Kingdom of Kush

Nubian civilizations developed along the Nile south of Egypt. Kerma became an important early kingdom, while later Kushite political centers developed at Napata and eventually Meroe.

During the eighth century BC Kushite rulers expanded northward and gained control of Egypt. They established Egypt's Twenty-fifth Dynasty and became directly involved in the struggle among Egypt, the Levant, and the expanding Assyrian Empire.

Assyrian campaigns eventually drove Kushite rulers from Egypt, but the kingdom of Kush continued farther south for many centuries and developed a distinctive civilization centered eventually at Meroe.

Biblical Cush usually corresponds broadly to ancient Nubia, particularly the Nile Valley of modern Sudan and southern Egypt.

The term could vary in geographical scope, and a few biblical passages create difficulties if every occurrence is forced into exactly the same location. Nevertheless, the principal historical Cush of the monarchic and prophetic periods is clearly associated with the African Nile region south of Egypt.

This record overlaps conceptually with the existing AVWJ record called "Ethiopia." Cross-linking those two records may eventually be preferable to treating them as unrelated places.