Kushite

Kushite refers to the ancient peoples and cultures of Kush, a civilization in Nubia along the Nile in what is now southern Egypt and northern Sudan. The term is used for both the populations of the Kushite kingdoms and the languages and scripts associated with them. Kushite history is typically divided into two major phases: the Napatan period and the Meroitic period.

The Napatan Kingdom (roughly 8th century BCE to 4th century BCE) centered at Napata and later influence over Upper Egypt. Kushite rulers, such as Kashta and Piye, expanded control into Egypt and founded the 25th Dynasty, sometimes called the Kushite or Nubian Dynasty, which ruled Egypt from about 747 to 656 BCE. This era saw the fusion of Egyptian and Kushite dynastic traditions before Assyrian forces ended Kushite rule in Egypt.

After the decline in Egypt, Kushite power continued in the region with the rise of the Meroitic Kingdom (c. 300 BCE to c. 350 CE) centered at Meroë. The Meroite state developed its own distinctive material culture, including pyramids and iron production, and produced the Meroitic script, used in inscriptions and texts, though the language remains only partly deciphered.

Language and classification are complex. The term Kushite has been used to describe Nubian languages historically spoken in Kush; these are related to what modern scholars classify as Nubian languages within the broader Nilo-Saharan family, though classifications are debated. The Meroitic language, written in the Meroitic script, is associated with Kushite civilization but is not fully understood.

Notes: The term should not be confused with Cushitic languages, a separate branch of the Afroasiatic family spoken in the Horn of Africa.