9.3 The Kingdom of Kush

By the end of this section, you will be able to:

• Explore the origins and rise of the Kingdom of Kush
• Describe the relationship between the Kingdom of Kush and Egyptian culture
• Analyze the transformations in Nubia following the founding of Meroe

The traditional southern boundary of Ancient Egypt was the first cataract of the Nile. A cataract is a place in a river where the otherwise placid flow is upset by a waterfall, a shallow portion, or the presence of boulders that make the river impassable by boats. Downriver of the first cataract, the river is largely unobstructed and serves as a fertile highway skirting through an otherwise desert and connecting the Egyptian settlements and facilitating the dissemination of a uniform Egyptian culture. Since the cataract served as a physical barrier, it largely limited Egyptian influence south of it and thus allowed distinct cultures and kingdoms to emerge along the upper reaches of the Nile.

Nubia was the name Egyptians gave to the expansive area south of the first cataract and extending into sub-Saharan Africa. The kingdom that first emerged in Nubia was called Kush. Because of its location along the Nile, throughout its long history the Kingdom of Kush was culturally influenced by Egypt. However, because it was sufficiently distant from Egypt, it also had the liberty to develop its own traditions, culture, language, and impressive history.