Editing Taharqa (section)

== Reign ==
[[File:Kushite heartland and Kushite Empire of the 25th dynasty circa 700 BCE.jpg|thumb|left|Kushite heartland, and [[Kushite Empire]] of the 25th dynasty of Egypt, under Taharqa<ref>{{cite journal |title=Dive beneath the pyramids of Sudan's black pharaohs |journal=National Geographic |date=2 July 2019 |url=https://www.nationalgeographic.com/culture/2019/07/dive-ancient-pyramid-nuri-sudan/ |language=en |access-date=31 August 2020 |archive-date=29 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200829150404/https://www.nationalgeographic.com/culture/2019/07/dive-ancient-pyramid-nuri-sudan/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>]]
Although Taharqa's reign was filled with conflict with the [[Assyria]]ns, it was also a prosperous renaissance period in Egypt and [[Kingdom of Kush|Kush]].<ref name=Welsby>{{cite book |last1=Welsby |first1=Derek A. |title=The Kingdom of Kush |date=1996 |publisher=British Museum Press |location=London, UK |isbn=0-7141-0986-X |pages=158 |language=en}}</ref><ref name=Torok>{{cite book |author=Török, László |title=The Kingdom of Kush: Handbook of the Napatan-Meroitic Civilization |publisher=BRILL |location=Leiden |year=1998 |isbn=90-04-10448-8 |pages=132–133, 170–184 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=i54rPFeGKewC&pg=PA132 }}</ref> The empire flourished under Taharqa, due in part to a particularly large Nile river flood, abundant crops,<ref name="Welsby" /> and the "intellectual and material resources set free by an efficient central government."<ref name="Torok" /> Taharqa's inscriptions indicate that he gave large amounts of gold to the temple of Amun at Kawa.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Welsby |first1=Derek A. |title=The Kingdom of Kush |date=1996 |publisher=British Museum Press |location=London, UK |isbn=0-7141-0986-X |pages=169 |language=en}}</ref> The Nile valley empire was as large as it had been since the New Kingdom.<ref name="Török, László 1997">Török, László. The Kingdom of Kush: Handbook of the Napatan-Meroitic Civilization. Leiden: Brill, 1997. Google Scholar. Web. 20 Oct. 2011.</ref> Taharqa and the 25th dynasty revived Egyptian culture.<ref name="Diop 219–221">{{cite book|last=Diop|first=Cheikh Anta|title=The African Origin of Civilization|year=1974|publisher=Lawrence Hill Books|location=Chicago, Illinois|isbn=1-55652-072-7|pages=219–221}}</ref> Religion, arts, and architecture were restored to their glorious Old, Middle, and New Kingdom forms. During Taharqa's reign, the "central features of Theban theology were merged with Egyptian Middle and New Kingdom imperial ideology.".<ref name="Torok" /> Under Taharqa, the cultural integration of Egypt and Kush reached such a point that it could not be reversed, even after the Assyrian conquest.<ref name="Torok" />
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| image1 = Taharqo, Black Pharaohs Cache (Dukki Gel ) , Kerma Museum,Sudan (3).jpg
| caption1 = Portrait of Taharqa, [[Kerma Museum]]
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| caption2 = Reconstruction with original colors ([[Louvre Museum]]).
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Taharqa restored existing temples and built new ones. Particularly impressive were his additions to the Temple at Karnak, new temple at Kawa, and temples at [[Jebel Barkal]].<ref name="Diop 219–221" /><ref>{{cite book|last=Bonnet|first=Charles|author-link=Charles Bonnet (archeologist)|title=The Nubian Pharaohs|year=2006|publisher=The American University in Cairo Press|location=New York|isbn=978-977-416-010-3|pages=142–154}}</ref><ref name="Mokhtar1990" /><ref>{{cite book|last=Emberling|first=Geoff|title=Nubia: Ancient Kingdoms of Africa|year=2011|publisher=Institute for the Study of the Ancient World|location=New York|isbn=978-0-615-48102-9|pages=9–11}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Silverman|first=David|title=Ancient Egypt|year=1997|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=New York|isbn=0-19-521270-3|pages=[https://archive.org/details/ancientegypt00davi_0/page/36 36–37]|url=https://archive.org/details/ancientegypt00davi_0/page/36}}</ref> Taharqa continued the 25th dynasty's ambitious program to develop Jebel Barkal into a "monumental complex of sanctuaries...centered around the great temple of...Amun."<ref name="Torok" /> The similarity of Jebel Barkal to Karnak "seems to be central to the builders at Jebel Barkal.".<ref name="Torok" /> The rest of Taharqa's constructions served to create "Temple Towns", which were "local centers of government, production, and redistribution."<ref name="Torok" />

It was during the 25th dynasty that the Nile valley saw the first widespread construction of pyramids (many in modern Sudan) since the Middle Kingdom.<ref name="Mokhtar1990">{{cite book|last=Mokhtar|first=G.|title=General History of Africa|year=1990|publisher=University of California Press|location=California, USA|isbn=0-520-06697-9|pages=161–163}}</ref><ref name="Emberling2011">{{cite book|last=Emberling|first=Geoff|title=Nubia: Ancient Kingdoms of Africa|year=2011|publisher=Institute for the Study of the Ancient World|location=New York|pages=9–11}}</ref><ref name="Silverman1997">{{cite book|last=Silverman|first=David|title=Ancient Egypt|year=1997|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=New York|isbn=0-19-521270-3|pages=[https://archive.org/details/ancientegypt00davi_0/page/36 36–37]|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/ancientegypt00davi_0/page/36}}</ref> Taharqa built the largest pyramid (~52 meters square at base) in the Nubian region at [[Nuri]] (near [[El-Kurru]]) with the most elaborate Kushite rock-cut tomb.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Welsby |first1=Derek A. |title=The Kingdom of Kush |date=1996 |publisher=British Museum Press |location=London, UK |isbn=0-7141-0986-X |pages=103, 107–108 |language=en}}</ref> Taharqa was buried with "over 1070 shabtis of varying sizes and made of granite, green ankerite, and alabaster."<ref>{{cite book |last1=Welsby |first1=Derek A. |title=The Kingdom of Kush |date=1996 |publisher=British Museum Press |location=London, UK |isbn=0-7141-0986-X |pages=87 |language=en}}</ref>