Kingdom of Kush (Meroitic period)

Kingdom of Kush (Meroitic period) was a state in Nubia and Sudan (North and West Africa) that lasted from c. 300 BCE to 350 CE, about 649 years. Its people spoke Nilo-Saharan languages (Kanuri, Songhai, Nubian, Luo, Maasai).

Kush ruled from Meroe, a centre of iron smelting with over 200 pyramids and its own Meroitic script. Its warrior queens, the kandakes, fought Rome. Aksum raided it around 350 as it broke apart.

See Kingdom of Kush (Meroitic period) on the interactive timeline

Facts

Dates

c. 300 BCE to 350 CE

Duration

649 years

Type

State

Region

Nubia and Sudan, North and West Africa

Language family

Nilo-Saharan

Capital

Meroe

Came from

• Kingdom of Kush (Napatan period) c. 785 to 300 BCE

Became

• Noba and the Ballana culture c. 350 to 550 CE

Events in North and West Africa during its time

• 146 BCE Destruction of Carthage
• 30 BCE Death of Cleopatra
• 330 Aksum adopts Christianity

Neighbours in North and West Africa

• Ghana Empire (Wagadu) c. 300 to 1200 CE
• Kingdom of Aksum c. 100 to 940 CE
• Carthage c. 814 to 146 BCE
• Ptolemaic Kingdom 305 to 30 BCE
• Roman Africa 146 BCE to 439 CE
• Kingdom of Kush (Napatan period) c. 785 to 300 BCE
• Roman Egypt 30 BCE to 395 CE
• Numidia 202 to 46 BCE
• Garamantes c. 500 BCE to 700 CE
• Cyrene and the Greek Pentapolis 631 to 96 BCE

Elsewhere in the world at the same time

• Moche (Mochica) c. 100 to 800 CE, South America
• Teotihuacan c. 100 BCE to 550 CE, Mesoamerica and Caribbean
• Roman Republic 509 to 27 BCE, Europe
• Parthian Empire 247 BCE to 224 CE, Middle East
• Sasanian Empire 224 to 651 CE, Middle East
• Roman Empire 27 BCE to 395 CE, Europe
• Kushan Empire c. 30 to 375 CE, South Asia
• Xiongnu Empire c. 209 BCE to 93 CE, Central and North Asia
• Gupta Empire c. 320 to 550 CE, South Asia
• Western Han 202 BCE to 9 CE, East Asia

Questions