The Kushite Twenty-Fifth Dynasty: Piye, Shabaka, and Taharqa

Kushite royal ideology fully adopted Egyptian pharaonic titulary, hieroglyphic writing, and the Egyptian pantheon; kings were chosen from within the royal family through a process with a strong religious component, including oracular consultation of Amun, and succession could move between brothers rather than strictly from father to son. Piye, son of Kashta and reigning approximately between 747 and 716 BCE, completed the conquest of Egypt around 728-727 BCE. His "Victory Stela," discovered at Gebel Barkal, recounts his campaign against the princes of Lower Egypt led by Tefnakht of Sais: Piye advanced from Napata up the Nile, taking Thebes, Hermopolis, and Memphis, and the text portrays him as a deeply pious king who stopped to pray at every temple of Amun along his route. After his victory, Piye returned to Napata rather than settling permanently in Egypt, leaving local rulers in place as tributaries; he was buried at El-Kurru beneath the first true royal pyramid built by the Napatan dynasty, his horses interred beside him with great honor.