structural:scholar_edition
Formation (c. 1070–754 BC)

With the disintegration of the New Kingdom around 1070 BC, Kush became an independent kingdom centered at Napata in modern northern Sudan. This more-Egyptianized "Kingdom of Kush" emerged, possibly from Kerma, and regained the region's independence from Egypt. The extent of cultural/political continuity between the Kerma culture and the chronologically succeeding Kingdom of Kush is difficult to determine. The latter polity began to emerge around 1000 BC, 500 years after the end of the Kingdom of Kerma.

The first Kushite king known by name was Alara, who ruled somewhere between 800 and 760 BC. No contemporary inscriptions of him exist. He was first mentioned in the funerary stela of his daughter Tabiry, the wife of king Piye. Later royal inscriptions remember Alara as the founder of the dynasty, some calling him "chieftain", others "king". A 7th century inscription claimed that his sister was the grandmother of king Taharqo. An inscription of the 5th century king Amanineteyerike remembered Alara's reign as long and successful. Alara was probably buried at el-Kurru, although there exists no inscription to identify his tomb. It has been proposed that it was Alara who turned Kush from a chiefdom to an Egyptianized kingdom centered around the cult of Amun.