Kush under the Dynasty of Napata

Abstract Centered along the Nile River in what is now northern Sudan, Kush was one of the earliest, longest-lived, and most extensive polities in Africa. Although it is often said that Kush remains little known, this has more to do with the ways in which this ancient culture has been obscured by the long history of racism in scholarship. First appearing in the historical record around 2000 bc, Kush persisted for more than two millennia, finally collapsing after ad 300. Kush reached its largest territorial extent and made its greatest impact on the ancient Mediterranean and Middle East during its Napatan period (ca. 1069–270 bc). Kings of Kush conquered and ruled over Egypt as the Twenty-fifth Dynasty (ca. 750–664 bc), when they also came into contact with the Assyrian Empire and left their trace in the Bible. Throughout its long history, Kush maintained contacts with Egypt to the north and with regions of Africa to the west, south, and east, although its wider African connections remain poorly defined. This chapter provides an essentially political history of Kush during the Napatan period, summarizing the long history of research on Napatan Kush and highlighting recent finds, interpretations, and debates. It identifies gaps in knowledge—particularly emphasizing the scarcity of excavations of settlements and associated studies of subsistence practices—and suggests priorities for new research that would make Kush more readily comparable to other ancient states and empires.