2- Egyptian Control (1500? – 1070BC?)
The Kushites did not take Egyptian rule lying down, and there was a revolt after the death of Thutmose I. The revolts were quelled, and there was a period of peace during the reign of Queen Hatshepsut (1479 – 1458 BC); she built a fabulous temple at Buhen which was dedicated to Horus. She also built a temple to the Goddess Hathor at Faras on the Nile’s west bank.
The writings of Thutmose III (1479 – 1425 BC) show that peace continued in the region and that the Egyptians benefitted from taking tributes off the Kushites. The next record of any kind of unrest comes during the reign of Thutmose IV (1398 – 1388 BC). There was a revolt in the eighth year of his reign which was successfully suppressed. Thutmose’s son, Amenhotep III (1388 – 1350 BC), was also forced to campaign against Nubia during the fifth year of his reign.
Egypt managed to maintain the peace in Nubia reasonably well until the reign of Amenhotep IV, also known as Akhenaton (1351 – 1334 BC). The upheaval caused by his religious movement weakened the empire internally and externally. Horemheb (1306 – 1292 BC) was the last ruler of the eighteenth dynasty and was the leader Egypt needed at that time. He restored an element of stability throughout the kingdom, and during the Nineteenth Dynasty, Ramses II (1279 – 1213 BC) embarked on an enormous building program throughout Nubia which included the remarkable Temple of Abu Simbel.
The situation in Nubia deteriorated rapidly during the twentieth dynasty (1189 – 1077 BC), and a major revolt broke out in the region of Asyut during the reign of Ramses XI (1107 – 1077 BC). By the start of the Twenty-First Dynasty, Pharaoh Smendes (1077 – 1051 BC) only had control of Lower Egypt while Heri-Hor was the master of Upper Egypt and the Viceroy of Nubia. At this stage, the Kingdom of Kush was once again independent with its capital at Napata.