• When we think of pyramids we usually end up thinking of Egyptian civilization but there was another pyramid building kingdom that flourished in Africa and it was known as the Kushite empire. The Kushite empire collapsed long ago and whats left of it is the country known today as Nubia. The Kushite empire was unique for multiple reasons, the most important reason being that  when the Kushite empire was ruling over Egypt all the pharaohs were dark skinned Africans. There has been heated debate over what race the ancient Egyptians were but what isn't debated is that out of all the people that controlled Egypt whether it be the Greeks, Romans, Persians or Assyrians the Kushites were undoubtedly black. The first Kushite ruler to conquer Egypt was known by the name Piye or sometimes Piankhi.  Piye didn't actually conquer all of Egypt however even though his siege lasted 5 months. Piye had founded what would be known as the 25th dynasty of Egypt. The next ruler was named Shabaka and he would succeed in conquering all of Egypt. During his reign  any building projects took place all over Egypt especially Thebes.  What would really set the Kushite rulers apart from other rulers of Egypt is that during their reign an estimated 255 pyramids were built and reached heights of up to 98 feet tall and they can still be seen today in the Sudan. The next pharaoh was Taharqa. During his reign Egypt flourished culturally but trouble was starting to arise and that trouble would come in the form of the Assyrians. Although  Taharqa would end up defeating the Assyrians on a few occasions it became clear that the copper weapons used by the Kushites could not compete with the  iron weapons wielded by the Assyrians. Whats puzzling is that the Kushites had already been using iron for numerous different purposes but never used it to make weapons. The reasons for this are still debated but some say it could have been for religious or spiritual reasons. The Assyrians eventually took Egypt and caused much destruction while doing so. From this point on Egypt would never again come under the rule of native African rulers. The rule of the Kushites lasted anywhere from 75 to 100 years. While Egypt would decline and fall under the rule of many foreign powers the Kushite's country of origin, Nubia, would continue to thrive for another 1000 years. In fact when the Arabs began to invade North Africa the kingdom of Nubia would defeat the Arab invaders in two wars and ensure their survival for another 600 years. This was one of the few serious defeats the Arab invaders suffered in their conquests.