Who were the Nubian kings who ruled Egypt as pharaohs?
In the 8th century BC a kingdom from what is now Sudan took over Egypt, and then built pyramids of its own.
▶ Start the storyIn the 8th century BC an army from the south marched down the Nile and took over Egypt. They were not foreigners from across the sea but the Kushites, from a kingdom centred at Napata in what is now northern Sudan. Their kings, beginning with Kashta and Piye, founded Egypt's Twenty-fifth Dynasty, and they ruled as pharaohs for over a century.
After Egypt's power collapsed at the end of the Bronze Age, the Kushites rebuilt their own kingdom at Napata. They worshipped Egypt's god Amun yet their culture, language and ethnicity were distinct, and Egyptian art showed them with their own dress and appearance. When Piye invaded, Egypt was split into four kingdoms, and he recorded his victory on a stela in the Amun temple at Jebel Barkal.
after the Bronze Age collapse
Kushites re-found their kingdom at Napata
8th century BC
Kashta, then Piye, take over Egypt: the 25th Dynasty
mid-7th century BC
Assyrians dethrone the Kushite kings
The Kushite pharaohs were builders. They built or restored temples at Memphis, Karnak, Kawa and Jebel Barkal, and under them the Nile valley saw the first widespread pyramid building since the Middle Kingdom. Many of those pyramids stand in Sudan, where they are smaller and steeper than the ones near Cairo. Why the Kushites moved into Egypt when they did is still debated by scholars.
The Assyrians drove them out in the mid-7th century BC. But Kush did not end there: it persisted as a major regional power until the 4th century AD, with its capital eventually at Meroë.
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Recap
The kings of Kush conquered Egypt, ruled it for a century, and built their own steeper pyramids in Sudan.
💡 A trick to remember it · Kush sailed down the Nile to wear Egypt's crown, and built steeper pyramids of its own.
Surprising fact · Meroitic writing can be read aloud, but only a few words of the language are understood.
Sources (1)
No source, no claim. Every fact in this lesson (17 claims) cites at least one of these.