All about the ancient tribes
What is the difference between Egypt and Nubia?
The Nubian pyramids differ from Egyptian ones: They are smaller—20 to 90 feet on a side, compared with the Great Pyramid’s 756 feet—with much steeper sides, and most were built two thousand years after those at Giza.
The First Cataract, just south of Aswan in Egypt, marks the separation of Egypt and Nubia, while the Second Cataract separates Upper (southern) and Lower (northern) Nubia.
Through their shared history, Egyptians and Nubians also came to worship the same chief god, Amun, who was closely allied with kingship and played an important role as the two civilizations vied for supremacy.
Nubia and Ancient Egypt had periods of both peace and war. It is believed, based on rock art, that Nubian rulers and early Egyptian pharaohs used similar royal symbols. There was often peaceful cultural exchange and cooperation, and marriages between the two did occur.
Nubia was home to some of Africa’s earliest kingdoms. Known for rich deposits of gold, Nubia was also the gateway through which luxury products like incense, ivory, and ebony traveled from their source in sub-Saharan Africa to the civilizations of Egypt and the Mediterranean.
Nubia and Egypt influenced each other in several ways. They influenced each other as a result of their close relationship. For example, the Nubians worshipped Egyptian gods and goddesses along with their own Nubian deities. The Nubians also adapted Egyptian hieroglyphs to fit their own language and created an alphabet.
Nubia was home to several empires, most prominently the Kingdom of Kush, which conquered Egypt in eighth-century BC during the reign of Piye and ruled the country as its 25th Dynasty (to be replaced a century later by the native Egyptian 26th Dynasty). Today, the region of Nubia is split between Egypt and Sudan.
King Piankhi is considered the first African Pharaoh to rule Egypt from 730 BC to 656 BC.
In ancient times, Nubians practiced a mixture of traditional religion and Egyptian religion. Prior to the spread of Islam, many Nubians practiced Christianity. Beginning in the eighth century, Islam arrived in Nubia, though Christians and Muslims (primarily Arab merchants at this period) lived peacefully together.
Nubian Warriors Nubia kings ruled Egypt for about a century. Nubians served as warriors in the armies of Egypt, Assyria, Greece, Rome. Nubian archers also served as warriors in the imperial army of Persia in the first millennium BC. According to 2 Samuel 18 and 2 Chronicles 14, they also fought on behalf of Israel.
For the next century, the region known as Nubia — home to civilizations older than the dynastic Egyptians, skirting the Nile River in what is today northern Sudan and southern Egypt — was paid relatively little attention.
Egypt had control over Nubia for nearly five-hundred years. The relationship between Egypt and Nubia changed drastically in the years from 750-730 BC when the Kingdom of Kush and the Nubian prince, Piankhy (also known as Piye) pushed northward to capture Egypt from Libyan control and establish their capital at Thebes.