The island of Meroe

The power of Kush :

On about -713, Shabaka rises to the throne. He submits to the rule of Kush the whole valley of the Nile as far to the Delta. The compilers of the Egyptian royal lists regarded him as the founder of the XXVth dynasty. The great policy of the Middle East leaded Koushites to Asia where the outbreak of Assyrians has begun to be felt.
In the same year when Taharqua (689/663) reached the throne, the Assyrian king Sennacherib destroyed Babylon. Taharqua immediately announced his intention to tackle the Assyrian power and is therefore the only pharaoh to be cited by name in the Bible. In the Book of Isaiah, we read: "Then the king of Assyria received a news about Tirhka, king of Ethiopia, one said to him: " Now, he has walked to make you war ". The horror inspired by the Sudanese warriors was confirmed on -669 when Taharka managed to reoccupy Memphis conquered by the Assyrians two years ago.
Although his successor had to flee on -663 pursued by the armies of Assourbanipal who conquered Thebes and put an end to the Kushite dynasty, Taharka remains a big name in the history of ancient Egypt. His cartridges recovered on many monuments from the Delta as far as the fourth cataract, prove that he really controlled a vast Egyptian-Sudanese empire extending over 2500 Km of the Nile valley.