NUBIA IS AS OLD AS EGYPT. IN SOME WAYS THEY HAVE THE RELATIONSHIP OF A BINARY STAR SYSTEM. IT IS DIFFICULT TO TALK ABOUT ONE WITHOUT REFERENCE TO THE OTHER. ONE OF THE FIRST SOCIETIES IN NUBIA IS DESCRIBED AS THE A-GROUP. THEY HAD A CAPITAL AT KERMA. THEY BURIED THEIR DEAD UNDER A MOUND CALLED A TUMULUS, ON A FUNERARY BED, WITH THE HEAD POINTED TO THE SOUTH AND TURNED ON ITS SIDE TO THE WEST. THIS RESEMBLES PRE-DYNASTIC EGYPT. THE EGYPTIANS CONQUERED PORTIONS OF NUBIA, IN THE TIME OF PHARAOHS SENUSRET I, II AND III (1878-1841 BC), IN DYNASTY 12. IN THIS TIME THE EGYPTIANS BUILT A NARROW SLIPWAY OR BYPASS CANAL AROUND THE RAPIDS AT THE FIRST CATARACT. THIS ENABLED THEM TO TRANSPORT THE ARMY BY SHIP TO NUBIA (AFRICA’S GLORIOUS LEGACY, P. 27). FROM AT LEAST THIS PERIOD, NUBIAN REGIMENTS SERVED IN THE EGYPTIAN ARMY. TUTHMOSE III USED NUBIAN TROOPS AS POLICEMEN AND GARRISON TROOPS IN CANAAN.

IN THE EARLY DYNASTIES THE EGYPTIANS CALLED THE LAND IMMEDIATELY SOUTH OF KEMET BY THE NAME "WAWAT." BY THE TIME OF DYNASTY 18 THE EGYPTIANS CALLED NUBIA BY THE NAME OF "KUSH" OR "CUSH." THIS IS THE NAME THAT THE BIBLE USES FOR NUBIA. THE WORD NUBIA MEANS SOMETHING LIKE THE LAND OF GOLD, BECAUSE IT HAD RICH GOLD MINES. THUTMOSE III INSTALLED A VICEROY OVER KUSH. THE EGYPTIANS AND KUSHITES INTERMARRIED, AND THEIR GRAVES CAN BE FOUND SIDE BY SIDE. IN THE TIME OF KING TUT, THE VICEROY OF KUSH WAS NAMED HUY. IN HIS TOMB IS A PAINTING OF A PRINCESS OF KUSH BRINGING PRESENTS TO KING TUT (P. 49). THE KUSHITES ARE UNMISTAKABLY BLACK. WHILE PEOPLE QUIBBLE ABOUT EGYPT AND ASSERT THAT THE EGYPTIANS WERE "MIXED" OR "MIXED RACE", BUT NOT REALLY BLACK, THERE IS NO SUCH CREDIBLE DEBATE ABOUT NUBIA. NUBIA IS BLACK, PERIOD.

THE NUBIANS IDENTIFIED THEIR GOD APEDEMAK (HEAD OF LION, ARMS OF -HUMAN-BODY OF SNAKE) WITH THE EGYPTIAN AMUN-RE.

AS EGYPT WEAKENED (SOMETIME AROUND 1050-950 BC) EGYPT CEASED TO EXERCISE ANY AUTHORITY SOUTH OF ASWAN. THE KUSHITE ROYAL FAMILY ESTABLISHED AN INDEPENDENT STATE. EVENTUALLY THEY ESTABLISHED A  CAPITAL AT NAPATA. ALARA WAS THE FIRST KING AT NAPATA, c. 780 BC. BY ABOUT 750 BC THE NUBIAN-KUSHITE RULER KASHTA ERECTED A STELA AT ASWAN. HE PROCLAIMED HIMSELF KING OF UPPER AND LOWER EGYPT (P. 50).

BY 727 BC THERE WAS CIVIL WAR IN EGYPT, BETWEEN THE PRIESTS OF AMUN AT WOSE (THEBES) AND TEFNAKHT, OF DYNASTY 24, RULING FROM SAIS IN THE DELTA (IN THE NORTH). THE PRIESTS OF AMUN SUPPOSEDLY ASKED FOR THE INTERVENTION OF KUSH, THEIR NEIGHBOR TO THE SOUTH.

PIANKHY

ABOUT 727 BC. PIANKHY (PIYI) INTERVENED ON THE SIDE OF THEBES AND DEFEATED TEFNAKHT. PIANKHY THEN OCCUPIED MUCH OF EGYPT AND PROCLAIMED HIMSELF PHARAOAH. HOWEVER HE RETURNED TO NAPATA AND CONTINUED TO RULE FROM THERE UNTIL HIS DEATH IN 716 B.C. HOWEVER PIANKHY BEGINS DYNASTY 25 OF EGYPT, ALSO CALLED THE KUSHITE DYNASTY. IT WAS INDISPUTABLY BLACK. HOWEVER IT WAS ALSO CALLED ETHIOPIAN OR EVEN SUDANESE BY SOME SCHOLARS. THE BIBLICAL BOOKS THAT REFER TO THIS PERIOD USE THE TERM ETHIOPIA FOR NUBIA. PIANKHY NAMED HIS SISTER AMENIRDIS AS THE HIGH PRIESTESS OF AMUN-RE, AT THEBES.

PIANKHY WAS SUCCEEDED BY HIS BROTHER SHABAKA(716-702 BC). HE REGARDED HIMSELF AS PHARAOH AND RESTORED AND BUILT MANY TEMPLES. AFTER SHABAKA, TWO SONS OF PIANKHY RULED. THEY WERE SHEBITKU(702-690) AND TAHARQA (690-664). THE BIBLE MENTIONS TAHARQA BY NAME. HE IS CALLED TIRHAKAH IN II KINGS 19:9 AND ISAIAH 37:9. THIS CORRESPONDS TO THE REIGN OF KING HEZEKIAH, WHEN THE ASSYRIAN RULER SENNACHERIB ATTACKED JERUSALEM BUT DID NOT CAPTURE IT (SEE ISAIAH 37:36-37).

WHILE DYNASTY 25 RULED IN EGYPT, THE ASSYRIANS ROSE TO POWER IN MESOPOTAMIA. IN 673 ESARHADDON, THE SON OF SENNACHERIB,  ATTEMPTED TO INVADE EGYPT, BUT WAS REPULSED BY TAHARQA AT ASHKELON, NEAR GAZA.

IN 671 ESARHADDON WAS MORE SUCCESSFUL. HE INVADED NORTHERN EGYPT AND CAPTURED AND LOOTED MEMPHIS, AND OCCUPIED THE DELTA. TAHARQA RETREATED TO THEBES. THE ASSYRIANS HAD IRON-TIPPED SPEARS. THE EGYPTIANS AND KUSHITES DID NOT. THE ASSYRIANS CRUSHED THE EGYPTIAN UPRISING.

TAHARQA WAS FOLLOWED BY HIS SON TANUT-AMUN. HE REIGNED FROM 664-656. HE TRIED TO DRIVE THE ASSYRIANS OUT OF EGYPT, BUT ABOUT 660 BC ASHURBANIPAL DEFEATED HIM. THE ASSYRIANS STORMED MEMPHIS, SACKED THEBES, AND ADVANCED ALL THE WAY TO ASWAN. TANUT-AMUN HAD TO RETREAT TO NAPATA. THIS BROUGHT TO AN END THE 100 YEAR RULE OF KUSH OVER EGYPT AS DYNASTY 25. BUT NO ONE CAN DENY THAT THE 25TH DYNASTY WAS BLACK, AND THEREFORE THEY ARE CALLED THE BLACK OR SUDANESE PHARAOHS.

IN 1916 ARCHAEOLOGIST GEORGE RESINER FOUND THE TOMB OF TAHARQA. IT WAS BENEATH A RED SANDSTONE PYRAMID, AT NURI, NEAR NAPATA. THE NUBIAN PYRAMIDS ARE SMALLER AND STEEPER THAN THE EGYPTIAN. NINETEEN LATER KINGS OF KUSH, AND 53 OF THEIR WIVES, HAD PYRAMIDS NEARBY AT EL-KURRU(SEE AFRICA’S GLORIOUS LEGACY, P. 54-55).

THIS SUGGESTS CULTURE CONTACT BETWEEN THE TWO SOCIETIES.

MEROE

AFTER 591 BC KING ASPELTA (593-568 BC) RELOCATED THEIR CAPITAL FURTHER SOUTH, TO THE CITY OF MEROE (PRONOUNCED MER-O-WAY), WITH TWO LITTLE DOTS OVER THE E. MEROE OFFERED SEVERAL ADVANTAGES. IT WAS FURTHER AWAY FROM EGYPT, AND SO SAFER FROM FOREIGN INVASION. IT HAD EASY ACCESS TO THE RED SEA BY CARAVANS. THE REGION WAS FERTILE AND HAD GOOD GRAZING LAND. PERHAPS MOST IMPORTANT, IT WAS CLOSE TO FORESTS AND DEPOSITS OF IRON ORE. MEROE BECAME A GREAT CENTER OF IRON PRODUCTION IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA. IT WAS AN EARLY CENTER OF IRON SMELTING, WITH FORGES AND FURNACES. AND EVEN TODAY ONE CAN SEE THE HILLS OF SLAG (BY PRODUCT FROM SMELTING IRON). THE MOVE FROM NAPATA TO MEROE IS ATTRIBUTED TO KING ASPELTA.

FROM THIS TIME, NUBIA COMES TO BE CALLED MEROE. THE NAME REFERS TO THE CITY AND THE ENTIRE COUNTRY, MUCH AS ROME COULD MEAN EITHER THE CITY OF ROME OR THE ENTIRE ROMAN EMPIRE. THUS, TECHNICALLY, THE HISTORY OF NUBIA CAN BE DIVIDED BETWEEN THE KERMAN PERIOD, NAPATAN PERIOD, AND MEROITE PERIOD. THE NUBIANS OF THE TIME PERIOD WHEN MEROE WAS THE CAPITAL ARE SOMETIMES CALLED MEROITES.

THE PEOPLE OF MEROE ALSO DEVELOPED A WRITTEN SCRIPT OR ALPHABET THAT LOOKS SOMEWHAT LIKE EGYPTIAN DEMOTIC, BUT HAS NOT YET BEEN DECIPHERED. IT HAS 23 ALPHABETIC SYMBOLS. IT IS CALLED MEROITIC. IF WE COULD DECIPHER IT, WE WOULD BE ABLE TO FILL IN MORE OF THE GAPS ABOUT NUBIAN HISTORY. LINGUISTS DO KNOW THAT MEROITIC DEVELOPED ABOUT 170 BC, AND HAS VOWELS, AND CAN COMPARE SOME SYMBOLS TO PHONEMES IN ENGLISH. BUT THEN THEY STILL DO NOT KNOW WHAT THE WORDS MEAN.

IN THE MEROITE PERIOD THE ELEPHANT BECOMES PROMINENT IN ART AND SCULPTURE, AND THE BRIGHT RED NAPATAN CERAMIC POTTERY IS REPLACED BY BLACK POLISHED WARE IN THE ROYAL BURIALS C. 300 BC.

LATE DYNASTIC EGYPT.

AS FOR EGYPT, AFTER DYNASTY 25 THE ASSYRIANS INSTALLED A NATIVE REGIME (DYNASTY 26). PSAMTIK I (PSAMMETICHUS) SUCCESSFULLY REBELLED AGAINST THE ASSYRIANS IN 653. TO ACHIEVE THIS, HE IMPORTED GREEK MERCENARIES. HE WAS THE LAST GREAT NATIVE EGYPTIAN PHARAOH.

IN 525 PERSIA DEFEATED PSAMTIK III, AND RULED EGYPT FOR ALMOST 100 YEARS. PERSIA OVERRAN THE EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN. THE GREEKS STOPPED THEM AT MARATHON (490) AND SALAMIS (480 BC). EGYPT BRIEFLY REGAINED INDEPENDENCE FROM 359-343 BC. THEN THE PERSIANS INVADED AGAIN, BUT WERE DRIVEN OUT BY ALEXANDER THE GREAT IN 332 BC. THE GREEK OR PTOLEMAIC DYNASTY CAME TO POWER ABOUT 322, AND RULED UNTIL THE DEATH OF CLEOPATRA IN 30 BC.

MEROE OR NUBIA WAS EXPOSED TO CHRISTIANITY SOON AFTER THE DEATH OF CHRIST, AS WAS EGYPT. BY THE 300S AD THE EGYPTIAN CHRISTIANS WERE CALLED COPTS. BOTH THE EGYPTIANS AND NUBIANS BECAME CHRISTIAN. THE ARABS CONQUERED EGYPT BETWEEN 639 AND 642 AD, AND AFTER THAT EGYPT BECOMES AN ISLAMIC COUNTRY, AND THE PEOPLE SPEAK ARABIC. IN 651 AD THE ARABS AND NUBIA SIGNED A BAKT, OR NON-AGRESSION TREATY. NUBIA WOULD PAY A TRIBUTE, AND THE MOSLEMS WOULD NOT ATTACK NUBIA. THIS BAKT ENDURED FOR ROUGHLY FIVE HUNDRED YEARS, UNTIL 1170. BY 1272 THERE WAS RENEWED WARFARE BETWEEN THE MAMLUKS OF EGYPT AND THE CHRISTIANS OF NUBIA. BY 1504 NUBIA DISINTEGRATED AS A RESULT OF NOMADIC INCURSIONS (THE FUNJ PEOPLE) AND ATTACKS BY EGYPT AND ETHIOPIA. THE NORTHERN SUDANESE BECAME MOSLEMS AND SPEAK ARABIC TO THIS DAY. IN SOME CASES THEY HAVE ARAB ANCESTORS. IN ISLAMIC CULTURE CHILDREN BELONG TO THE FATHER, AND SO IF YOUR FATHER, GRANDFATHER, MALE ANCESTOR WAS AN ARAB THEN THAT MAKES YOU ARAB TOO. CULTURALLY, AND PATRILINEALLY, THE NORTHERN SUDANESE IDENTIFY AS ARAB EVEN THOUGH THEY ARE BLACK IN COLOR. THEY ARE BLACK ARABS.

IN THE SOUTH OF SUDAN THE TRADITIONAL BELIEF IN SPIRITS PERSISTED LONGER, AMONG THE CATTLE-HERDING DINKA AND NUER "TRIBES." SOME EVENTUALLY WERE CONVERTED IN THE 1800S AND EARLY 1900S BY CHRISTIAN MISSIONARIES, UNDER BRITISH RULE. BUT THE MOSLEMS CONSIDER THE TRADITIONAL RELIGION (BELIEF IN SPIRITS) A FORM OF PAGANISM AND IDOLATRY.