the castle’s center. Another statue filled temple was Faras. It was built by Hur. Amongst the statues is a prominent stone cut effigy of Setau. Gebel-el-Shams was a chapel. It was built to honor the distinguished viceroys of Kush. El-Kab was a temple in Egypt that was built by Kushites. El-Kab was also referred to as Nekhab. This place is famous for two statues at its door; the naked jackal headed “Souls of Nekhen”.

That is why Kush is famous. The leaders who conquered Egypt, the temple-builders, and the statue-builders are all apt titles for the Kushites. The Kushites effected the hisory of Nubia, Egypt, and most of the surrounding countries. Though they fell in to disarray in the 16th Century B.C., they certainly made their mark in history!



Bibliography: David, A. Rosalie. __The Egyptian Kingdom.__ New York City: Elsevier Publishing, 1975. Baines, John, Malek, Jaromir. __The Atlas of Ancient Egypt.__ New York City: Facts on File. 1980. Times, NY. "Lost Kingdom on the Nile". __New York Times Website__. 19/06/07, 1/09/12 <<[|www.NYTimes.com/2007/06/19/science/19Kush.html] >>