Post-Bronze Age Nubia: The Kingdom of Kush

Little is known about the events in Nubian history during the period after the end of the Twentieth Dynasty in Egypt, at which time Egypt lost control of the land to the south. Only about 200 years later, in the ninth century b.c., does this "dark age " lift, and we begin to see evidence for the development of a Nubian monarchy. This monarchy was strong enough to rule Egypt for a time and continue ruling Nubia for over a millennium.

The history of the Kingdom of Kush, as this monarchy is usually called, is traditionally divided up into two main periods, named after the two cities that, in turn, served as the royal capital. The earlier phase of the kingdom (ca. 900-ca. 295 b.c.) is termed the Napatan Period, because the Nubian kings at this time rule d from Napata, a site located close to the Fourth Cataract. The later Meroitic Period (ca. 295 b.c.-a.d. 320) is named for its capital site of Meroe (pronounced Mer-oh-way), located south of the Fifth Cataract.