The Ancients - Kingdom of Kush

Episode Date: August 28, 2020

Along the banks of the River Nile, directly south of ancient Egypt and hundreds of miles away from the Mediterranean, there was a flourishing kingdom. The Kingdom of Kush. The Egyptians, Assyrians, Persians, Greeks, Nabataeans, Libyans, Romans, and not to mention countless African kingdoms - the Kushite domain boasted a remarkable history with all these ancient civilisations throughout its long history. Its existence spanned centuries; its cities were bustling centres for inter-continental trade; its art and architecture continues to amaze visitors to this day.I was delighted to be joined by Luke Pepera (@LukePepera), a historian, archaeologist and anthropologist with a passion for African history. In this podcast he shines a light on the Kingdom of Kush's history, particularly focusing on the ancient kingdom's often-overlooked interactions with Imperial Rome. He explains how the death of Cleopatra and the demise of the Hellenistic Ptolemaic Kingdom in Egypt paved the way for a major conflict between the Kushites and Romans, where the Kushite warrior queen Amanirenas led her armies against the Emperor Augustus' legions. Nevertheless, despite this hostile beginning, over the following centuries relations between the Kushites and Romans improved, with both kingdoms co-existing in relative harmony until the former's demise in the mid 4th century. This was a fascinating chat and I hope you enjoy.Luke has recently starred in two History Hit documentaries covering African history: 'The Kingdom of Benin' and 'Africa: Written Out of History'.Notes: Cornelius Gallus' campaign in Arabia Felix was against the Arabians, not the Assyrians!

Hi, I'm Tristan Hughes, and if you would like the Ancient ad-free, get early access and bonus episodes, sign up to History Hit. With a History Hit subscription, you can also watch hundreds of hours of original documentaries, including my recent documentary all about Petra and the Nabataeans, and enjoy a new release every week. Sign up now by visiting historyhit.com slash subscribe. by visiting historyhit.com slash subscribe. Today we are talking about one of the most extraordinary kingdoms of ancient Africa, the kingdom of Kush, a kingdom that lasted for centuries and had interactions with the pharaohs of Egypt, the Ptolemaic dynasty, that Hellenistic dynasty that also later ruled Egypt, and of course

the power that then superseded the Ptolemies, the Romans. Now joining me to talk through the history of the Kingdom of Kush, particularly focusing on their interactions with Imperial Rome, is Luke Peperer. Luke is a brilliant archaeologist, anthropologist and historian and he writes all about the history of Africa. He especially focuses on Africa in the Middle Ages but he also writes all about the history of Africa. He especially focuses on Africa in the Middle Ages, but he also has a great interest in ancient Africa, particularly the Kingdom of Kush. So it was fantastic to have him on the show to talk through all things the Kingdom of Kush. Here's Luke.

Luke, great to have you on the show. Thank you. Great to be here. Thank you. Now, the Kingdom of Kush and the Kingdom of Kush and the Romans, but the Kingdom of Kush in particular, this is an astonishing ancient African kingdom that had contacts with the Egyptians, the Persians, the Greeks, as I mentioned, the Romans and many other ancient civilizations. Yes, no, I mean, indeed, I think it's particularly where it's located. Obviously, it's just south of Egypt and because of that has quite intense contact with Egypt during its lifetime. In fact, it only really flourishes when Egypt goes through its periods of decline.

periods of decline and then Kush itself becomes less important as Egyptian rulers in particular either unify or become stronger and consolidate their power and push further into Kush and then obviously also the time period is really interesting as we will see later on the formation or the beginning of the Roman Empire actually coincides with one of Kush's peak points when Kush is at its most powerful, most culturally important, and most economically important with trade. And because of the Roman connection as well, you have a lot of Greek influence, including Greek language infiltrating, or that Hellenistic influence infiltrating into Kush especially the north of Kush and right next to upper Egypt which is the southern part of Egypt because of the way the Nile flows but you have the language and the culture and the education

and essentially the scholastic bent as well of Greece filtering through to yeah that southern that south of Egypt you know that part of Nubia or Nubia itself which is that southern that south of egypt you know that part of nubia or nubia itself which is that part just south of egypt and you actually have examples in fact of nubian individuals princes as well who actually are schooled in greek and greek education and serve for example in roman regiments so it's at this crossroads of cultures and of civilizations you mentioned there how the kingdom of kush it's centered south of egypt so does that mean at this crossroads of cultures and of civilizations. You mentioned there how the kingdom of Kush, it's centered south of Egypt. So does that mean topography-wise and geography-wise, is the River Nile right at the heart of this civilization? Oh yes, certainly. I mean, the River Nile is actually what gives birth to the civilization.

And initially, when the area dries out, and this is about 5000 BC, a lot of communities which are nearby move closer towards the banks of the Nile and they're able to grow more crops. More crop yields leads to different kinds of civilizational developments, including social stratification and also the birth of artisans, because not everybody now needs to be farming. So certain people can focus on becoming merchants or becoming craftsmen, and then they can trade these goods further afield. And this leads as well to the development of hierarchies and of rulers and of different classes of people. These communities then congregate around what becomes the first capital of Kush which is Kerma but it is the

Nile which as well as being the lifeblood of Egyptian civilization is also the lifeblood of Kushite civilization and ancient civilizations as you probably want to all congregate around these waterways and irrigation is incredibly important as what leads to the development of complex civilizations in mesopotamia as well so that's absolutely crucial but it's that focus on being able to grow enough food that not everybody needs to be farming. It allows all these other aspects of humanity, essentially, of human culture, of human thinking, of human ambition to take form and to develop. You mentioned there how there was, as if it were, the first capital of the Kingdom of Kush. were the first capital of the kingdom of Cush. Does this really emphasise that perhaps the kingdom of Cush that was interacting with Egypt during the Pharaonic times, because this is such

huge time spans, was quite different in its appearance to the kingdom of Cush that, for instance, comes into contact with the Romans? Oh yes, definitely. I think it's also quite useful to divide. They're almost two C're almost two cushions because there is the cush which is a bit closer to egypt or rather maybe dividing cushion to two regions because there's the northern parts which is closer to egypt and closer to rome and therefore that's where the most intense contact between cultures takes place and there's also the southern part of kush which is actually where people want to be, or the Kushites themselves in particular, want to be a lot more independent. And a lot of Egyptian culture or Roman goods, etc., doesn't flow down to that part as much.

They very much want to be a lot more independent. But then also it is based on time spans as well. For example, Kerma, which exists sort of 2500 to 1500 bc at one point it is ruled by the pharaohs um i think it's almost the first or one of the pharaohs marches into kush or into yeah into kerma and his line actually becomes the rulers of kush for about 500 years and that's in the very early stages and because of of that, a lot of the elites adopt Egyptian culture and burial ceremonies and types of dress, etc. But later on, as Egypt goes through a period of decline, and this is almost a thousand years later on,

this is maybe 250-300 AD, the Kushites basically move further south. Their first capital, a capital called Napata, is sacked by a pharaoh called Samaticus II, but they've moved down to a place called Meroe, which really flourishes in the periods that I mentioned, sort of the 2nd and 3rd century AD. And here, especially, there is a king, a Kushite king, who is very, very keen to move away from Egyptian culture. So he emphasizes the Kushite gods over the Egyptian gods, including the war god, Apadamak. And this king's name is Akamani, Akamani I. And he introduces new language and the Meroitic script, which actually is yet to be deciphered. He does

away with hieroglyphics. He also makes sure all motifs, more sort of African motifs rather than Egyptian motifs, animals like ostriches and elephants, etc., feature more prominently on temple walls. And he starts burying people in the Kushite style. And even in these, you know, in these depictions, the Kushites, they're more traditional clothing and that sort of thing. But because this site, Meroe, is sort of further down the Nile, it's a lot further away from Egypt, so it gives it the space basically to flourish independently. And it's in a place where, because of the high amounts of rainfall,

there are also greater crop yields, and there's also a huge amount of iron and hardwood so there's essentially an industrial revolution in moroe around this time and they start making iron weapons and iron goods which they're trading all over this part of the world including especially in the middle east because the middle eastern armies use iron weapons and the egyptians who are in intense rivalry with the mesopotamian armies or the Assyrians and so forth, need iron weapons in order to compete with them. So then the demand for iron from Kush is huge.

So Kush grows really, really rich. It's at this crossroads between the trade of the Red Sea, the interior of Africa and Egypt. And it's moving exotic goods like ebony and ivory and animals north to Egypt. And it's creating its own iron and it's trading that to Assyria and Egypt so it grows really really rich and because of that it can flourish independently as a culture as well as a society so later on it becomes a lot more independent because of Archimani but in the first period even the more important Kushite kings like Kashta and Piyah love Egyptian culture. They adopt it nearly wholesale.

But the record as well is a bit skewed because a lot of Egyptians who were writing a fair amount as well have quite a hostile view of the Kushite. So they present them as being just this satellite culture with no real ingenuity of its own. Of course, we know that not to be true. And there is a rivalry between the two. But there are some Kushite kings who perhaps as well have Egyptian blood, who are adopting the culture wholesale and see themselves as Egyptian rulers who are ruling just a region of Egypt as opposed to this separate culture. So there's this north-south divide,

and then there's also a time divide as well absolutely is that also kind of emphasized by the those astonishing pyramids that are surviving at merui yes exactly so those pyramids are part of the kushite adoption of culture but it's interesting because they're kind of obviously this uh this mix you know they're almost this syncretic mix between egypt Egyptian culture and also trying to do something different. So although they take their basic forms from the Egyptian pyramids, they're also distinguished by being slightly smaller. And they also have these passageways. There's an entrance and then there's a sort of corridor leading to the main burial chamber. And they were initially also topped with gold, which was an important Kushite commodity. But these were plundered by Giuseppe Fellini, who was an Italian treasure hunter.

And he heard about the gold of Kush and he was not interested in archaeology at all, but he just plundered them, basically. But within these walls, and these not being well known but these would have been the tombs of rulers some of whom who are harking a tiny bit back to the egyptian past it's almost like the roots are there but they want to do something different as well that's astonishing and let's move on then to the dawn of the roman interactions with the kingdom of kush because just before these interactions start happening the Cushite capital from what you're saying it is based at Meroe by this time yes so

the Cushite capital by the time the Romans are involved is based at Meroe and Cush has grown quite wealthy I mean the Romans really start again it's essentially it's because of the birth of the Roman Empire you obviously have this rivalry between octavian octavian caesar and then cleopatra the seventh and mark antony who are fighting each other for control essentially of the roman republic when i was a lepidus or has been exiled and when octavian manages to defeat mark antony Cleopatra, both of whom end up taking their own lives. Well, Mark Antony takes his own life because he hears a rumor Cleopatra has been killed, which turns out not to be true. And then Cleopatra takes her own life when she realizes she would rather die than be taken as a kind of bounty or, you know, as a treasure to Rome. And then Octavian Caesar, who launches this really effective propaganda campaign against Mark Antony, saying that he wants to install his own children as consuls and rulers of the

different parts of the Republic and the expanding empire, etc., inherits what becomes essentially the first Roman empire. It becomes the first ruler of this great empire. And when Octavian becomes emperor, obviously, and Cleopatra is defeated, he takes control of this great empire. And when Octavian becomes emperor, obviously, and Cleopatra is defeated, he takes control of Egypt, essentially. He annexed Egypt after the Battle of Actium. And the Romans are also renowned for having quite an unfair and heavy tax policy. They are heavily taxing Egypt, and by extension, northern Kush as well, especially, because there's a lot of grain, and it becomes an important source of grain for the ever-expanding Roman Empire. So they begin by annexing it,

imposing heavy tax on the region, and after a period of time, this actually leads to tax revolts in Egypt around Thebes, or beginning in Thebes. And these tax revolts are possibly supported by the Kushites and the Kushite rulers as well. So that is the beginning kind of of the interaction between Kush and Rome. It begins essentially with this discontent at the heavy tax that's being levied on the region and sort of Kushite interference in Roman affairs and initially

Rome is because this is the beginning is especially almost of its heyday so they are looking at Kush which is rich and did have quite a powerful army it is revered by the Egyptians as the land of the bow because they're known for having particularly skilled archers and particularly skilled horsemen but Rome essentially views it as a nuisance to begin with. So that is the beginning of the interaction. That is absolutely astonishing. I find the timeframe of that, how quickly, as it were, after the death of Cleopatra and Mark Antony

and Egypt finally becoming this direct Roman province, that they come into, I don't want to say the word conflict, but they come into troubles with the kingdom of Cush. It sounds like it's really quick. Yeah, no, it is. I mean, it seems to be within a year or two, because I think it's around 30, 31, 32 BC that Mark Antony and Cleopatra defeated. And Octavia, I believe he's actually marched into Egypt to want to take control of it but also to capture Cleopatra and about a year or two after Cleopatra's death and Octavian's now called Augustus by the senate Augustus's ascendancy to become first emperor of Rome the Kushites and the imposition of that tax policy, which I believe the Romans were also

doing in other parts of their empire. The Kushites are saying, you know, we're not having any, we're not having any of this. But I think they were almost sort of battle-hardened as well, because a similar kind of rivalry between empires obviously takes place between them and Egypt. Part of the reason they flourish actually is because they want to initially, or Kerma initially, their first settlement around 2500 to 1500 BC, one of the first reasons it flourishes is because it wants to protect its trade interests and protect itself. So there is the sense of the Kushites, especially when it comes to money, tax, being merchants, production, industry, etc, are quite fierce at protecting their own interests but they've had to do that for centuries of course especially from what you're saying going back all

the way to the assyrians and the egyptians and the important role they play in trade for that isn't it it seems to be a thread that is ongoing underneath all this and i'm sure we'll be coming back to it very quickly as well and at the time time, at this time, who is ruling the kingdom of Kush? That's a very good question. I believe at this time that these tax revolts are happening, the ruler is actually Amani Reynos. When Akamani, who's this first king who introduces a lot of the Kushite culture or reintroduces a lot of the Kushite culture back. He curbs the power of the Egyptian priests at the Temple of Amun, and he makes, actually, as part of his rule, women much more important. Women were already important in Kushite society. They took part in

important ceremonies, including the coronation ceremony. They were seen as being an essential part of the rulership of kush which had to have both a feminine and a masculine aspect they're depicted in certain burial tombs etc with symbols of power including animal tails wrapped around their bodies and so forth but one of the things akamani does is to introduce these new powerful women rulers, essentially, who were able to rule in their own right. And these in the Kushite language are known as Kandankes, Latinized to Candaces. And this is actually where we get the name Candace from, is from these Kandankes, because Greek and Roman writers thought that the title Kandke, which essentially means queen mother or ruler female, was a name. So they called these queens or Candace, even though they had different names. And one of the most important and one of the most powerful of these queens is Amani Rainus,

who I'm not sure exactly when she's born, but she's around and she's an adult and is ruling around 27 to 22 BC. And this is when she engages in the war with Rome known as theions and a lot of the skirmishes and basically being a nuisance to Rome. It is her that sees, especially because the Kushites regard themselves as being different and important and significant as well. So they don't just want to be seen as a tributary nation that's providing tribute to this larger empire. They want to be seen as equal and powerful trade partners in their own right. Absolutely. And you can understand it, especially when you consider the longevity and the lifespan of that empire and the power that it had, not just militarily, but economically as well. Yes, exactly. You know, like I say, trading, it's very, very possible, actually, that these trade networks were extending and going as far as India and going as far as China as well.

I mean, they carry a huge distance and you can even see the amount of wealth that is flowing into Kursh, which is evident not only in the tombs themselves, which have, you know, gold everywhere, essentially, but also the jewelry and even the jewelry that accompanies things like that, you know, their animals, their horses. I mean, this is even early on, but one of the Kushite kings in about 700 BC, 800 BC, P.A. buries himself with his four horses, and they have the most magnificent regalia, you know, plumage and gold and silver and ivory and all kinds of rich, you know, grave goods, which shows the amount of wealth that Kush not only had itself, but that was flowing through Kush to other parts of the world and making the Kushite merchants and the Kushite population very wealthy indeed. Just before we go on to this clash of titans, as it were,

between the kingdom of Kush and the Romansans what you mentioned there was astonishing about these independent queens ruling in their own rights has that been going on for quite a while in the kingdom of kush well it's like i said kushite women were always very important there's this sense of the queen mother especially the mother of the king being very important i mean there's even evidence to suggest that the next ruler that it wasn't passed down just from father to son but actually the next ruler would be chosen usually as the sister's son so the ruler's sister's son and kushite women and kushite mothers especially in the royal family actually have the power to bestow kingship on whichever of their sons they think would be best to lead. So it actually seems to be a matrilineal society or definitely in a lot of aspects matrilineal.

And this is actually something that even still occurs in some parts of Africa today. These matriarchs essentially who decide which one of their children you know the sister's children will become the next ruler and if the ruler or if the son isn't old enough then the woman the mother rules as regent but even when the son comes of age and is ruling as well you can't say an independent ruler but he basically he's always ruling with the the advice and with the influence of his mother it's not as though the mother's cast aside and the king does exactly what he wants so actually these female warriors these candaces introduced it seems by akamani um actually some of them go into battle uh their sons. And you actually see this in certain reliefs in burial tombs.

So, for example, one of the earliest recorded queens is a queen called Shammakdikete, and she's shown leading her troops into battle. And there is actually as well a picture of Amani Renes or an image of Amani Renes, who when she is battling the Romans is actually entering the battle as well with her son called Arkinadad so that image that we have of Armani Reynos she's wearing battle dress and she's in the midst of battle with her son and so

there is this kind of close relationship and this close union between the female rulers and the male rulers as well. One isn't favored so much over the other, because even though a male is made technically the king or the ruler of Kush, in the background, the women and especially the mother is seen as having an important influence. And this actually mirrors the religious belief system of kush elements are somewhat borrowed from egypt but in kush you have these important female gods who always stand behind the male gods supporting them and that mirrors what happens in in the mortal world as well male kings male rulers don't rule independently. They always have either a wife or a mother who is ruling almost alongside them and acts as a kind of yin and yang relationship,

you know, acts as a complement to the male side of rulership. You have to have that side, but you also have to have this female side is equally important for a flourishing rule and for a flourishing kingdom absolutely okay then so how does the war between amani reynas and the kingdom of kush and the romans how does it progress what do we know about what happens so like i said it begins with these uh tax revolts that are taking place and the roman prefect essentially one of the first roman prefects at the times is charged with suppressing them so he suppresses the revolts that are taking place in thebes and he also suppresses those that are taking place in northern nubia as well which is also in chaos and this prefect whose name is Cornelius Gallus, rides into Nubia by force,

and he appoints a Roman client as ruler of Nubia. And he says to the Nubians, you have to pay the Romans tribute now. And that's happening for about five years, relationships are getting even worse. And then about four or five years later, Cornelius Gallus is actually replaced by another Roman prefect. Basically, the Assyrians at this time are causing trouble to Rome as well. So he's charged with marching into Arabia Felix, alias I believe his name is. He marches into Arabia Felix, which is modern day Yemen, and is fighting the Assyrians there. And it is while he's away that Amani Reynos leads a Kushite army to the southern frontier of Egypt, and she captures the town of Aswan and other Roman forts as well. Aswan is the fort which is the southernmost point, basically, of Rome, of the Roman Empire.

She captures that, she captures other forts, she sacks different temples and important religious buildings as well, but important buildings, including Philae. And Philae as well, she's keen to sack because it includes or it has within it, it contains statues of Augustus. So she actually is concerned with capturing certain statues of Augustus. And she actually takes concerned with capturing certain statues of Augustus. And she actually takes back not only several statues, but as well as the head of several bronze statues or the head of one particular statue, which she buries under the entrance of basically the temple in Morovi. So therefore, all the devotees who are walking into the temple to pay their respects to

the Kushite gods walk over the head of Augustus. And this is not only as well a sign of disrespect, but it also reflects the Kushite beliefs. By walking over your enemy, by stepping on and over your enemy, his power in the real world as well, even though it's just a depiction, his power in the real world would be severely weakened and it is after that now alias his expedition so the roman prefect alias his expedition into arabia is a disaster um the person who he asked to escort him turns out to not really be on his side and leads him into dangerous and and and dry territory and yeah and it's just it's just an absolute disaster so he comes back having lost the majority of his army and because of his failure

he's replaced by another prefect so there are three prefects who are basically charged with defeating kush he's he's replaced by another called um gaius Petronius. And Gaius Petronius, who defeats the Kushites who have taken control of some of these temples, and he forces the Kushites to retreat further south. And then he says there is an opportunity to make a peace between us. So he gives them a series of demands and says you have three days to acquiesce to these or we will continue fighting. And in three days, he doesn't hear from the Kushites. So he again marches further south into Kushite territory. He gets to the town of Napata, which used to be the Kushite capital, but it's now more of a second capital.

And he sacks that city, imprisoning a lot of its inhabitants. He also conquers a town called Kasser Ibrim, and he leaves a garrison there, and that's quite far south into Kushite territory. And then after he builds this fort, this garrison at Kasser Ibrim, he returns back to Egypt, essentially, and he's staying in Egypt. He's hanging out there. Now, Amani Reynus is not put off and the kushites themselves don't seem to be put off at all by having one of their more important cities sacked in fact this sort of revitalizes them um and i guess another important thing to mention is that when casa ibrim which is this kushite town is taken back by the romans Amani Reynos actually loses her son.

So I think she'd put her son basically in charge of Kasa Ibrim. I think it had already been Kushite territory, but her son is put in charge of there. And during the conflict where Gaius Petronius takes it back, he dies and he's killed in battle. And that's probably actually what does revitalize the Kushites and Amani Reynos in particular she's motivated she's grieving but she's also motivated by revenge for a dead son as well because he was actually supposed to become the next ruler and

he was being courted to become a ruler and they'd fought alongside one another and she was mentoring him to take over the throne of Kush. So he dies. So she tries to retake Kasa Ibrim but Gaius Petronius who hears of this large Kushite force coming back into the town marches south again and bolsters the town's defenses and there's a bit of a stalemate which is happening. No one's really really making any progress so they lay down their arms and amani reynos confronts petronius and petronius says again we're going to try and sue for peace you know the kushites have been a thorn in the roman side for quite a bit of time they just want to be done with it and petronius himself is not keen to keep on fighting these very hostile people because like i said they're not only effective fighters but they are fairly warlike and they aren't just going to you know bow down unless they get their way

and gaius petronius thinks that it's just a lot more trouble than it's worth so he says augustus is willing to lay down his arms or lay aside his arms if you negotiate a settlement and amani reynos actually at that point agrees, but she only agrees, I think, because she gets the indication that she's going to actually gain quite favorable terms from this treaty or from this peace. So Augustus at the time is on the island of Samos, and she sends some of her advisors and negotiators to Samos, just off the coast of western Turkey, and they negotiate a peace. And the peace treaty, the treaty is actually incredibly favorable to the Kushites, which

is what is interesting. All the conquered lands, including Kasa Ibrim, this town, you know, quite far south, all the conquered lands from Rome's Anubian territory are given back to the Kushites. And a Greek historian called Strabo, who was living in Turkey or what was then called Asia Minor. But he's living there at the time of the transition from the Roman Republic to the empire. And he writes this book called Geography, which is a count of all the peoples and territories known to him at that time. And he records that the Meroitic envoys the ambassadors so these are

being the Kushite ambassadors obtained everything for which they asked and the Roman Empire even remitted the taxes that he had levied on the region so Augustus says okay we won't tax you anymore or so much anymore you can have the lands we conquered back and we want to reopen trade negotiations and trade relationships Petronius and the Romans, they evacuate Casa Ibrim and the surrounding region and again the surrounding region is exempted from tribute. Amani Renis does have to give back as part of the peace treaty some of the statues that she stole but funnily enough she does actually keep the head of Augustus. She keeps the head of Augustus which is actually now in the British Museum. It's called the keep the head of Augustus. She keeps the head of Augustus, which is actually now

in the British Museum. It's called the Merui head of Augustus. So you can actually go when the museum opens and visitors are allowed in, one can actually go and see it. You know, this head that Amani Reynos took from the Temple at Philae. And what is also a nice sentimental, but also quite romantic end is that at Casa Ibrim, Amani Reynos erects a stelae in commemoration of her son, Arkinadad, who died in the battle there. So a funerary stelae is erected there to honour him. And that ends the conflict with the Romans and the Kushites. And I think the Romans as well were especially keen, I think they were more keen to re-establish trade relationships and trade negotiations with Kush. I mean, Kush had fantastic contacts, especially with the interior of Africa. I mean, all of the exotic things, you know, if we look at sort of roman art and you're seeing all these fantastic

images of you know lions and elephant you know all that type that all comes via kush you know all the gold and ebony and ivory um a lot of the jewelry and iron all of these things even the wheat that all comes from kush as well and because of you know even in our ideas about the romans we have this idea of the lions and the colosseum whatever it is you know even in our ideas about the Romans we have this idea of the lines and the quality or whatever it is you know there's this quite sort of African influence or these African motifs and African features which are very much a part of and are present in Roman society and I think Cush is one of the main thoroughfares through which a lot of these influences are coming into Rome. I mean, Cush itself, after it moves down to Meroe, and this is sometime after Samaticus, you know, Saxon,

Napeta as well, but they move down to Meroe and they become a lot more African than they do Egyptian, more local gods because of the increased rainfall. They don't need to rely on the flooding of the nile in order for higher crop yields they can spread out over a wider area so local chiefs become a lot more important and i think they curb the power even of the pharaoh or the kushite king who when he was more egyptian in attitudes and culture when the people were more egyptian in attitudes and culture, when the people were more Egyptian in attitudes and culture, he is this, you know, godlike figure whose authority is absolute. And in later times, when the chiefs essentially become more important, and in African culture takes a bit more hold on Kush, the final authority of the Kushite king relies a lot more on as well or the chiefs the chiefs who are in different parts of the Kushite empire different parts of the region are also significant and also have say

over the decisions the king makes and even who you know the king should be as well and they can depose him if they feel he doesn't have enough support or if they feel he's not doing a very good job. And it is this distinctive culture which I think influences Rome in the later years, sort of beginning just before the year 0 and onwards until about maybe 200 AD, and because Kush goes into decline around 300 AD and finally declines. After the Aksumites of the south, there's a new powerful kingdom in the south, the kingdom of Aksum, which invades Kush and sacks Meroe and the Kushites abandon. That's at about 330 AD.

And the king, the Aksumite king, Azana, actually adopts Christianity. So he sees much more of a, you know, Rome starts bypassing Kush after Kush is declining anyway, is trading more with Axum. The king of Axum at Zana adopts Christianity, aligns himself more closely with Rome, sacks Kush and the Kushites 20 years after abandon the city. And that's the end of one of the ancient world's most magnificent empires. one of the ancient world's most magnificent empires. I mean, it's absolutely remarkable what you've been saying there, especially when we consider the war, first of all, how it's as if the Roman relationship with Cush is first of all hostile,

but then with the treaty, and as you say, it sounds like they feel like they've really met their match. Cush isn't a client state. It is on an equal footing to the Roman Empire. But then from what you're saying in regards to trade trade in regards to politics and connections with the Mediterranean world that the Kingdom of Cush and the Roman Empire they're managing to coexist peacefully and actually there's a lot of benefit in this peace in this trade as you mentioned Cush's connections with the interior of Africa but interestingly what you're saying at the end, the kingdom of

Kush comes to an end, as it were, inadvertently by something that is created within the Roman Empire, which is Christianity. Christianity, yes, yes. I mean, that's the final blow. Kush, it is said, was probably going to decline anyway because of its iron industry led to deforestation, and they were overgrazing the cattle. The amount of cattle over a wide amount of land led to overgrazing. So there was a lot of environmental decline, which hastened the decline of Kush. But no, you're absolutely right. The final blow of the Kushite Empire comes because of the invasion of the Aksumites, who are this Christian nation. And actually, Zana is an interesting figure, the Aksumite king, because he adopts Christianity,

I mean, very, very soon after Constantine, it's like 10 years or something, very, very soon after Constantine does. And Aksum being in modern day Ethiopian Eritrea, and the Ethiopian Eritrea and the Ethiopian Orthodox Church being one of the oldest in the world. But yes, when as Kush goes into environmental and economic decline, Rome is trading more with Axum. And then Idzana seeing the opportunity here adopts Christianity. And it is that, I mean, this was at a time still where both when Constantine adopts Christianity and Idzana adopts Christianity, that Christianity basically starts to become an important religion, because before that it wasn't, you know, it was a very, very fringe religion. But with the adoption of these two powerful empires adopting it, Kush is sidelined,

you know, it's left out, essentially, because it is still the pagan in what they would both consider to be a pagan declining kingdom. And the relationships between Axum and Rome grow ever tighter, especially after they both adopt Christianity. And Kush's decline was hastened, but it was inevitable anyway. It wouldn't have been able to flourish unless it also adopted Christianity. And that might have been an interesting course of history but not one which which were party to um for better or for worse indeed indeed indeed we got the history that we have exactly and it is interesting just before we wrap up i'd like to go back quickly to that big period in between the decline and the initial war with the romans at the

time of augustus because you mentioned during the war, we have this astonishing combination of archaeology, you mentioned the head of Augustus, epigraphy, you mentioned that stelae, and we've also got literary mentions in Strabo. In that period following, in those 200 or so years following, where it seems to be quite peaceful between Cush and the Roman Empire, do we have much, let's start with the archaeological or epigraphical evidence from the Kingdom of Cush that really emphasises this connection with the Roman Empire? Yes, well, I think the north, especially northern Nubia, has very, very close relationships with the Roman Empire.

I'm not sure so much in terms of the archaeological evidence. We have a lot in terms of a bit of written evidence, like there's one Kushite individual, for example, who starts, who is writing Greek poetry, and he serves in the Roman Legion, and he's writing on the palace walls some of this Greek poetry, which is considered actually to be quite avant-garde as well but you see i don't know if in kushite let's say tombs especially northern kushite tombs you see a lot of you see a lot of roman you do actually see a bit you see for example roman pottery and roman amphorae and you see amphorae which is carrying wine for example or which used to carry

wine in some of these northern Nubian burial chambers as well so actually there is a bit of archaeological evidence of things which are coming you know jewellery and pottery and plates and some arts and crafts which you actually find in Kushite burial chambers and that suggests actually quite intense contact between the two empires, between the two kingdoms. But definitely the further south you go you have the Kushites themselves trying to, or the Kushites trying to assert themselves even in the way that they choose or name their rulers and they use more Kushite epithets. They hark back to the King Kashta who founded the 25th, actually what became known as the 25th dynasty of Egypt and this begins the

reign of what are sometimes called the African pharaohs or the black pharaohs and it's a bit of as well as a religious golden age for Europe but Kashta, Piae especially these are the people that the Kushites of the south are harking back to whereas the Kushites of the north they see the advantages of allying themselves more closely with the Romans especially with this growing empire which is becoming even more and more powerful and Kush is sending gold and slaves and exotic animals, etc. to Rome. But like I said, metal, glass, ceramic, cups, rings, jewelry, even mirrors are found in Kushite burial tombs. And in fact, after the peace treaty is struck between Armani Rainus and Augustus, or Gaius Petronius, his prefect. The Romans, even though they retreat,

they establish what is basically a buffer zone. So there's the south of the Roman Empire, then there's this kind of buffer zone, which is basically northern Nubia. And then there's Cush proper. And it is in this buffer zone or near this buffer zone that the Roman influence in Egypt is very strong. So the Romans, in fact, they built roads, they built some temples and forts, you know, garrisons. So you see a lot of architecture as well. Speaking of the archaeological evidence, you see a lot of stuff in the graves. They replaced Egyptian with Greek as the language of law and administration. They're importing goods, wine, famous Roman wine is circulating freely. And theans assimilated into the local

elite and nubians wanted to become part and these northern nubians wanted to become part of the roman establishment and that figure i mentioned writing the poetry is called a pacius maximus or pacius maximus so even he has a very roman name and he serves as a roman cavalry officer and he's writing greek poetry and even archimani the first king who introduces a lot of these very kush, and he serves as a Roman cavalry officer, and he's writing Greek poetry. And even Archimani, the first king who introduces a lot of these very Kushite reforms, he makes Kush a very Kushite place, you know, he reestablishes Kushite culture. He was actually schooled in Greek as well. He actually received a Greek education. And that's what makes him skeptical of the priests at the Temple of Amun. These priests give themselves a lot of power and they

basically say that in accordance with the gods, they know how long each reign of each king should be and whether he should die in order to make room for the next king, etc. And they're abusing this power quite significantly for their own interests. And Archimedes, who's schooled in Greek, doesn't believe this, basically. He's not so bound by the religions and the traditions. So he actually slays the priests and curbs their power, essentially. And that wouldn't have been done if he wasn't schooled in Greek philosophy. And that's what Strabo writes about, that because he was grounded in Greek philosophy, he was able to do this. He was able to be skeptical of the priest's power. able to uh you know to do this he was able to be skeptical of the priest's power so that's the evidence which suggests this intense contact especially in the in the early days even before

before and after the war between kush and rome but like i said it's definitely more the northern part of kush because the southern kushites want to establish themselves and assert themselves more particularly. I mean, absolutely. It's fascinating what you're saying. First of all, with the border region, as it were, this buffer state in between, and now how you say southern Kush from the archaeology, it sounds like it really wants to emphasize its distinctive identity. Exactly, exactly.

And part of us asserting that identity or part of that identity becoming a lot more unique and a lot more Kushite is because it's further away from Roman Egypt. The further away some of the Kushites get from Egypt, especially, the more independent and the more distinctive they Egyptians and also towards the Romans. For example, you find inscriptions which show figures who are wearing Kushite dress and they're trampling on bound prisoners, which could either be Egyptians or Romans. But it's a sense of othering other nations and other kingdoms. And there's also a decoration of a memorial temple which is unfortunately now lost which the Kushites built at the royal palace at Merui and this depicts these afrescos which depict bound Roman prisoners under the feet of a seated queen which is possibly Amani Renis actually who is sitting upon and stepping upon these bound Roman prisoners. And there's no sense of them unless they get favorable treatment, wanting to become aligned with or become client states of a larger empire. They want to be seen as something separate. And I think being seen as something

separate culturally is very important for as well asserting and keeping control over trade and economics as well. So it probably has that advantage, which might be why the rulers especially are keen to do it, as well as being loyal to their ancestors and especially the 25th dynasty, which ruled Egypt from about 800 BC onwards, displaying the Libyans. Although these initial kings of the 25th dynasty did see themselves as the saviour of Egyptian culture from the Libyans. So there's an interesting – but did have a blend of Egyptian and Kushite culture and mentalities. So it's interesting how later Kushites used that history in order to assert themselves and how they make use

of that past as well absolutely it sounds like the later spartans and how they try to emphasize the image that they had of the earlier spartans for instance in the in the sources how they say leonidas at thermopylae for instance it's amazing how that can how later rulers can hark back to what they might see as the glory days and try to replicate it correct i mean that's fascinating it happens throughout history anyway luke i could ask questions about this for hours but i think i've got to wrap it up there okay thank you so much for coming on the show absolute pleasure thank you very much tristan Thank you.