Kushite society was as spiritual, complex, glorious, productive, artistic and harmonious as Ancient Kemet (Egypt). Located in the Sudan and Northwest Ethiopia, the civilization lasted over thirteen hundred years, which was longer than Roman civilization. Kush’s major cities were Napata, its sacred spiritual center, and Meroe, the political and industrial capital. Along with Rome and Greece, Kush excelled during Mediterranean Europe’s Hellenic (800 – 323) and Hellenistic (323 – 30) ages, and through most of the Greco-Roman period (30 BCE – 476 CE).
Development of Kush
As Nubia to the south sought separation from Egypt and as Asian invasions of Northeast Alkebu-lan (Africa) increased, Egypt lost control of the Sudan. From 1000 BCE, Nubians began to build the independent state called Kush. The Kushites were part of Egypt for more than 500 years and had adopted Egyptian culture, but they eventually created their own identity. From 730 to 656, Kush invaded and controlled Egypt led by Pianki, the first pharaoh of Kemet’s 25th Dynasty. The succeeding Nubian rulers were Shabaka, Taharqa and Tanutamon. However, around 661, invading Assyrians drove Kush out of Lower Egypt. Even though Nubia still controlled Upper Egypt, the leaders decided to move their permanent headquarters south to the cities of Napata and Meroe.
Their decision to move was strategic for three reasons. First, the land in the Ethiopian region was rich in both hardwood timber and iron ore. Hardwood timber was the key ingredient for the chemical process needed to smelt iron, which separated the chemically infused iron from the rock. Kush produced a class of skilled iron workers to make tools, household products, jewelry and weapons. They learned from their experiences in Egypt that it was imperative to construct a high level iron industry featuring the production of strong and reliable defense weapons. As a result, Kush became the leading iron producing nation in the world. Second, rainfall was plentiful on the Ethiopian plains, which was excellent for farming and grazing animals. Third, the location made trading across the Red Sea with India and China easier.
Kushite Culture
Sometimes referred to as Meroites, Kushites developed their own language and writing system that replaced Egyptian language and Hieroglyphics. They created a type of alphabetic script around 653 BCE. It was not as sophisticated as the sign and symbol dominated Hieroglyphics, but it featured "23 characters or letters with 17 consonants, 4 vowels and 2 signs of the syllable". Even though Kushite writing was not as complicated to use as Hieroglyphics was, linguists today have been unable to decipher it.
Kush had fabulous artistic development in other areas, including improvement on mathematical systems, the creation of various types of sculptures as well as an extraordinary amount of engravings, drawings and paintings. The artists often depicted the representation of their God, Apedemek, as a human with the head of a lion. Kush’s artists created intricately crafted, finely painted luxury pottery for decoration and affect. In addition, they made beautifully designed architectural edifices, including some structures that resembled pyramids.
Kushite Political System
Similar to Egyptian society, the king was the most powerful leader in the land. However, unlike in Egypt, the people of Kush could remove the king if they felt the ruler was unjust, unfair, abusive, irresponsible or incapable. The Kushite kings had to use their mothers as their main political advisors. In Egypt, a woman may not have been the major advisor to the pharaoh, but the only way to become a pharaoh was to marry a woman of royal blood, and only women carried the royal blood line. Although the pharaoh’s position was traditionally a man’s role, in Kush both women and men became rulers.
The Kushite king appointed leaders to govern the localities, which paid taxes and other subsidies to the king. The local leaders, though, were very independent and made sure that the people in their regions lived well and had sufficient autonomy. Since the king allowed the localities a certain amount of independence, it helped to maintain the unity of the nation. Kush’s political system was much like America’s today in terms of the relationship between the states and the federal government. In other words, Kush’s localities had enough power to keep them satisfied.
Decline of Kush
Kush was never invaded. Greece, under Macedonia’s Alexander the Great, attempted to invade Kush in 332 BCE, but was unsuccessful. Roman Emperor Augustus tried to invade the Nubians in 23 BCE, but he also failed miserably. Instead of falling to invaders, the deterioration of Mediterranean trade and Axum’s rise in Eastern Ethiopia and dominance of trade across the Red Sea caused the decline of Kush around 300 CE. In addition, overuse of the land collapsed the agricultural industry. By 350, most people had left the cities and moved to different areas of the Sudan.
Sources:
Shillington, Kevin. History of Africa. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1995.
Williams, Chancellor. The Destruction of Black Civilization. Chicago: Third World Press, 1987.
