Home Region:  Northeast Africa (Africa)

Egypt - Kushite Period

747 BCE 656 BCE
EQ 2020  eg_kushite / SdKusht
Preceding Entity: Add one more here.
1069 BCE 747 BCE Egypt - Thebes-Libyan Period (eg_thebes_libyan)    [continuity]

Succeeding Entity:
No Polity found. Add one here.


  General Description  
Towards the end of the preceding Thebes-Libyan period, the northern reaches of the Nile River were invaded by Amun-worshipping Kushites from the south who had built up a strong state based in Napata, in the Sudan, at the foot of Gebel Barkal mountain. [1] The first Kushite ruler of Egypt, Piye, was crowned in Napata; [2] this remained the capital of the Kushite Empire until c. 716 BCE, when the entire Nile Valley up to the delta was acquired under Shabaka, [3] who then moved the capital and royal residence from Napata to Memphis in order to emphasize the foreign dynasty’s respect for traditional Egyptian customs. [4] [5] Kushite rule of Egypt (the Twenty-fifth Dynasty) occurred within an extremely complex political climate that has been the cause of much debate among historians. The Twenty-third Dynasty of the preceding Thebes-Libyan Period survived throughout this period, only to be toppled by the first ruler of the Saite Kingdom, Psamtek I (r. 664-610; Twenty-sixth Dynasty). The Egyptologist Jeremy Pope concludes that the ’Double Kingdom’ (Kushite and Libyo-Egyptian) had some form of ’nominal unity’ across a large territory. [6]
Population and political organization
Scholars debate the extent to which there was a centralized bureaucracy in Egypt under Kushite rule. In Lower Nubia, the Kushite king may have exercised power through ’invisible elites’ such as merchants, pastoralists, and local potentates - ’a striking contrast with the bureaucratic formalization of Upper Egypt’. [7] Archaeologist Robert Morkot has argued that the Twenty-fifth Dynasty kept the Egyptian administrative system largely unchanged, making only relatively minor alterations such as appointing new individuals or families to official positions. [8] However, Jeremy Pope believes that we cannot use New Kingdom analogies to draw conclusions about Kushite governing principles, and that ’central authority and administration had disappeared’ in this period. [9] The Egyptian position of vizier probably continued but was ’deprived of effective power’. [10]
What is not in doubt is that the Kushite king was a powerful military ruler and, in the Libyan tradition, likely made marriage alliances with the elite throughout Egypt. [11] In general, Kushite rule drew its power from military capacity and the day-to-day workings of local government were left in the hands of the Egyptian dynasts. [12] Nubians and Egyptians also shared a common set of religious practices. King Piye, who successfully invaded Egypt, boasted of his divine legitimacy on a stele: ’Amon of Napata has made me sovereign over every people’, [3] and established an official cult of Amun around 780-760 BCE; his sister became priestess. [13] The existing powerful religious offices in Upper Egypt were also important for Kushite rule: the position of God’s Wife (or Divine Adoratrice) at Thebes was maintained due to its political utility, and Kushite royals were installed as high priests. [12] In earlier times, the high priest at Thebes had exercised both civil and military authority, but the Kushites maintained their own Kushite military commanders, while civil authority was given initially to Kushite governors and later to ’Theban bureaucrats’. [14] The end of Kushite rule in Egypt and the beginning of the Saite Dynasty furnishes a rare example of a peaceful transition, involving the adoption of the Saite princess Nitocris by the last Kushite Divine Adoratrice of Amun, Amenirdis II, in 656 BC. [15]
Kushite-period Memphis, where the chief royal residence was based, [5] is thought to have had a population of perhaps 65,000; the first capital, Napata, about 43,000. The Kushite Empire spanned roughly 600,000-700,000 square kilometres, but it is difficult to find reliable estimates for its population.

[1]: (Leclant 1981, 285) J. Leclant. 1981. ’The Empire of Kush: Napata and Meroe’, in General History of Africa, Vol II: Ancient Civilizations of Africa, edited by G. Mokhtar, 278-97. Paris: UNESCO.

[2]: (Török 1997, 154) László Török. 1997. The Kingdom of Kush: Handbook of the Napatan-Meriotic Civilization Handbook of Oriental Studies, No. 31. Leiden: Brill.

[3]: (Leclant 1981, 280) J. Leclant. 1981. ’The Empire of Kush: Napata and Meroe’, in General History of Africa, Vol II: Ancient Civilizations of Africa, edited by G. Mokhtar, 278-97. Paris: UNESCO.

[4]: (Török 1997, 167) László Török. 1997. The Kingdom of Kush: Handbook of the Napatan-Meriotic Civilization Handbook of Oriental Studies, No. 31. Leiden: Brill.

[5]: (Taylor 2000, 349) John Taylor. 2000. ’The Third Intermediate Period (1069-664 BC)’, in The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt, edited by Ian Shaw, 324-63. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

[6]: (Pope 2014, 280) Jeremy Pope. 2014. The Double Kingdom Under Taharqo. Leiden: Brill.

[7]: (Pope 2014, 191) Jeremy Pope. 2014. The Double Kingdom Under Taharqo. Leiden: Brill.

[8]: (Morkot 2013, 963) Robert G. Morkot. 2014. ’Thebes under the Kushites’, in Tombs of the South Asasif Necropolis: Thebes, Karakhamun (TT 223), and Karabasken (TT 391) in the Twenty-fifth Dynasty, edited by Elena Pischikova, 5-22. Cairo: American University in Cairo Press.

[9]: (Pope 2014, 203) Jeremy Pope. 2014. The Double Kingdom Under Taharqo. Leiden: Brill.

[10]: (Taylor 2000, 348) John Taylor. 2000. ’The Third Intermediate Period (1069-664 BC)’, in The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt, edited by Ian Shaw, 324-63. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

[11]: (Morkot 2013, 961) Robert G. Morkot. 2014. ’Thebes under the Kushites’, in Tombs of the South Asasif Necropolis: Thebes, Karakhamun (TT 223), and Karabasken (TT 391) in the Twenty-fifth Dynasty, edited by Elena Pischikova, 5-22. Cairo: American University in Cairo Press.

[12]: (O’Connor 1983, 243) David O’Connor. 1983. ’Old Kingdom, Middle Kingdom and Second Intermediate Period c. 2686-1552 BC’, in Ancient Egypt: A Social History, edited by Bruce G. Trigger, Barry J. Kemp, David O’Connor and Alan B. Lloyd, 183-278. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

[13]: (Török 1997, 144) László Török. 1997. The Kingdom of Kush: Handbook of the Napatan-Meriotic Civilization Handbook of Oriental Studies, No. 31. Leiden: Brill.

[14]: (O’Connor 1983, 208) David O’Connor. 1983. ’Old Kingdom, Middle Kingdom and Second Intermediate Period c. 2686-1552 BC’, in Ancient Egypt: A Social History, edited by Bruce G. Trigger, Barry J. Kemp, David O’Connor and Alan B. Lloyd, 183-278. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

[15]: (Morkot 2013) Robert G. Morkot. 2014. ’Thebes under the Kushites’, in Tombs of the South Asasif Necropolis: Thebes, Karakhamun (TT 223), and Karabasken (TT 391) in the Twenty-fifth Dynasty, edited by Elena Pischikova, 5-22. Cairo: American University in Cairo Press.

Economy Variables (Luxury Goods) Coding in Progress.
Religion Variables Coding in Progress.

NGA Settlements:

Year Range Egypt - Kushite Period (eg_kushite) was in:
 (760 BCE 656 BCE) Upper Egypt
Home NGA: Upper Egypt

General Variables
Identity and Location Egypt - Kushite Period (eg_kushite)
Variable Coded Value / Certainty Tags Year(s) See More
Utm Zone 36 P 747 BCE  656 BCE
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Original Name 747 BCE  656 BCE
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Capital 747 BCE  656 BCE
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Capital 747 BCE  656 BCE
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Capital 747 BCE  656 BCE
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Capital 747 BCE  656 BCE
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Alternative Name 747 BCE  656 BCE
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Alternative Name 747 BCE  656 BCE
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Alternative Name 747 BCE  656 BCE
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Alternative Name 747 BCE  656 BCE
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Alternative Name 747 BCE  656 BCE
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Alternative Name 747 BCE  656 BCE
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Alternative Name 747 BCE  656 BCE
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Alternative Name 747 BCE  656 BCE
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Temporal Bounds Egypt - Kushite Period (eg_kushite)
Variable Coded Value / Certainty Tags Year(s) See More
Peak Years
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Duration
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Political and Cultural Relations Egypt - Kushite Period (eg_kushite)
Variable Coded Value / Certainty Tags Year(s) See More
Suprapolity Relations none 747 BCE  656 BCE
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Supracultural Entity Nubia 747 BCE  656 BCE
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Succeeding Entity Neo-Assyrian Empire 747 BCE  656 BCE
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Scale of Supracultural Interaction 747 BCE  656 BCE
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Relationship to Preceding Entity continuity 747 BCE  656 BCE
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Preceding Entity
1069 BCE 747 BCE
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Degree of Centralization 747 BCE  656 BCE
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Language Egypt - Kushite Period (eg_kushite)
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Linguistic Family Afro-Asiatic 747 BCE  656 BCE
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Language 747 BCE  656 BCE
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Language 747 BCE  656 BCE
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Religion Egypt - Kushite Period (eg_kushite)
Variable Coded Value / Certainty Tags Year(s) See More
Religion Genus Egyptian Religions 747 BCE  656 BCE
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Alternate Religion Uncoded Undecided 747 BCE  656 BCE
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Social Complexity Variables
Social Scale Egypt - Kushite Period (eg_kushite)
Variable Coded Value / Certainty Tags Year(s) See More
Population of the Largest Settlement 700 BCE
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Polity Territory 700 BCE
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Polity Population 747 BCE  656 BCE
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Hierarchical Complexity Egypt - Kushite Period (eg_kushite)
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Settlement Hierarchy 747 BCE  656 BCE
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Religious Level 747 BCE  656 BCE
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Military Level 747 BCE  656 BCE
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Administrative Level 747 BCE  656 BCE
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Professions Egypt - Kushite Period (eg_kushite)
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Professional Soldier 747 BCE  656 BCE
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Professional Priesthood 747 BCE  656 BCE
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Professional Military Officer 747 BCE  656 BCE
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Bureaucracy Characteristics Egypt - Kushite Period (eg_kushite)
Variable Coded Value / Certainty Tags Year(s) See More
Specialized Government Building 747 BCE  656 BCE
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Merit Promotion 747 BCE  656 BCE
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Full Time Bureaucrat 747 BCE  656 BCE
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Examination System 747 BCE  656 BCE
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Law Egypt - Kushite Period (eg_kushite)
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Professional Lawyer 747 BCE  656 BCE
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Judge 747 BCE  656 BCE
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747 BCE  656 BCE
Court 747 BCE  656 BCE
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Specialized Buildings: polity owned Egypt - Kushite Period (eg_kushite)
Variable Coded Value / Certainty Tags Year(s) See More
Market 747 BCE  656 BCE
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Irrigation System 747 BCE  656 BCE
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Food Storage Site 747 BCE  656 BCE
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Drinking Water Supply System Absent Inferred 747 BCE  656 BCE
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Entertainment Building 747 BCE  656 BCE
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Transport Infrastructure Egypt - Kushite Period (eg_kushite)
Variable Coded Value / Certainty Tags Year(s) See More
Road 747 BCE  656 BCE
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Port 747 BCE  656 BCE
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Canal Present Inferred 747 BCE  656 BCE
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Bridge 747 BCE  656 BCE
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Special-purpose Sites Egypt - Kushite Period (eg_kushite)
Variable Coded Value / Certainty Tags Year(s) See More
Mines or Quarry 747 BCE  656 BCE
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Information / Writing System Egypt - Kushite Period (eg_kushite)
Variable Coded Value / Certainty Tags Year(s) See More
Written Record 747 BCE  656 BCE
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Script Present 747 BCE  656 BCE
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Phonetic Alphabetic Writing 747 BCE  656 BCE
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Nonwritten Record 747 BCE  656 BCE
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Non Phonetic Writing 747 BCE  656 BCE
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Mnemonic Device Unknown Suspected 747 BCE  656 BCE
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Information / Kinds of Written Documents Egypt - Kushite Period (eg_kushite)
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Scientific Literature 747 BCE  656 BCE
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Sacred Text 747 BCE  656 BCE
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Religious Literature 747 BCE  656 BCE
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Practical Literature 747 BCE  656 BCE
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Philosophy 747 BCE  656 BCE
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Lists Tables and Classification 747 BCE  656 BCE
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History 747 BCE  656 BCE
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Fiction 747 BCE  656 BCE
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Calendar 747 BCE  656 BCE
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Information / Money Egypt - Kushite Period (eg_kushite)
Variable Coded Value / Certainty Tags Year(s) See More
Token Unknown Suspected 747 BCE  656 BCE
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Precious Metal Present Inferred 747 BCE  656 BCE
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Paper Currency Absent Inferred 747 BCE  656 BCE
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Indigenous Coin Absent Inferred 747 BCE  656 BCE
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Foreign Coin Absent Inferred 747 BCE  656 BCE
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Article Present 747 BCE  656 BCE
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Information / Postal System Egypt - Kushite Period (eg_kushite)
Variable Coded Value / Certainty Tags Year(s) See More
Postal Station Unknown Suspected 747 BCE  656 BCE
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General Postal Service Absent Inferred 747 BCE  656 BCE
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Courier Present 747 BCE  656 BCE
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Fastest Individual Communication 747 BCE  656 BCE
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Information / Measurement System Egypt - Kushite Period (eg_kushite)
Variable Coded Value / Certainty Tags Year(s) See More
Warfare Variables (Military Technologies)
Fortifications Egypt - Kushite Period (eg_kushite)
Variable Coded Value / Certainty Tags Year(s) See More
Wooden Palisade 747 BCE  656 BCE
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Stone Walls Non Mortared 747 BCE  656 BCE
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Stone Walls Mortared 747 BCE  656 BCE
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Settlements in a Defensive Position 747 BCE  656 BCE
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Modern Fortification Absent 747 BCE  656 BCE
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Moat Unknown Suspected 747 BCE  656 BCE
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Fortified Camp 747 BCE  656 BCE
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Earth Rampart 747 BCE  656 BCE
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Ditch Present Inferred 747 BCE  656 BCE
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Complex Fortification 747 BCE  656 BCE
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Long Wall absent 747 BCE  656 BCE
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Military use of Metals Egypt - Kushite Period (eg_kushite)
Variable Coded Value / Certainty Tags Year(s) See More
Steel Unknown Suspected 747 BCE  656 BCE
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Iron 747 BCE  656 BCE
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Copper 747 BCE  656 BCE
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Bronze 747 BCE  656 BCE
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Projectiles Egypt - Kushite Period (eg_kushite)
Variable Coded Value / Certainty Tags Year(s) See More
Tension Siege Engine 747 BCE  656 BCE
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Sling Siege Engine 747 BCE  656 BCE
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Sling 747 BCE  656 BCE
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Self Bow 747 BCE  656 BCE
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Javelin 747 BCE  656 BCE
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Handheld Firearm 747 BCE  656 BCE
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Gunpowder Siege Artillery 747 BCE  656 BCE
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Crossbow Absent Inferred 747 BCE  656 BCE
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Composite Bow 747 BCE  656 BCE
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Atlatl 747 BCE  656 BCE
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Handheld weapons Egypt - Kushite Period (eg_kushite)
Variable Coded Value / Certainty Tags Year(s) See More
War Club 747 BCE  656 BCE
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Sword 747 BCE  656 BCE
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Spear 747 BCE  656 BCE
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Polearm Unknown Suspected 747 BCE  656 BCE
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Dagger 747 BCE  656 BCE
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Battle Axe 747 BCE  656 BCE
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Animals used in warfare Egypt - Kushite Period (eg_kushite)
Variable Coded Value / Certainty Tags Year(s) See More
Horse 747 BCE  656 BCE
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Elephant 747 BCE  656 BCE
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Donkey 747 BCE  656 BCE
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Dog Absent 747 BCE  656 BCE
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Camel 747 BCE  656 BCE
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Armor Egypt - Kushite Period (eg_kushite)
Variable Coded Value / Certainty Tags Year(s) See More
Wood Bark Etc 747 BCE  656 BCE
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Shield 747 BCE  656 BCE
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Scaled Armor 747 BCE  656 BCE
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Plate Armor 747 BCE  656 BCE
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Limb Protection 747 BCE  656 BCE
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Leather Cloth 747 BCE  656 BCE
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Laminar Armor 747 BCE  656 BCE
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Helmet 747 BCE  656 BCE
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Chainmail 747 BCE  656 BCE
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Breastplate 747 BCE  656 BCE
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Naval technology Egypt - Kushite Period (eg_kushite)
Variable Coded Value / Certainty Tags Year(s) See More
Specialized Military Vessel 747 BCE  656 BCE
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Small Vessels Canoes Etc 747 BCE  656 BCE
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Merchant Ships Pressed Into Service 747 BCE  656 BCE
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Economy Variables (Luxury Goods)
Religion Variables
Moralizing Supernatural Punishment and Reward Egypt - Kushite Period (eg_kushite)
Variable Coded Value / Certainty Tags Year(s) See More
Moralizing Enforcement is Broad 747 BCE  656 BCE
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Moralizing Supernatural Concern is Primary 747 BCE  656 BCE
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Moralizing Enforcement is Agentic 747 BCE  656 BCE
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Moralizing Enforcement in This Life 747 BCE  656 BCE
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Moralizing Supernatural Punishment And Reward 747 BCE  656 BCE
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Moralizing Religion Adopted by Commoners 747 BCE  656 BCE
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Moralizing Enforcement is Targeted 747 BCE  656 BCE
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Moralizing Enforcement in Afterlife 747 BCE  656 BCE
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Moralizing Religion Adopted by Elites 747 BCE  656 BCE
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Moralizing Enforcement of Rulers 747 BCE  656 BCE
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Moralizing Enforcement is Certain 747 BCE  656 BCE
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Human Sacrifice Egypt - Kushite Period (eg_kushite)
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Instability Data
Power Transitions