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Nubia
(Land of Gold): The Kingdom of Kush
(also called Nubia - the Land of Gold) was located on the Nile
River, to the south of ancient Egypt. Nubia was also known
as the Land of the Bow because their archers were expert and fierce.
The army of archers kept the Nubian people safe. It was important
for them to be strong. Many kingdoms wanted to control Nubia. Nubia
was a land of natural wealth. They had gold mines, ivory, incense,
and iron ore. Unlike Egypt, they were not dependent upon the
flooding of the Nile for good soil. They enjoyed tropical rainfall
all year long.
Daily
Life of the Common People: The common
people lived in farming villages. Each village had a leader, but
their role was suggestive rather than controlling. Each village
worked together as a unit for the common good of the village. There
was a division of labor. For the common people in ancient Kush,
daily life was village life.
There was a place inside each village where the
villagers would collect. And, there was a place where many villages
collected. When there was a festival, the people in individual
villages knew where the festival would be held if they were invited
- it would be held at the place where many villages collected.
Daily
Life of the Nobles: For many hundred
of years, the nobles of ancient Kush thought of themselves as
Egyptians. They dressed like Egyptians. Their homes were similar.
The kings and nobles lived in riverside palaces. There were
sailboats on the Nile. Their daily life was very much like the
people they envied - the ancient Egyptians. As in ancient Egypt,
many of their leaders were great Queens, not Kings.
When the capital of the Kushite kingdom was
moved further south along the Nile, they began to act less like
Egyptians and more like other civilizations in South Sahara Africa.
Their jewelry changed. They began wearing anklets and ear studs.
Religion:
In the beginning, they worshiped the
same gods as did the ancient Egyptians, with a few extra throw in
like the three-headed Lion God. They mummified their dead. They
build pyramids. Kush pyramids looked a little differently - they had
flat tops, but they served the same purpose; they were tombs. The
people of Kush loved stories from the Bible. Many became Christians
because of the Bible stories they heard from passing traders.
Kush
- the Iron Capital of the Ancient African World: Although
they were two different kingdoms, Egypt and Kush were linked by the
Nile River, by a shared past, and by the economics of the day. Kush
had something other kingdoms wanted. They had iron. This time in
history was known as the Iron Age. From about 1000 BCE to about 1000
CE, iron was critically important. Iron was used to make tools and
weapons. Kush was the iron center of ancient Africa. Kush was also
one of the major gold producers in the ancient world.
Trade:
Trade was very important to Kush.
They established flourishing ports on the Red Sea. They tried to
work out trade agreements with Egypt that would allow them free
access to the Mediterranean via the Nile River. Egyptians depended
on Kush for iron, gold, and for exotic goods like incense and ebony.
Kush wanted Egyptian manufactured goods, especially their cotton, an
export for which Egypt is still famous today.
Supply
and Demand: As the demand for iron
grew, Kush ran into a problem. To make iron, they needed to wood to
burn. They had used up much of their wood. Their resources were
dwindling. Kush could not produce as much iron as they had in the
past, yet demand for iron was growing. Traders began to look
elsewhere for iron. As trade dwindled, the country began to weaken.
Kush looked around for new avenues of trade.
They had incense. They had ivory. Certainly someone would want these
wonderful products. The leaders of Kush began to turn their eyes
towards the vast Sahara
Desert. What it possible? Could they develop a trade route to
the far away kings of which they had great things?
Camels
(Ships of the Desert): Around 750 CE,
everything changed when Islamic traders began to use camels to
transports goods across the desert. The use of camels made it
possible to get from Kush to West Africa, to literally get from here
to there.
The
Trans-Sahara Trade Route: The
day the first caravan of camels headed west into the Sahara Desert
was the day that marked the opening of the Trans-Sahara
Trade Route.
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