King Taharqa (Sudanese), 25th Dynasty

King Taharqa (Sudanese), 25th Dynasty

King Taharqa (Sudanese), 25th Dynasty
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African Kingdom Of Kush was once a global power. Around 700 BC, two empires ruled the earth – the Assyrian Empire and the Kingdom of Kush. The Kingdom of Kush, also known as the Kingdom of Napata, the Kingdom of Kerma, the Meroitic Kingdom or sometimes called Nubia by some people, was a vast, powerful empire which dominated global affairs such that militarily, politically and economically, it was only rivalled by Assyria. No other power matched these two powers at the period.

Interestingly, at the height of her powers, the kingdom of Kush was ruled by Taharqa, a black African who inherited and consolidated a vast Kushite empire stretching from central Sudan to the Mediterranean, bordering Libya and Palestine –the largest Nile state in ancient times.

Taharqa was so powerful that he named himself “the Lord of the Four Quarters of the World.” Indeed, for some periods, Taharqa was the most powerful ruler, at least of all the ancient African kingdoms.

Detail of a granite sphinx of King Taharqa, who reigned circa 690-664 BCE during the 25th (Nubian) Dynasty. He wears a skull cap with two uraeus serpents. Taharqa is identified by a cartouche enclosing his throne name on the chest. This sculpture (EA1770) is now in the British Museum, London, England. Photo (edited for size): © The Trustees of the British Museum.

“Following the Egyptian withdrawal from Nubia at the end of the New Kingdom, a number of small political entities rapidly established themselves in the ensuing power vacuum. In the course of the three centuries after the Egyptians withdrew, these various small entities were gradually united into the second kingdom of Kush.”

― Strudwick, Nigel, Masterpieces of Ancient Egypt, The British Museum Press, London, England, 2006.

It should be noted that the Kushite’s victory in Egypt was not an invasion but rather they came to their defense and took control from the Meshwesh (Libyans) whom at the time were posing as the Ancient Egyptians while at the same time pillaging and plundering the royal tombs. In contrast the Kushite Kings did not pillage or plunder but rather restored and rebuilt the great monuments and stele’s including repairing the Temple of Waset known as Thebes to the Greeks and Luxor to modern Egyptians. The Kushite’s also took the Old Kingdoms texts and transferred them into stone for better preservation. According to the Kushite’s in the Shabaka Stone, he came into Kemet to restore the land of their ancestors. “They were the natural successors of the 18th Dynasty Kings”. – Joan Fletcher, Egyptologist.

The 25th Dynasty lasted for circa 95 years.