Napata

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Napata

Napata was a city-state on the west bank of the Blue Nile River, some 400 km north of Khartoum

Khartoum

Khartoum is the Capital of Sudan and of Khartoum . It is located at the confluence point of the White Nile flowing north from Lake Victoria, and the Blue Nile flowing west from Ethiopia....
, the present capital of Sudan

Sudan

Sudan is a country in northeastern Africa. It is the largest in the African continent and the Arab World, and List of countries and outlying territories by total area by area....
. It was built around 1345 BC by the Nubians

Nubians

The Nubians are an ethnic group originally from northern Sudan, now inhabiting East Africa and some parts of Northeast Africa, such as southern Egypt....
.

The Rise of Napata
Since Early Dynastic times, Egyptians had been interested in Nubia

Nubia

Nubia is a region in Southern Egypt along the Nile and in what is now northern Sudan. Most of Nubia is situated in Sudan with about a quarter of its territory in Egypt....
, an area very rich in gold

Gold

Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and atomic number 79. It is a highly sought-after precious metal, having been used as money, as a store of value, in jewelry, in sculpture, and for ornamentation since the beginning of recorded history....
. They soon controlled that trade, which did not profit the Nubians, so that Egypt

Egypt

Egypt is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Western Asia. Covering an area of about , Egypt borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, the Gaza Strip and Israel to the northeast, the Red Sea to the east, Sudan to the south and Libya to the west....
became an imperialistic power in Nubia.

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Encyclopedia

Napata was a city-state on the west bank of the Blue Nile River, some 400 km north of Khartoum

Khartoum

Sudan

Nubians

The Nubians are an ethnic group originally from northern Sudan, now inhabiting East Africa and some parts of Northeast Africa, such as southern Egypt....
.

The Rise of Napata

Since Early Dynastic times, Egyptians had been interested in Nubia

Nubia

Gold

Egypt

Amun

Amun, reconstructed Egyptian language Yamanu , was the name of a deity in Egyptian mythology who gradually rose from being an abstract concept to the patron deity of Thebes, Egypt and one of the most important deities in Ancient Egypt before fading into obscurity....
at Thebes

Thebes, Egypt

Thebes was a city in Ancient Egypt located about 800 km south of the Mediterranean, on the east bank of the river Nile . It was the capital of Waset, the fourth Upper Egyptian Nome ....
, capital of Ancient Egypt

Ancient Egypt

Ancient Egypt was an Ancient history civilization in eastern North Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile in what is now the modern nation of Egypt....
, became powerful enough to limit the power of the pharaoh over Upper Egypt

Upper Egypt

File:Ancient Egypt map-en.svgUpper Egypt is a narrow strip of land that extends from the Cataracts of the Nile section of Upper Egypt, between El-Ayait and Asyut is sometimes known as Middle Egypt....
. This was the beginning of the Third Intermediate Period (1075 BC-664 BC). The fragmentation of power in Egypt allowed the Nubians to regain autonomy. They founded a new kingdom, Kush, and centered it at Napata.

They began exploiting gold to their own profit. The economical growth of Kush attracted some Egyptians, who left their country, which was undergoing several political troubles, including the Libyan power over part of Lower Egypt

Twenty-second dynasty of Egypt

The Twenty-First, Twenty-Second, Twenty-Third, Twenty-Fourth and Twenty-Fifth Dynasties of ancient Egypt are often combined under the group title, Third Intermediate Period....
, the subdivision of Egypt into small and relatively powerless kingdoms, and the menace of Assyria

Assyria

Assyria was a political state centered on the Upper Tigris river, in Mesopotamia , that came to rule regional empires a number of times in history....
n conquest.

Kings of Napata and the conquest of Egypt

In 750 BC, Napata was a developed city, while Egypt was still suffering political instability. King Kashta

Kashta

Kashta was a king of the Kushite Dynasty. His name names translates literally as "The Kushite"....
profited from it, and attacked Upper Egypt. His policy was pursued by his successors Piye

Piye

Piye, was a Kushite king and founder of the Twenty-fifth dynasty of Egypt who ruled Egypt from the city of Napata, located deep in Nubia, Sudan....
, and Shabaka

Shabaka

Shabaka was a Kushite pharaoh of the Twenty-fifth dynasty of Egypt, between . He succeeded his brother Piye on the throne, and adopted the throne name of the 6th-dynasty ruler Pepi II....
(721-707 BC), who eventually brought the whole Nile Valley under Kushitic control in the second year of his reign. Shabaka also launched a monument-building policy in Egypt and Nubia. Overall, the Kushite kings ruled Upper Egypt for approximately one century and the whole Egypt for approximately 57 years. (from 721 to 664 BC) They constitute the Twenty-fifth Dynasty

Twenty-fifth dynasty of Egypt

The Twenty-Fifth Dynasty of Egypt, also known as the Ethiopian or Nubian dynasty, was a line of rulers originating in the Kingdom of Kush. They reigned in part or all of Ancient Egypt from 760 BC to 656 BC.....
in Manetho

Manetho

Manetho was an Egyptian historian and priest from Sebennytos who lived during the Ptolemaic dynasty, ca. 3rd century BC. Manetho wrote the Aegyptiaca ....
’s work, Aegyptiaca.

Around 670 BC, the Assyrian King Esarhaddon

Esarhaddon

Esarhaddon , was a king of Neo-Assyria who reigned 681 ? 669 BC. He was the youngest son of Sennacherib and the Aramean queen Naqi'a , Sennacherib's second wife....
(681-669 BC) conquered Lower Egypt

Lower Egypt

Lower Egypt is the northern-most section of Egypt. It refers to the Fertile Crescent Nile Delta region, which stretches from the area between El-Aiyat and Zawyet Dahshur, south of modern-day Cairo, and the Mediterranean Sea....
, but allowed local kingdoms in Lower Egypt to exist, in order to enlist them as his allies against Ethiopian rulers, who had been accepted with reluctance. When King Assurbanipal succeeded Esarhaddon

Esarhaddon

Esarhaddon , was a king of Neo-Assyria who reigned 681 ? 669 BC. He was the youngest son of Sennacherib and the Aramean queen Naqi'a , Sennacherib's second wife....
, the Ethiopian king Taharqa

Taharqa

Taharqa was a pharaoh of History of ancient Egypt and a member of the Nubian or Twenty-fifth dynasty of Egypt. His reign can be dated from 690 BC to 664 BC....
convinced some rulers of Lower Egypt to break with Assyrians. However, Asshurbanipal overpowered the coalition and deported the Egyptian leaders to his capital, Niniveh. He appointed the Libyan chief Necho, ruler of Memphis

Memphis, Egypt

Memphis was the ancient capital of the first Nome of Lower Egypt, and of the Old Kingdom of Egypt from its foundation until around 2200 BC and later for shorter periods during the New Kingdom, and an administrative centre throughout ancient history....
and Sais

SAIS

SAIS can refer to:* Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies, part of The Johns Hopkins University.* Scottish Avalanche Information Service...
. Necho I

Necho I

Necho I was the Prince of Sa?s or Governor of the Egyptian city of Sais, Egypt. He was the first attested local Saite king of the Twenty-sixth dynasty of Egypt who reigned for 8 years, according to Manetho's Epitome....
was the first king of the Saite Twenty-sixth Dynasty

Twenty-sixth dynasty of Egypt

The Twenty-sixth Dynasty of Egypt was the last native dynasty to rule Ancient Egypt before the History of Persian Egypt in 525 BC Before Christ ....
(664 BC-525 BC) of Ancient Egypt

Ancient Egypt

Ancient Egypt was an Ancient history civilization in eastern North Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile in what is now the modern nation of Egypt....
. A new Ethiopian King Tantamani

Tantamani

Tantamani or Tanwetamani or Tementhes was king of History of Ancient Egypt , and a member of the Nubian or Twenty-fifth dynasty of Egypt....
(664-653 BC) killed him the same year that Taharqa died, in 664 BC when Tantamani invaded Lower Egypt. However, Tantamani was unable to defeat the Assyrians who backed Necho’s son Psammetichus I

Psammetichus I

Psamtik I , was the first of three kings of the Sais, Egypt, or Twenty-sixth dynasty of Egypt. His prenomen, Wahibre, means "Constant is the Heart of Ra." The story in Herodotus of the Dodecarchy and the rise of Psamtik is fanciful....
. Tantamani eventually abandoned his attempt to conquer Lower Egypt and retreated to Napata. however, his authority over Upper Egypt was acknowledged until the 8th regnal year of his reign at Thebes (or 656 BC) when Psammetichus dispatched a naval fleet to Upper Egypt and succeeded in placing all of Egypt under his control.

Back at Napata, Ethiopians became interested only in developing their own kingdom, which underwent no conquest, notwithstanding the expansionist policies of Assyrians, Babylon

Babylon

Babylon was a city-state of ancient Mesopotamia, sometimes considered an empire, the remains of which can be found in present-day Al Hillah, Babil Governorate, Iraq, about 85 kilometers south of Baghdad....
ians, Persians and Greek

Greece

Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , is a country in southeastern Europe, situated on the southern end of the Balkans. It has borders with Albania, Bulgaria and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia to the north, and Turkey to the east....
s.

Civilization of Napata

Napata began reaching its height after Tantamani came back from the war against the Assyrians. Its economy was essentially based on gold. Egypt was an important economic ally. Napata could have traded copper with a kingdom in Central Africa between the 8th and 9th Centuries (UNESCO

UNESCO

United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations established on 16 November 1945....
, 2003). In 660 BC, Nubians started exploiting gold, inaugurating the Africa

Africa

Africa is the world's second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km? including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area....
n Iron Age

Iron Age

In archaeology, the Iron Age was the stage in the development of any people in which tools and weapons whose main ingredient was iron were prominent....
.

People of Napata were culturally egyptianized. Napatan paintings, writing script and other artistic and cultural forms were in Egyptian style. Egyptian burial customs were practiced and several Egyptian gods were worshipped. Moreover, the most important god was Amun

Amun

Jebel Barkal

Jebel Barkal or Gebel Barkal is a small mountain located some 400 km north of Khartoum, in Karima, Sudan in Northern, Sudan in Sudan, on a large bend of the Nile River, in the region called Nubia....
, the sacred mountain of Nubians.

The fall of Napata

Around 300 BC, anti-Egyptian feelings motivated the people of Napata to make their culture distinct from that of Egyptians. Furthermore, the capital was suffering politically and economically as well: Napata lost its economic influence since Egyptians were no longer autonomous (see The Late Period of ancient Egypt

Late Period of Ancient Egypt

The Late Period of Egypt refers to the last flowering of native Egyptian rulers after the Third Intermediate Period from the 26th Saite Dynasty into Persian Empire History of Egypt under Achaemenid Persian domination and ended with the death of Alexander the Great....
), the Napatan region itself was desiccating, leading to less cattle and agriculture. Moreover, a powerful Persian raid had seriously affected Napata in 591 BC. Finally, Napata was losing its role of economic capital to Meroë

Meroë

Mero? is the name of an ancient city on the east bank of the Nile about 6 km north-east of the Kabushiya station near Shendi, Sudan, approximately 200 km north-east of Khartoum....
. The Island of Meroë, the Peninsula formed by the Nile and the Atbara courses, was an area rich in iron, which was becoming an essential source of wealth.

Meroe eventually became the capital of the kingdom of Kush, leading to the abandonment of Napata. In 23 BC, the Roman prefect

Prefect

Prefect is a magisterial title of varying definition.A prefect's office, department, or area of control is called a prefecture, but in various post-Roman cases there is a prefect without a prefecture or vice versa....
of Egypt invaded the kingdom after an initial attack by the queen of Meröe, razing Napata to the ground. In "The Deeds of the Divine Augustus," Augustus claims that "a penetration was made as far as the town of Napata, which is next to Meroe..."