Chapter 5 Lesson 4: The Kushite Kingdom

• History

Friday's Lesson Objectives

• I will be able to identify a new vocabulary word when given the definition.
• I will be able to describe what the people of Kush did prior to settling.
• I will be able to explain how Nubia and Egypt influenced eachother.

Entry Quiz... Read the Vocabulary for the next 3 minutes..

• savanna: a flat grassland, sometimes with scattered trees, in a tropical or subtropical region
• rely: to depend on someone or something
• challenge: to invite the start of a competition
• textile: woven cloth

to invite the start of a competition

1. Rely
2. Challenge
3. Textile
4. Savannah

woven cloth

1. Textile
2. Cloth
3. Rely
4. Savannah

a flat grassland, sometimes with scattered trees, in a tropical or subtropical region

1. Savannah
2. Plain
3. Plateau
4. Peninsula

to depend on someone or something

1. Challenge
2. Rely
3. Savannah
4. Textiles

The Kingdom of Kush

Friday Feb 8th and Monday Feb 11th

The Kingdom of Kush

Friday Feb 8th and Monday Feb 11th

Nubians

• Cattle herders were the first people to settle in this region, arriving about 2000 b.c. 
• They herded long-horned cattle on the savannas (suh • VA • nuhs), or grassy plains, that stretch across Africa south of the Sahara. 
• Later, people settled in farming villages along the Nile River.
  

Different than the Egyptians

• Unlike the Egyptians, the Nubians did not rely on the Nile floods to create fertile soil. Their land had fertile soil and received rainfall all year long. 
• Nubian villagers grew crops such as beans, yams, rice, and grains. The Nubians also hunted for food. Their hunters and warriors excelled at using the bow and arrow.
  

How did Kerma Become?

• Gradually, the stronger Nubian villages took over the weaker ones and formed the kingdom of Kerma (KAR • muh). 
• The Nubians of Kerma grew wealthy from agriculture and the mining of gold. Their kingdom developed a close relationship with Egypt in the north. Kerma's central location in the Nile valley benefited the Nubians. 
• It made Kerma an important trade link between Egypt and the tropical areas of southern Africa. 
• From Kerma, the Egyptians acquired cattle, gold, incense, ivory, giraffes, leopards, and enslaved people. 
• They also hired Nubians to serve in their armies because of their skills in warfare. Kerma's artisans produced fine pottery, jewelry, and metal goods.

Continued...

• Workers built tombs for Kerma's kings, usually on a smaller scale than Egyptian tombs
• Like the Egyptian pharaohs, the kings of Kerma were buried with their personal belongings, including valuable gems, gold, jewelry, and pottery. 
• These artifacts were as magnificent as those found in Egypt's royal tombs that were built during the same time period.
  

Nubian People

Egyptian Invasion

• Egyptian armies invaded Nubia in the 1400s b.c. 
• After a 50-year war, the Egyptians conquered the kingdom of Kerma and ruled it for the next 700 years.
• Nubians adopted many of the beliefs and customs of Egyptian culture.  (Gods)
• They learned to use copper and bronze to make tools. 
• The Nubians adapted Egyptian hieroglyphs to fit their own language and created an alphabet.

How many years was the war when Egypt invaded Nubia?

Nubia's Second Chance

By the end of the Middle Kingdom, Egypt was weak. It could no longer govern its conquered peoples effectively, and the Nubians were able to break away from Egyptian rule.

The Kushites (Monday)

Monday's Lesson Objectives

• I will be able to identify a new vocabulary word when given the definition.
• I will be able to describe what the people of Kush did prior to settling.
• I will be able to explain how Nubia and Egypt influenced each other.

• I will be able name the new location for the Capital of Kush
• I will be able to explain the different aspects that Meroe brought to Kush.
• I will be able to explain what happened when Kush was invaded.

The Nubian Kingdom

• By 850 b.c., the Nubians had formed an independent kingdom known as Kush. Powerful kings ruled the country from its capital at Napata 
• The city of Napata was located where trade caravans crossed the upper part of the Nile River. 
• Caravans came from central Africa, bringing ivory and other goods. They stopped at Napata for Kushite products and then continued on to Egypt.
• The Egyptians traded with Kush for goods the Egyptians could not make. Such trade brought wealth to the traders and kings of Kush.

Kush Conquers Egypt

• About 750 b.c., a Kushite king named Kashta (KAHSH • tuh) invaded Egypt. His soldiers reached the city of Thebes. After Kashta died, his son Piye (PY) became king and completed the conquest of Egypt in 728 b.c. Piye founded the Twenty-fifth Dynasty that governed Egypt and Kush from Napata.
• The kings and wealthy people of Kush continued to admire Egyptian culture. 
• Kushites built white sandstone temples and monuments similar to those in Egypt. 
• The Kushites also believed in a close relationship between their rulers and their deities, many of whom were Egyptian. 
• For example, when a king died, Kushite officials met at the temple to ask the Egyptian god Amon-Re to appoint a new leader:

Continued

• The Kushites also built small, steeply-sloped pyramids as tombs for their kings.
• Some people in Kush, however, adopted customs and styles similar to those worn by southern Africans.
• This included wearing ankle and ear jewelry. By this time, the people of Kush also had developed their own style of painted pottery. The elephant, a sacred animal in Kush, was used as a theme in sculpture and other arts.
  

Which group of people "pumped iron"?

1. Babyloniansq
2. Egyptians
3. Phonecians
4. Assyrians

Guess who is back.....

• Kush ruled Egypt for about 60 years.
• In 671 b.c., the Assyrians invaded Egypt. Armed with iron weapons, the Assyrians defeated the Kushites, who only had bronze weapons, which were not as strong. 
• The Kushites fled Egypt and returned to their homeland in the south.
• Despite their defeat in Egypt, the Kushites learned how to make iron from the Assyrians. 
• Farmers in Kush used iron to make their hoes and plows instead of copper or stone. With better tools, they were able to grow more grain and other crops. Kushite warriors also created iron weapons, which boosted their military strength.

Do you think the Kushites turned a negative experience (being defeated by the Assyrians) into a positive? How?

What is one geographical feature of the Nile River that provided protection to the people?

1. Fertile Soil
2. Desert
3. Cataracts
4. Wind

Moving to Meroe.

• About 540 b.c., Kush's rulers moved their capital to the city of Meroë (MEHR • oh • ee), near one of the Nile's cataracts.
• This move made them safer from Assyrian attacks. The Nile River continued to provide a means for trade and transportation for the Kushites.
• Large deposits of iron ore and trees were nearby and were used to fuel furnaces for making iron. As a result, Meroë became a major center for iron production as well as a busy trading city.

Select the choice that the new location of the capitol did not provide?

1. Iron Ore
2. Trees
3. Protection
4. Gold

The Majestic Meroe

• Kushite kings modeled the layout and design of Meroë after Egypt's great cities. 
• A temple dedicated to the god Amon-Re stood at the end of a long avenue lined with sculptures of rams. 
• The walls of palaces and houses were decorated with paintings. Small pyramids stood in the royal graveyard, modeled on the larger pyramids of Egypt. 
• Meroë, however, was different from a typical Egyptian city because it contained iron furnaces. Huge columns of smoke poured out of iron furnaces. Heaps of shiny black slag, or waste from iron making, lay around the furnaces.

Find a photo of an iron furnace in ancient civilizations.

Trading Center

• Meroë was at the heart of a large web of trade that ran north to Egypt's border and south into central Africa. 
• Kush's merchants received leopard skins and valuable woods from the tropical interior of Africa. 
• They traded these items, along with enslaved workers and their own iron products, to places as far away as Arabia, India, China, and Rome. 
• In return, they brought back cotton, textiles (TEHK • styls), or woven cloth, and other goods. Kush's merchants used their wealth to build fine houses and public baths like ones they had seen in Rome.
  

Axum

• Kush remained a great trading kingdom for nearly 600 years. 
• Then, another kingdom called Axum (AHK • soom) emerged near the Red Sea in eastern Africa. A
• xum is located in the present-day country of Ethiopia. Axum gained its strength from its location on the Red Sea. 
• Goods from Africa owed into Axum. Over time, it served as a trading center for the ancient Mediterranean and East African worlds. 
• Around A.D. 350, the armies of Axum invaded Kush and destroyed Meroë.
  

Axum and Meroe were important cities for...

1. War
2. Farming
3. Trade
4. Arts

TEST THURSDAY!

Studyguides due on Wednesday