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Taharqa was a pharaoh of Egypt
History of Ancient Egypt

The History of ancient Egypt spans the period from the early Predynastic Egypt settlements of the northern Nile Valley to the History of Roman Egypt in 30 BC....
 and a member of the 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....
n or Twenty-fifth dynasty of Egypt
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.....
. His reign can be dated from 690 BC to 664 BC. He was the son of 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....
, the Nubian king of Napata
Napata

Napata was a city-state on the west bank of the Blue Nile River, some 400 km north of Khartoum, the present capital of Sudan. It was built around 1345 BC by the Nubians....
 who had first conquered Egypt, and the younger brother and successor of Shebitku
Shebitku

Shebitku was the third king of the Twenty-fifth dynasty of Egypt who ruled from according to Dan'el Kahn's most recent academic research. He was the nephew and successor of Shabaka....
.

Kenneth Kitchen
Kenneth Kitchen

Kenneth Anderson Kitchen is Personal and Brunner Professor Emeritus of Egyptology and Honorary Research Fellow at the School of Archaeology, Classics and Oriental Studies, University of Liverpool, England....
's book, The Third Intermediate Period in Egypt, provides a wealth of information about Taharqa and confirms that his reign lasted a minimum of 26 Years. This is based on the evidence from Serapeum
Serapeum

A Serapeum is a temple or other religious institution dedicated to the syncretism Hellenistic civilization-Ancient Egypt god Serapis, who combined aspects of Osiris and Apis in a humanized form that was palatable to the Ptolemaic dynasty of Alexandria....
 stela
Stele

A stele is a stone or wooden slab, generally taller than it is wide, erected for funerals or commemorative purposes, most usually decorated with the names and titles of the deceased or living ? inscribed, carved in relief , or painted onto the slab....
 Cat.






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Taharqa was a pharaoh of Egypt
History of Ancient Egypt

The History of ancient Egypt spans the period from the early Predynastic Egypt settlements of the northern Nile Valley to the History of Roman Egypt in 30 BC....
 and a member of the 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....
n or Twenty-fifth dynasty of Egypt
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.....
. His reign can be dated from 690 BC to 664 BC. He was the son of 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....
, the Nubian king of Napata
Napata

Napata was a city-state on the west bank of the Blue Nile River, some 400 km north of Khartoum, the present capital of Sudan. It was built around 1345 BC by the Nubians....
 who had first conquered Egypt, and the younger brother and successor of Shebitku
Shebitku

Shebitku was the third king of the Twenty-fifth dynasty of Egypt who ruled from according to Dan'el Kahn's most recent academic research. He was the nephew and successor of Shabaka....
.

Kenneth Kitchen
Kenneth Kitchen

Kenneth Anderson Kitchen is Personal and Brunner Professor Emeritus of Egyptology and Honorary Research Fellow at the School of Archaeology, Classics and Oriental Studies, University of Liverpool, England....
's book, The Third Intermediate Period in Egypt, provides a wealth of information about Taharqa and confirms that his reign lasted a minimum of 26 Years. This is based on the evidence from Serapeum
Serapeum

A Serapeum is a temple or other religious institution dedicated to the syncretism Hellenistic civilization-Ancient Egypt god Serapis, who combined aspects of Osiris and Apis in a humanized form that was palatable to the Ptolemaic dynasty of Alexandria....
 stela
Stele

A stele is a stone or wooden slab, generally taller than it is wide, erected for funerals or commemorative purposes, most usually decorated with the names and titles of the deceased or living ? inscribed, carved in relief , or painted onto the slab....
 Cat. 192 "which records that an Apis bull
Apis (Egyptian mythology)

In Egyptian mythology, Apis or Hapis , was a bull-deity worshipped in the Memphis, Egypt region.According to Manetho, his worship was instituted by Kaiechos of the Second dynasty of Egypt....
 who was born and installed (4th month of Peret, day 9) in Year 26 of Taharqa died in Year 20 of 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....
 (4th month of Shomu, day 20) having lived 21 years. This would give Taharqa a reign of 26 years and a fraction, in 690-664 B.C." Taharqa was the brother of Shebitku
Shebitku

Shebitku was the third king of the Twenty-fifth dynasty of Egypt who ruled from according to Dan'el Kahn's most recent academic research. He was the nephew and successor of Shabaka....
, the previous pharaoh of Egypt. Taharqa explicitly states in Kawa Stela V, line 15 that he succeeded Shebitku with this statement: "I received the Crown in Memphis after the Falcon (ie: Shebitku) flew to heaven."

Scholars have identified him with Tirhakah, king of Ethiopia, who waged war against Sennacherib
Sennacherib

Sennacherib Rise to power As a crown prince, Sennacherib was placed in charge of the empire while his father Sargon II was on campaign....
 during the reign of King Hezekiah
Hezekiah

Hezekiah was the 13th king of independent kingdom of Judah.His reign has been dated from 715 – 687 BC or 716 – 687 BC. Under either of these chronologies, Hezekiah ruled the southern kingdom of Judah during the forced resettlement of the northern kingdom of Israel by Sargon II's Assyrians and the invasion and siege of Jerusale...
 of Judah
Kingdom of Judah

The Kingdom of Judah existed at two periods in Jewish history. According to the Hebrew Bible, a kingdom emerged in Judah after the death of Saul, when the tribe of Judah elevated David to rule over it....
 (2 Kings
Books of Kings

The Books of Kings are a part of Judaism's Tanakh, the Hebrew Bible. They were originally written in Hebrew language and were later included by Christianity as part of the Old Testament....
 19:9; Isaiah
Book of Isaiah

The Book of Isaiah is a book of the Bible traditionally attributed to the Prophet Isaiah, who lived in the second half of the 8th century BC. In the first 39 chapters, Isaiah prophesies doom for a sinful Judah and for all the nations of the world that oppose God....
 37:9) and drove him from his intention of destroying Jerusalem and deporting its inhabitants—a critical action that, according to Henry T. Aubin, has shaped the Western world. The events in the Biblical account are believed to have taken place in 701 BC, whereas Taharqa came to the throne some ten years later. A number of explanations have been proposed: one being that the title of king in the Biblical text refers to his future royal title, when at the time of this account he was likely only a military commander
Commander

Commander is a military rank which is also sometimes used as a military title depending on the individual customs of a given military service. Commander is also used as a rank or title in some organizations outside of the military, particularly in police and law enforcement....
.

Taharqa indulged in rebuilding the temple at Kawa
Kawa

The name "Kawa" comes from the Polish word for coffee – a play on words since Java is another familiar name for coffee....
, across the Nile from present-day Dongola
Dongola

Dongola is the capital of the state of Northern, Sudan in Sudan, on the banks of the Nile. It should not be confused with Old Dongola, an ancient city located 80 km upstream on the opposite bank....
, which became a major center for the Nubian kings. He built at a number of other sites in Nubia, and carried out numerous restoration and building projects at the temple of Amun at Karnak
Karnak

The Karnak temple complex, universally known only as Karnak, describes a vast conglomeration of ruined temples, chapels, pylons and other buildings....
—especially the First Court of Amun there—as well as at Medinet Habu
Medinet Habu (temple)

Medinet Habu is the name commonly given to the Temples of a Million years of Ramesses III, an important New Kingdom period structure in the Medinet Habu of the same name on the Theban Necropolis of Luxor in Egypt....
. He was described by the ancient Greek historian
Historian

A historian is an individual who studies and writes about history, and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, systematic narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all events in time....
 Strabo
Strabo

Strabo was a Ancient Greeks history, geography and philosophy....
 as being counted among the greatest military tacticians of the ancient world.

Conflict with Assyria

It was during his reign that Egypt's enemy 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....
 at last invaded Egypt. 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....
 led several campaigns against Taharqa, which he recorded on several monuments. His first attack in 677 BC, aimed to pacify Arab
Arab

An Arab is a person who Identity as such on linguistic or cultural grounds. The plural form, Arabs , refers to the Ethnocultural group at large....
 tribes around the Dead Sea
Dead Sea

For the Brian Keene book of the same name, see Dead Sea The Dead Sea is a salt lake between Israel and the West Bank to the west, and Jordan to the east....
, led him as far as the Brook of Egypt
Brook of Egypt

The Brook of Egypt is the name used in some English translations of the Bible for the Hebrew language Nachal Mitzrayim used for the river defining the westernmost border of the Land of Israel....
. Esarhaddon then proceeded to invade Egypt proper in Taharqa's 17th regnal year
Regnal year

A regnal year is a year of the reign of a monarch. From Latin regnum meaning kingdom, rule.The oldest dating systems were in regnal years, and considered the date as an ordinal number, not a cardinal number....
, after Esarhaddon had settled a revolt at Ashkelon
Ashkelon

Ashkelon or Ashqelon is a coastal city in the South District of Israel. The ancient seaport of Ashkelon dates back to the Bronze Age. In the course of its history, it has been ruled by the Canaanites, the Philistines, the Babylonians, the Phoenicians, the Ancient Romes, the Muslims and the Crusaders....
. Taharqa defeated the Assyrians on that occasion. Three years later in 671 BC the Assyrian king captured and sacked 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....
, where he captured numerous members of the royal family. Taharqa fled to the south, and Esarhaddon reorganized the political structure in the north, establishing 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....
 of the 26th 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 ....
 as king at Sais
Sais, Egypt

Sais or Sa el-Hagar was an ancient Egyptian town in the Western Nile Delta on the Canopus, Egypt branch of the Nile. It was the provincial capital of the fifth nome of Lower Egypt and became the seat of power during the Twenty-fourth dynasty of Egypt and the Saite Twenty-sixth dynasty of Egypt during the Late Period of Ancient Egypt....
.

Upon the Assyrian king's departure, however, Taharqa intrigued in the affairs of 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....
, and fanned numerous revolts. Esarhaddon died before he could return to Egypt, and it was left to his heir and son Assurbanipal to once again invade Egypt. Assurbanipal defeated Taharqa, who afterwards fled first to Thebes, then up the Nile
Nile

The Nile is a major north-flowing river in Africa, generally regarded as the List of rivers by length in the world.The Nile has two major tributary, the White Nile and Blue Nile, the latter being the source of most of the Nile's water and silt, but the former being the longer of the two....
 into his native homeland—Nubia. Taharqa died there in 664 BC and was succeeded by his appointed successor 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....
, a son of 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....
. Taharqa was buried at Nuri
Nuri

Nuri is a place in modern Sudan on the south side of the Nile River. Close to it, there are pyramids belonging to Nubian kings. Nuri is situated about 15 km north of Sanam, and 10 km from Jebel Barkal....
.

Depiction

Will Smith
Will Smith

Willard Christopher "Will" Smith, Jr. is an United Statesn actor, film producer and rapping. He has enjoyed success in music, television and film....
 is developing a film entitled The Last Pharaoh, which he will produce and star as Taharqa. Carl Franklin
Carl Franklin

Carl Franklin is an United States actor, screenwriter and Film director and television director. He attended the AFI Conservatory and graduated with an Master of Fine Arts in 1986....
  contributed to the script. Randall Wallace
Randall Wallace

Randall Wallace is an American songwriter, screenwriter, film producer, and film director who wrote the screenplay for the Mel Gibson film Braveheart, for which he received an Academy Awards nomination for Best Original Screenplay and a Writers Guild of America award for Best Screenplay Adapted Directly for the Screen....
 was hired to rewrite in September 2008.

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