1. THE CIVILIZATION OF KUSH
6th Grade
Social Studies

2. REVIEW
You learned that Egypt was divided into three periods: the Old, Middle, and New.
You also learned that Egypt was very powerful at times, and very weak at others. Eventually, Egypt fell to more powerful armies who wielded iron weapons.

3. BIG IDEA (S)
To the south of Egypt, the Nubians settled in farming villages and became powerful warriors
The people of Kush devoted themselves to ironworking and grew wealthy from trade

4. AFTER THIS SECTION, YOU WILL BE ABLE TO:
Discuss the way of life of the Nubians
Identify the location of Kush
Explain why Kush prospered

5. What is this map showing us?
Describe the relative location of Kush 5

6. NATURAL RESOURCES OF KUSH
Gold mines
Ivory
Incense
Iron ore 6

7. NUBIA
Nubia was a society further south of Egypt, along the Nile (later called Kush)
Excellent hunters and warriors
Show them the Papyrus

8. KINGDOM OF KUSH Stronger villages took over weaker ones
Formed the kingdom of Kush at the capital Kerman
Traded with Egyptians (Egyptians even hired Nubian warriors)
Kush became a wealthy kingdom

9. PARTNER CHECK: INFERENCE
Later historians, like the Greek historian Herodotus, had difficulty distinguishing between Egyptian and Kushite culture. Why do you think so? What does this tell us about these two cultures?
They were very similar because they shared a lot of the same resources...the Nile and it's food sources
The fertile soil from the Nile allowed them to farm
Same resources through trading
Same natural barriers

10. EGYPT INVADES NUBIA Stronger villages took over weaker ones
Formed the kingdom of Kush at the capital Kerman
Traded with Egyptians (Egyptians even hired Nubian warriors)
Kush became a wealthy kingdom

11. WHY WAS KUSH IMPORTANT TO EGYPT?
Barrier against enemies from the south.
They served as a neutral zone
Gold mines were in Kush and Egypt wanted control of the gold for themselves
Geographic location: all trade had to go through Kush (ivory, animal skins, ostrich feathers, spices, ebony, ivory) 11

12. RISE OF KUSH Kush broke away from Egypt when Egypt became weak
Rules from city of Napata
Napata was on a trade route (why would this be beneficial?)
Piye and Kashta went north to conquer Egypt
Kushite culture emulated (copied) much of Egyptian culture

13. IDENTIFY CAUSES AND EFFECTS
Read pg 124 and complete the cause and effect chart
Egyptian pharaohs
Got worried because
Kush was growing
Wealthy and building
A strong army
Will they attack? 13

14. A CHANGE IN POWER Kush grew stronger. Shabaka declared himself pharaoh
Egypt is conquered by Kush
Pharaohs of Egypt grew weaker
25th, or Kushite Dynasty
Kashta (a king in Kush) attacked and took Upper Egypt
Tried to restore Egyptian culture and temples, so it thrived
Created relations with lower Egypt
Assyrians came in with their iron weapons and pushed Kushites out of Egypt
Piankhi took Upper Egypt b/c "the gods wanted him to" 14

15. IMPORTANCE OF IRON Assyrians invaded Egypt and drove Kushites out
Kushites learned the secret of iron weapons from the Assyrians
Soon, Kushites were using iron tools (they became more efficient farmers and warriors)
Kushites began trading iron Mm far away, and brought back many new resources
Check out the big book for info on the Assyrians

16. A NEW CAPITAL
Kushites moved capital to Meroe to be out of reach of the Assyrians (so did they move south or north?)
City was built to look Egyptian
Center of trade for the region for hundreds of years
Go to pg.128 in your book and analyze the map

17. KUSHITE PYRAMIDS

18. PRACTICE NOTE-TAKING SKILLS
Set up a T-chart to take cornel notes
Read pages
Take notes on the important ideas
Sub-headings (red) tell us main topics
These go on the left
Find important details on the right 18

19. PARTNER QUICK CHECK
Why is trade so important, and how did geography, or where people decided to set up their cities, influence whether or not they became wealthy and powerful?