Our great grandfathers called it Ta-Seti, Land of the Bow. They were referring to the area south of the First Cataract at Aswan, and the reason behind the name was the unparalleled skill its inhabitants demonstrated when using the bow as a method of arm. Those excellent bowmen were actually the Kushites.

At first, Egyptians, as back as the First Dynasty, would send expeditions to the area in pursuit of slaves as well as the exploration of new sites where copper and gold could be mined. Egyptian influence grew and by the Middle Kingdom, a series of strongholds and fortresses controlled the Nile at the Second Cataract. Their influence over the area grew further through the New Kingdom; Pharaoh Tuthmoses III marched as far south as the Fifth Cataract. But change is a question of time, and by the end of the New Kingdom, Kush began to rise.

Historians have universally agreed that King Alara unified Upper Nubia around 780 BC, declaring Napata (near Jabal Barrkal, Karima, North Sudan) the capital. The job was completed by his successor King Kashata when Lower Nubia joined the crown. Nubia had been united and Kashata claimed for himself the title Pharaoh. But that was not the end of it; following suit was Pharaoh Piye, better known in history as Pharaoh Piankhy, conqueror of Thebes and founder of Egypt's 25th Dynasty, the dynasty of the Black Pharaohs.

Lasting for a little less than 100 years, the 25th Dynasty had five Pharaohs claiming the throne, the most famous being Pharaoh Taharqa. Leaving numerous monuments both in Egypt and Sudan, one of his most famous deeds was the restoration and building efforts in Karnak Temple, notes the First Court of Amun. Being the heroic war veteran he was, the Kushite Kingdom expanded as far as the borders of Libya and Palestine. Unfortunately for him, the Assyrians were rising exponentially and in no time they stormed Egypt, forcing Taharqa to flee Thebes and seek shelter in Napata.

The period that followed was draped in a shroud of mystery, up until the third century BC when King Arkamani moved the capital from Napata further south to Meroe (midway between Khartoum and Atbara). History has taught us that behind each move there is a story and this one is no different. Kushite holy priests used to hold unlimited power, to the extent that they were authoritative enough to declare, through claimed divine intervention, that the king's reign should come to an end and he would have to take his own life, a practice better known as Ritual Death. When they approached King Arkamani with such a story, the king simply killed them, banned the ritual and moved the capital. The transfer of the Kushite Kingdom's capital indicates a move from the dependency on Egypt as a base for culture and a step towards being a more indigenous civilisation. It also paved the way for the introduction of worshipping local deities as opposed to adapting Egyptian ones. Later in history, local god Apedemak was moved up the scale to an equal level with Amun and the use of hieroglyphics as a functional language was abandoned, to be replaced with Meroitic script. Whether the move to Meroe could be seen as the birth of the new Kingdom of Meroe or rather an extension under the flag "Meroitic Period of the Kushite Kingdom" is widely debated.

Flourishing for six centuries to follow, the third century AD marked the beginning of the decline. The Romans, who were in control of Egypt at the time, were also declining and that automatically translated in downsized trade between the two kingdoms, an element that backboned the Kushite economy. On the other side, southeast of Meroe, the Kingdom of Aksum, modern-day Ethiopia, was growing in power. In 350 AD, Auxmite King Ezna dealt the final blow to his neighbours, capturing Meroe. The Kushite Civilisation will eternally rest in peace.

A number of major sites dot the Sudanese map of great Kushite and Meroitic archaeological sites. Following the tarmac road that connects Khartoum to Atbara, one drives for no more than two or three hours before reaching Musawwarat Es Sufra. Musawwarat is an Arabic word that translates to depictions. Es Sufra begs two theories behind the naming. One school of thought believes it is an adaptation of Es Safra The Yellow as most of the remaining ruins are actually yellowish in colour. Alternatively, Es Sufra means The Dinning Table, an association to a table-like mountain located at a short distance. Regardless of the naming and its origin, Musawwarat Es Sufra is the largest temple complex dating back to the Meroitic Period. It consists of two main parts -- the Great Enclosure and the Lion Temple. The Great Enclosure is a vast structure consisting of low walls, a colonnade, two reservoirs and two inclined long ramps. The purpose this enclosure had served is vague, with a handful of theories on the table. One proposes that it had been an elephant training camp. In addition to the two ramps that might have been used for the big animals to go up and down, and also in addition to the elephants' statues that can be found in the vicinity, the greatest collection of elephant carvings I have seen in Sudan is in the Great Complex. On the other hand, the nearby Lion Temple might have been a place of pilgrimage and pilgrims used to be housed in the Great Complex. This is backed by ancient graffiti and carvings depicting Apedemak. A human body with a lion head, Apedemak was the most widely worshipped local deity throughout the entire Kushite Kingdom. Built by King Arnekhamani around 230 BC, the Lion Temple in Musawwarat Es Sufra is one of the most well preserved sites in Sudan. It was elegantly restored by the Humboldt University in Berlin in the 1960s.