The Egyptians pulled out of Nubia after about 1100 BCE. After that we know little about Nubia for the next three hundred years. If Egyptian texts are silent about something, it usually means that the Egyptians did not wish to speak about a subject because it would embarrass them. Probably powerful new forces were emerging in Nubia, and Egypt could no longer control them. When written documents reappear, about 750 BCE, they belong to a Nubian dynasty that has taken control of all the former Egyptian territory in Nubia.
The only evidence yet found for the origin of the new Nubian dynasty comes from a site called El-Kurru, about 15 km. down the river from Jebel Barkal. Here archaeologists found traces of a walled city and the ruined tombs of the earliest chiefs and their wives. At first these rulers were buried under circular mounds, lying on beds, as at Kerma. Before long they adopted Egyptian burial practices, and began practicing mummification and building small pyramids. Even though they did not speak Egyptian, they adopted Egyptian language and writing for their inscriptions, which allows us to read their thoughts. They also started worshipping the Egyptian god Amun of Jebel Barkal, who told them that they were the rightful rulers of Egypt. About 750 BCE they publicly proclaimed themselves Egypt's true pharaohs, even though they had not yet set foot there.
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| View of the cemetery at El-Kurru, Sudan. Here are the ruined tombs of the Nubian chiefs who about 750 BCE would claim the title "Pharaoh" and conquer Egypt. |
| Photo: T. Kendall. |
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| View of the ruined tumulus grave of the earliest ruler buried at El-Kurru, who is thought to have lived about 900 BCE. Although his descendants adopted Egyptian burial customs, he was buried in purely Nubian form. |
| Photo: T. Kendall. |