Cushites People

Out of all the cultures in our history, the Cushites are one of the most mysterious that existed. They only make an appearance in the Hebrew Bible, and it says very little about them. So, who were they?

They are said to be the southern neighbours of the ancient Egyptians. Across the centuries, the relation between the two nations greatly varied. From allies and trade partners to bitter rivals, it happened more than once that Cushites and Egyptians conquered one another. This means that it wasn’t uncommon for both people to heavily mix with one another, especially for military matters. Indeed, the Cushites people were a militaristic culture, meaning that their warriors were quite formidable and many saw services in the Egyptian Military force. After all, they weren’t called the "nation mighty and conquering" for nothing. It also happened on few occasions that the Egyptian Pharaoh was of Cushite origin. Yeah, people back then were far less picky on nationality.

Pharaoh Taharquo is the most well-known and notable one. During his reign, the Assyria invaded the Kingdom of Judah (modern Palestine) which was, at the time, under the reign of Hezekiah and a close neighbour of the Cushites/Egyptians. After the initial campaign going horribly wrong for the Hebrews, they managed to turn the tide during the siege of Jerusalem, setting the future favourite pass time of attacking the city by absolutely everyone from close to far. Seriously it was attacked more than 26 times through its history. Anyway, the legend says that "angels" came down from the sky and repealed the Assyrian invaders. The atheistic version stated that the Cushites are the ones that saved the day, and Taharquo was leading them. Beyond that, nothing much is known about them other than the Cushite people officially dissolved in 400 CE.