Kingdom of Kush
Decline and fall

Kush began to fade as a power by the first or second century AD, sapped by the war with the Roman province of Egypt and the decline of its traditional industries. However, there is evidence of third century AD Kushite Kings at Philae in demotic and inscription. It has been suggested that the Kushites reoccupied lower Nubia after Roman forces were withdrawn to Aswan. Kushite activities led others to note "a de facto Kushite control of that area (as far north as Philae) for part of the third century AD. Thereafter, it weakened and disintegrated due to internal rebellion.

The fall of Meroe is often associated with an Aksumite invasion. An Aksumite presence in Meroe is confirmed by two fragmentary Greek inscriptions. The better preserved one referred to military actions and the imposition of a tribute. They probably belonged to Aksumite victory monuments and were dedicated to Ares / Maher, the god of war. Thus, they must have been erected before Aksum's conversion to Christianity in around 340, perhaps by king Ousanas (r. c. 310–330). An inscription from Aksum mentioning Kush as vassal kingdom may also be attributed to Ousanas. The trilingual stele of his successor Ezana describes another expedition which happened after 340. Ezana's army followed the course of the Atbara until reaching the Nile confluence, where he waged war against Kush. Meroe itself is not mentioned, suggesting that Ezana did not attack the town. Aksum's presence in Nubia was likely short-lived.

Meroitic texts from as early as the 1st century BC hint to conflicts with the Noba, who lived west of the Nile and were governed by their own chiefs and kings. Perhaps it was the increasingly arid climate that forced them to attack the Nile Valley, although they would not manage to break through until the 4th century. The Ezana stele mentioned that they had occupied Kushite towns and were active as far east as the Takeze River, where they harassed Aksumite vassals. These attacks and them breaking oaths they had sworn to Ezana were the main reason for his Nubian expedition. It has been proposed that the Noba were not necessarily Nubian-speakers, but that the term "Noba" was rather a pejorative Meroitic word applied to a large variety of people living outside the Meroitic state. A Meroitic stele found at Gebel Adda from around 300 AD, however, seems to mention a king bearing the Nubian name Trotihi. A bowl from a 4th-century elite burial in el-Hobagi features a Meroitic-Nubian inscription mentioning a "king", but identifying the interred individual and the polity he ruled over remains problematic.

At Meroe, the last pyramids as well as non-royal burials are dated to the mid-4th century, which is conventionally thought to be when the kingdom of Kush came to an end. Afterwards began the so-called "post-Meroitic" period. This period saw a decline of urbanism, the disappearance of the Meroitic religion and script as well as the emergence of regional elites buried in large tumuli. Princely burials from Qustul (c. 380–410) and Ballana (410–500) in Lower Nubia are connected to the rise of Nobatia. To its north were the Blemmyes, who in around 394 established a kingdom centered around Talmis that lasted until it was conquered by Nobatia in around 450. The political developments south of the third cataract remain obscure, but it appears that Dongola, the later capital of Makuria as well as Soba, the capital of Alodia, were founded in that period. Nobatia, Makuria and Alodia eventually converted to Christianity in the 6th century, marking the beginning of medieval Nubia.
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