Kingdom of Kush (Napatan period)

Kingdom of Kush (Napatan period) was a state in Nubia and Sudan (North and West Africa) that lasted from c. 785 to 300 BCE, about 485 years. Its people spoke Nilo-Saharan languages (Kanuri, Songhai, Nubian, Luo, Maasai).

Kushite kingdom whose rulers Piye and Taharqa conquered Egypt as the Twenty-fifth Dynasty and built pyramids at Nuri. After 656 BCE they ruled from Napata alone.

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

Facts

Dates

c. 785 to 300 BCE

Duration

485 years

Type

State

Region

Nubia and Sudan, North and West Africa

Language family

Nilo-Saharan

Capital

Napata

Came from

• El-Kurru chiefdom c. 1000 to 785 BCE

Became

• Kingdom of Kush (Meroitic period) c. 300 BCE to 350 CE

Events in North and West Africa during its time

• 728 BCE Piye conquers Egypt
• 500 BCE Iron smelting in West Africa
• 331 BCE Founding of Alexandria

Neighbours in North and West Africa

• Carthage c. 814 to 146 BCE
• Ptolemaic Kingdom 305 to 30 BCE
• Kingdom of Kush (Meroitic period) c. 300 BCE to 350 CE
• Garamantes c. 500 BCE to 700 CE
• D'mt c. 980 to 400 BCE
• Cyrene and the Greek Pentapolis 631 to 96 BCE
• Third Intermediate Period c. 1069 to 664 BCE
• Mauretania c. 300 BCE to 44 CE
• Late Period of Egypt 664 to 332 BCE
• El-Kurru chiefdom c. 1000 to 785 BCE

Elsewhere in the world at the same time

• Roman Republic 509 to 27 BCE, Europe
• Greek city-states c. 800 to 338 BCE, Europe
• Neo-Assyrian Empire 911 to 609 BCE, Middle East
• Achaemenid Empire 550 to 330 BCE, Middle East
• Athens 508 to 322 BCE, Europe
• Maurya Empire 322 to 185 BCE, South Asia
• Empire of Alexander the Great 334 to 312 BCE, Middle East
• Empire of Alexander the Great 336 to 323 BCE, Europe

Questions