Answer to Question #161943 in History for Aliyah Jules

Question

In what ways did Kush follow Egypt as a center of power, culture, and trade in Africa?

Answer 1

How Kush Followed Egypt

           The Kush kingdom refers to a Nubian ancient kingdom that was specifically located along the river Nile, in present-day Sudan (Williams, 2020). The Nubian area was an active civilization region and it was dominated by communities and societies that engaged in trade, cultural and political activities. The Kushite kingdom was discovered by Egyptians who lived around the river Nile and they intermittently interacted with each other. This interaction made the Kush adopt and follow the Egyptian way of life in many aspects ranging from political, cultural, and trade (Carey & Humphris, 2019). In the context of culture, the Kush kingdom adopted some concepts of Egyptian culture especially in the aspect of marriage. Just like the Egyptians practiced that people from royal families intermarried with each other, the Kushites also adopted the culture and they, therefore, started practicing intermarriage between royal families from different communities and societies within the Nubian region.

           After the Nubian empire was conquered by Egypt, the Kush kingdom became under the control of Egypt and even adopted most of the Egyptian political practices (Williams, 2020). For instance, the Kushites inherited the monarchial governance system from the Egyptian way of political leadership. The Kush also followed Egypt politically by calling their leaders pharaohs just like Egyptians did and buried them in pyramids at the moment of death as it was practiced in Egypt too (Carey & Humphris, 2019). In the context of trade, Kush ventured into a business that was done by Egyptians. For instance, they decided to trade metals like iron and minerals like salt, which were the Egyptian’s main element of trade.

Reference

Carey, C., Stremke, F., & Humphris, J. (2019). The ironworking remains in the royal city of Meroe: new insights on the Nile corridor and the Kingdom of Kush.

Williams, B. B. (2020). Kush in the Wider World during the Kerma Period. The Oxford Handbook of Ancient Nubia, 179.