| Kashta | |
|---|---|
 Bronzesitula with the names of Kashta and Amenirdis I.Walters Art Museum. | |
| Pharaoh | |
| Reign | c. 760–747 BC[1] |
| Predecessor | Alara |
| Successor | Piye |
| Consort | Pebatjma |
| Children | Piye,Shabaka (sons);Khensa,Peksater,Amenirdis I, Neferukakashta (daughters) |
| Burial | el-Kurru |
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Kashta was an 8th century BCE king of theKushite Dynasty in ancientNubia and the successor ofAlara. His nomenk3š-t3 (transcribed as Kashta, possibly pronounced /kuʔʃi-taʔ/[2]) "of the land of Kush" is often translated directly as "The Kushite".[3] He was succeeded byPiye, who would go on to conquerancient Egypt and establish theTwenty-Fifth Dynasty there.
Kashta is thought to either have been the brother of his predecessor Alara, or to have been unrelated.[4] Both Alara and Kashta were thought to have married their sisters. These theories date back to the work of Dunham and Macadam, but Morkot points out that there is no clear evidence to support these assumptions.[5]
Kashta's only known wife wasPebatjma. Several children and possible children are recorded:
While Kashta ruled Nubia fromNapata, which is 400 km north ofKhartoum, the modern capital ofSudan, he also exercised a strong degree of control overUpper Egypt by managing to install his daughter, Amenirdis I, as the presumptive God's Wife of Amun inThebes in line to succeed the serving Divine Adoratrice of Amun, Shepenupet I,Osorkon III's daughter. This development was "the key moment in the process of the extension of Kushite power over Egyptian territories" under Kashta's rule since it officially legitimized the Kushite takeover of theThebaid region.[8] The Hungarian Kushite scholar,László Török, notes that there were probably already Kushite garrisons stationed in Thebes itself during Kashta's reign both to protect this king's authority over Upper Egypt and to thwart a possible future invasion of this region fromLower Egypt.[9]
Török observes that Kashta's appearance as King of Upper and Lower Egypt and peaceful takeover of Upper Egypt is suggested both "by the fact that the descendants of Osorkon III,Takelot III andRudamun continued to enjoy a high social status in Thebes in the second half of the 8th and in the first half of the 7th century" [BCE] as is shown by their burials in this city as well as the joint activity between the Divine Adoratrice Shepenupet I and the god's Wife of Amun Elect Amenirdis I, Kashta's daughter.[10] Astela from Kashta's reign has been found inElephantine (modern dayAswan)--at the local temple dedicated to the godKhnum—which attests to his control of this region.[11] It bears his royal name or prenomen:Nimaatre. Egyptologists today believe that either he or more likely Piye was the Year 12 Nubian king mentioned in a well-known inscription at Wadi Gasus which associates the Adopted god's Adoratice of Amun, Amenirdis, Kashta's daughter together with Year 19 of the serving God's Wife of Amun, Shepenupet.[12] Kashta's reign length is unknown. Some sources credit Kashta as the founder of the25th dynasty since he was the first Kushite king known to have expanded his kingdom's influence into Upper Egypt.[13] Under Kashta's reign, the native Kushite population of his kingdom, situated between the third and fourthCataracts of the Nile, became rapidly 'Egyptianized' and adopted Egyptian traditions, religion and culture.[14] Kashta's successor was Piye.
The pyramids ofel-Kurru contain the tombs of Kashta and several of his successors. The highest part of the cemetery contains 4 tumulus tombs (Tum.1,2,4 and 5). To the east of the tumulus tombs we find a row of at least eight pyramids. One of them partially intrudes on a tumulus tomb (Tum.19). The southernmost of this row of pyramids belong to Kashta (presumably to) his wife Pebatjma. Before this row is another row of pyramids which includes those of Piye, Shabaka andTanutamani.
To the south of the (presumed) pyramid of Pebatjma one has to cross the southern wadi to reach the southern pyramids. These are the pyramids of the Queens:Naparaye (K.3),Khensa (K.4),Qalhata (K.5), andArty (K.6).[15]
| Preceded by | Kushite king 25th Dynasty | Succeeded by |
Kushite monarchs and rulers | ||
|---|---|---|
| Main topics | | |
| Viceroys atKerma | ||
| Napatan | ||
| Early Meroitic | ||
| Late Meroitic |
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