ANC: Lesson - Kush: Egypt's Neighbor

Kush: Egypt's Neighbor

A Trade Partner and Sometimes Enemy

To the south of Egypt, the Kingdom of Kush emerged in an area we now know as Sudan. Usually, the Kush and the Egyptians were very friendly with each other. Kush was well-respected for its ironwork and porcelain, but the Egyptians really valued Kush’s gold mines, which Egyptians used in their art, religious figures, and sarcophagus (the stone box that holds a mummy). In fact, Egypt thought gold represented immortality. In return, Egypt provided Kush with linen and barley.

However, at one point the Egyptians took over Kush for 500 years. Kush adopted Egypt’s religion, writing, culture, and language. In fact, today there are more pyramids in Sudan than in Egypt! When Egypt’s dynasty collapsed, Kush saw their opportunity and took Egypt over. Oddly enough, they wanted to revive the old ways of Egypt. Eventually, Assyrians from Mesopotamia attacked and the Black Pharaohs of Kush fled home. They went back to their more traditional art, language, and writing. Kush, with its capital city of Meroë and under the rule of kandakes (queens), thrived for another six hundred years.

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