From their capital at Napata in what is now Sudan, the kings of Kush extended their power north under Kashta, who held Thebes by about 750 BC. His son Piye then marched down the Nile around 728 BC, defeated the rival Egyptian princes and took Memphis. Piye described his victory on a stele found at Jebel Barkal in 1862. As the 25th Dynasty, the 'Black Pharaohs' ruled Egypt until 656 BC, restored temples, and built small pyramids in Nubia. They were driven out by the Assyrians, who had iron weapons, and withdrew south to Meroe, where an iron-working kingdom flourished for a thousand years.
Before and after
- 21 April 753 BCEFounding of Rome
- from c. 750s BCE to 530sGandhara
- c. 750s BCEThe Homeric epics are composed
- from 747 BCE to 656 BCETwenty-fifth Dynasty of Egypt
- c. 729 BCEPiye of Kush conquers Egypt
- from 727 BCE to 715 BCETwenty-fourth Dynasty of Egypt
- from 722 BCE to 223 BCEChu
- from 706 BCE to 605 BCEOrigins of Dur-Sharrukin
- c. 700s BCEConstruction of Great Wall of China
More in Wars, politics & history
- c. 3,101 BCENarmer unifies Egypt
- from c. 1,258 BCE to 1,180 BCETrojan War
- c. 510 BCEThe Roman Republic is founded
- from 74 BCE to 72 BCEThe slave revolt of Spartacus
- 24 August 410 CEAlaric and the Visigoths sack Rome
- 451 CEAetius and Theodoric stop Attila at the Catalaunian Plains
The era
This moment belongs to the Ancient civilizations (3,200 BCE to 500 CE), writing, cities and empires. You can also browse everything in the 8th century BCE.