Does the name “Kush” ring a bell? It comes from the Bible. Kush, or Cush, was Ham’s oldest son. Ham was Noah’s son. So Cush lived in the world soon after the great flood. Moses’ wife is also called a Cushite in the Bible.

Cush means black. Bible scholars often consider Cush to be the ancestor of the dark-skinned people that lived in Ethiopia in Bible times. It appears that Ham’s children . . . and grandchildren . . . and great grandchildren . . . spread far and formed a great empire. In the Old Testament, Cush usually refers to southern countries where the children of Cush made their homes. Sometimes the Bible refers to Cush as a large, undefined territory. At other times, it talks about Cush as a single kingdom.

Ezekiel says the land of Cush was south of Egypt. Later, that country was called Nubia. (Present-day Nubia lies partly in Sudan and partly in Egypt.) The Kushites also spread through Arabia, Babylonia, Persia, and to western India.

For a long time, people overlooked the Kush archaeological sites. Many thought they were just part of ancient Egypt. Then Swiss archaeologist Charles Bonnet came along. He discovered that Kush rose to power when Egypt declined. Kush was different from Egypt. Kushites had their own ways of building and making art.

At one time, the Kushite kings even ruled in Egypt. They wore Egyptian-style clothes (kilts and belts). They donned some unique Nubian bling too—necklaces with charms shaped like rams’ heads and crowns decked with renderings of two serpents. But Assyrian forces drove the Kushites back to their homeland, Nubia. Soon after that, the pharaohs were buried at Meroe.

The Bible is true, and ancient artifacts tell the same story the Bible does. No surprise there!