Wonderful Ethiopians of the Ancient Cushite Empire - Paperback

by Drusilla Dunjee Houston (Author)

This professional reprint of the classic book was re-mastered to include charts relating to the dynasties of ancient Egypt, Up to date pictures of Kushite artifacts from museums around the world, as well as a list of the most prominent Cushite/ Kushite Pharoahs. The Twenty-fifth Dynasty of Egypt, known as the Nubian Dynasty or the Kushite Empire, was the last dynasty of the Third Intermediate Period of Ancient Egypt. A map is included of their Nubian kingdom. The 25th dynasty was a line of rulers originating in the Nubian Kingdom of Kush and most saw Napata as their spiritual homeland. They reigned in part or all of Ancient Egypt from 760 BC to 656 BC. The dynasty began with Kashta's invasion of Upper Egypt and culminated in several years of unsuccessful war with the Mesopotamian based Assyrian Empire which was to result in the destruction of the Kushite Empire, the ejecting of the Nubians and conquest of Egypt by Assyria. The 25th's reunification of Lower Egypt, Upper Egypt, and also Kush (Nubia) created the largest Egyptian empire since the New Kingdom. They ushered in an age of renaissance by reaffirming Ancient Egyptian religious traditions, temples, and artistic forms, while introducing some unique aspects of Kushite culture. It was during the 25th dynasty that the Nile valley saw the first widespread construction of pyramids (many in modern Sudan) since the Middle Kingdom. After the Assyrian kings Sargon II and Sennacherib defeated attempts by the Nubian kings to gain a foothold in the Near East, their successors Esarhaddon and Ashurbanipal invaded Egypt and defeated and drove out the Nubians. They were succeeded by the Twenty-sixth dynasty of Egypt, initially a puppet dynasty installed by and vassals of the Assyrians, the last native dynasty to rule Egypt before the Persian conquest.