Twenty-Fifth Dynasty

The Kushite Dynasty

747 to 656 BC

The Kushite Dynasty, also called the Nubian Dynasty, was made up of a line of kings from the land of Kush, located in the Sudanese state of Napata. Kashta is included in this list because he was the king of Nubia, and although he did exert control over Thebes, he never ruled a united Egypt. His son, Piye, did unite Nubia and Egypt, and his military conquests drove back Egypt’s enemies and put an end to the Libyan Dynasties.

Shabaka moved the capitol of Egypt back to Memphis, and was the first Kushite pharaoh to rule an entirely united Egypt from one of the traditional Egyptian capitols. Shabaka managed to keep the Assyrians at bay through a policy of appeasement, but this begins to change under Shebitku, who begins to openly oppose the Assyrian presence in the north, ultimately driving them out. Under the rule of Taharqa the Assyrians reassert themselves, going so far as to lay siege to Thebes, driving the pharaoh into exile.

Tantamani managed to recapture Thebes and drive the Assyrians back for a while, but in the end the Assyrians re-conquered Egypt and put an end to the Kushite Dynasty.