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| The Kingdom of Kush |
| After soldiers of Kush conquered Egypt in 751 b.c., the Kushites established an empire that dominated part of the Nile River valley in what is today Sudan for the 1,000 years. The Kushites built pyramids and a great capital city named Meroe (MUR oo ee). They also developed their own written language. Unlike Egyptian hieroglyphics, whose symbols have been decoded, no one has been able to decode the language of Kush. As a result, we know far less about ancient Kush than we do about ancient Egypt. Our knowledge of Kush comes from ancient artifacts and written accounts by people who visited Kush long ago. |
| The pictures of engravings and artifacts on page 80-81 (ask Mrs. Wilson for the pages) were found at the site of ancient Kush. You can also read several descriptions of Kush adapted from Greek and Roman writers. Notice that these writers often called the Kushites "Ethiopians." Although Greeks and Romans used Ethiopians as a general term for black Africans, in the following passages they are mostly referring to the Kushites. What do the artifacts and travelers' accounts tell you about ancient Kush? Think of each the following items as a clue to a puzzle. What do these clues reveal about the Kushites? (Ask Mrs. Wilson for the passages) |
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