Third Intermediate Period
Taharqa (Khunefertemre)
25th Dynasty (Kushite/Nubian) · 747-656 BCE
Open full-size illustration →Source: Shaw, Oxford History of Ancient Egypt (2000)
Background
Taharqa presided over the Kushite dynasty's high point of building and prosperity before Assyrian invasions drove him from Egypt entirely, and even in defeat he was laid to rest beneath the largest pyramid ever built at the Nubian royal cemetery of Nuri. Research: UCL Digital Egypt; National Geographic.
Chronological source: Shaw, Oxford History of Ancient Egypt (2000)
Full profile
The builder king
Taharqa was a son of Piye and is arguably the most famous of all Kushite pharaohs. He enjoyed a period of relative peace and prosperity during his first 15 years on the throne. He launched massive construction projects across Upper and Lower Egypt, earning him the reputation of a prolific builder. He is also recorded as sponsoring long-distance night races for his troops from Saqqara to the Fayum.
The Assyrian invasions
His peaceful reign ended violently when the Assyrian king Esarhaddon invaded Egypt in 671 BCE. The Assyrians inflicted multiple defeats on Taharqa, eventually sacking Memphis and capturing the royal family, including the crown prince. Taharqa fled south and briefly retook Memphis after Esarhaddon's death, but the subsequent Assyrian king, Ashurbanipal, launched a devastating counter-invasion. Taharqa was driven out of Egypt entirely, fleeing first to Thebes and then to Nubia, where he died in 664 BCE.
The largest pyramid at Nuri
Despite his defeat in Egypt, Taharqa was buried in extraordinary style back home in Nubia. He founded an entirely new royal cemetery at Nuri, near Napata, and his own pyramid there, roughly 52 meters along each side, remains the largest ever built at the site, accompanied by the most elaborately cut rock tomb of any Kushite king. Excavators recovered more than a thousand shabti figurines from the burial, carved in granite, green ankerite, and alabaster, an assemblage on a scale that rivaled or exceeded the shabti sets of many far wealthier Egyptian-based pharaohs.
Sources for this profile
- Shaw, I. (Ed.). (2000). The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt. Oxford University Press.
- Dodson, A., & Hilton, D. (2004). The Complete Royal Families of Ancient Egypt. Thames & Hudson.
- Leprohon, R. J. (2013). The Great Name: Ancient Egyptian Royal Titulary. Society of Biblical Literature.
- UCLA Encyclopedia of Egyptology. Chronology. UCLA.
- University College London. Digital Egypt for Universities.
The complete, APA-formatted reference list is on the Academic Sources & Bibliography page.