Meroë in the context of "Cush (Bible)"

The Ezana Stone is an ancient stele still standing in modern-day Axum in Ethiopia, the centre of the ancient Kingdom of Aksum. This stone monument, that probably dates from the 4th century of the Christian era, documents the conversion of King Ezana to Christianity and his conquest of various neighbouring areas, including Meroë.

From AD 330 to 356, King Ezana ruled the ancient Kingdom of Aksum centred in the Horn of Africa. He fought against the Nubians, and commemorated his victories on stone tablets in praise of God. These liturgical epigraphs were written in various ancient languages, including the Ethiopian Semitic Geʽez, the South Arabian Sabaic, and Greek. The king's engravings in stone provided a trilingual monument in different languages, similar to the Rosetta Stone.

Nubians (/ˈnuːbiənz, ˈnjuː-/) (Nobiin: Nobī; Arabic: النوبيون) are a Nilo-Saharan speaking ethnic group indigenous to the region which is now northern Sudan and southern Egypt. They originate from the early inhabitants of the central Nile valley, believed to be one of the earliest cradles of civilization. In the southern valley of Egypt, Nubians differ culturally and ethnically from Egyptians, although they intermarried with them and other ethnic groups, especially Arabs. They speak Nubian languages as a mother tongue, part of the Northern Eastern Sudanic languages, and Arabic as a second language.

Neolithic settlements have been found in the central Nubian region dating back to 7000 BC, with Wadi Halfa believed to be the oldest settlement in the central Nile valley. Parts of Nubia, particularly Lower Nubia, were at times a part of ancient Pharaonic Egypt and at other times a rival state representing parts of Meroë or the Kingdom of Kush. By the Twenty-fifth Dynasty (744 BC–656 BC), all of Egypt was united with Nubia, extending down to what is now Khartoum. However, in 656 BC, the native Twenty-sixth Dynasty regained control of Egypt. As warriors, the ancient Nubians were famous for their skill and precision with the bow and arrow. In the Middle Ages, the Nubians converted to Christianity and established three kingdoms: Nobatia in the north, Makuria in the center, and Alodia in the south. They then converted to Islam during the Islamization of the Sudan region.

Ancient Aethiopia, (Greek: Αἰθιοπία, romanized: Aithiopía) first appears as a geographical term in classical documents in reference to the skin color of the inhabitants of the upper Nile in northern Sudan along with areas south of the Sahara and certain parts of Asia. Its earliest mention is in the works of Homer: twice in the Iliad, and three times in the Odyssey. The Greek historian Herodotus uses the appellation to refer to regions south of Egypt when describing "Aethiopians," most commonly Nubia. Likewise, the Hebrew term Cushi is derived from Kushite. Despite this, the Byzantine Greeks also referred to the Aksumites as Ethiopians and Negus Ezana, conqueror of Meroë took on the title of "king of Ethiopia" prior to the rise of the medieval Ethiopian Empire. The ancient Libyans (North African Berbers) were also called White Aethiopians by contemporary Greek sources. By the modern period the term Aethiopian Sea was used to refer to the southern Atlantic ocean, particularly the area adjacent to West Africa.

Inhabitants of Herodotus' India were sometimes named Ethiopians for their dark skin by the Greeks and Romans. In book 3 (3.89-97) however, Herodotus himself distinguishes the people of India. "All the tribes which I have mentioned live together like the brute beasts: they have also all the same tint of skin, which approaches that of the Ethiopians."

The Triakontaschoinos (Greek: Τριακοντάσχοινος, "Land of the Thirty Schoinoi"), Latinized as Triacontaschoenus, was a geographical and administrative term used in the Greco-Roman world for the part of Lower Nubia between the First and Second Cataracts of the Nile, which formed a buffer zone between Egypt and later Rome on the one hand and Meroë on the other hand. The northern part of this area, stretching from the First Cataract south to Maharraqa, was known as the Dodekaschoinos or Dodecaschoenus (Δωδεκάσχοινος, "Land of the Twelve Schoinoi"). In the Ptolemaic and Roman periods the Dodekaschoinos was often annexed to Egypt or controlled from it, and the rest of the Triakontaschoinos sometimes was as well.

In 275 or 274 BC, Ptolemy II (r. 283–246 BC) sent an army to Nubia, and defeated the Kingdom of Kush. The expedition pursued several objectives: on the one hand, it curbed Kushite power, which had been steadily expanding for the past century, and helped secure Ptolemaic rule against the native Egyptians of Upper Egypt, who might be tempted to seek Kushite aid in their revolts. In addition, the expedition secured the Ptolemies' control of the supply route for African elephants, which played a crucial role as war elephants in their conflicts with the rival Seleucid Empire, that monopolized access to the larger Indian elephants. As a result of this campaign, the area between the First and Second Cataracts of the Nile, which also included the valuable gold mines of the Eastern Desert, was annexed to Egypt and became later known as Triakontaschoinos.

The Meroitic language (/mɛroʊˈɪtɪk/) was a language of uncertain linguistic affiliation spoken in Meroë (in present-day Sudan) during the Meroitic period (attested from 300 BC) and became extinct about 400 AD. It was written in two forms of the Meroitic alphabet: Meroitic Cursive, which was written with a stylus and was used for general record-keeping; and Meroitic Hieroglyphic, which was carved in stone or used for royal or religious documents. It is poorly understood, owing to the scarcity of bilingual texts.

Shendi or Shandi (Arabic: شندي) is a small city in northern Sudan, situated on the southeastern bank of the Nile River 150 km northeast of Khartoum. Shandi is also about 45 km southwest of the ancient city of Meroë. Located in the River Nile state, Shandi is the center of the Ja'alin tribe and an important historic trading center. Its principal suburb on the west bank is Matamma. A major traditional trade route across the Bayuda Desert connects Matamma to Merowe and Napata, 250 km to the northwest. The city is the historical capital of the powerful Sudanese Arab Ja'alin tribe whom most of its denizens belong to. The village of Hosh Bannaga, hometown of former President Omar al-Bashir, is located on the outskirts of the city.

Beginning with the Kingdom of Aksum, Ethiopia's territory evolved significantly through conquest of the lands surrounding it. Strong Aksumite trading partnerships with other world powers gave prominence to its territorial expansion. In 330, Aksum besieged the Nubian city of Meroë, marking the beginning of its great expansion. It finally declined after the rise of Islamic dominion in South Arabia, and it ultimately collapsed in the 10th century.

The Zagwe dynasty emerged and ruled until 1270, when Amhara-Shewan Yekuno Amlak revolted against the last king, Yetbarak, commencing the Solomonic dynasty-led Ethiopian Empire. The empire reached its greatest extent under the emperors Amda Seyon I and Zara Yaqob. In 1896, Emperor Menelik II’s conquest strongly consolidated Ethiopia’s modern borders while eluding the 19th-century Scramble for Africa and Italian colonialism. Eritrea was annexed by the Ethiopian imperial government under Emperor Haile Selassie in 1952, culminating in the Eritrean War of Independence. Eritrea eventually seceded by referendum during its seizure by the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) in 1993.

Musawwarat es-Sufra (Arabic:المصورات الصفراء al-Musawwarāt as-sufrā, Meroitic: Aborepi, Old Egyptian: jbrp, jpbr-ˁnḫ), also known as Al-Musawarat Al-Sufra, is a large Meroitic temple complex in modern Sudan, dating back to the early Meroitic period of the 3rd century BC. It is located in a large basin surrounded by low sandstone hills in the western Butana, 180 km northeast of Khartoum, 20 km north of Naqa and approximately 25 km south-east of the Nile. With Meroë and Naqa it is known as the Island of Meroe, and was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2011. Constructed in sandstone, the main features of the site include the Great Enclosure, the Lion Temple of Apedemak and the Great Reservoir. Most significant is the number of representations of elephants, suggesting that this animal played an important role at Musawwarat es-Sufra.

Naqa or Naga'a (Meroitic: 𐦶𐦬𐦲𐦵‎, romanized: Tolakate; Arabic: ٱلـنَّـقْـعَـة, romanized: An-Naqʿah) is a ruined ancient city of the Kushite Kingdom of Meroë in modern-day Sudan. The ancient city lies about 170 km (110 miles) north-east of Khartoum, and about 50 km (31 miles) east of the Nile River located at approximately MGRS 36QWC290629877. Here smaller wadis meet the Wadi Awateib coming from the center of the Butana plateau region, and further north at Wad ban Naqa from where it joins the Nile. Naqa was only a camel or donkey's journey from the Nile, and could serve as a trading station on the way to the east; thus it had strategic importance.

Naqa is one of the largest ruined sites in the country and indicates an important ancient city once stood in the location. It was one of the centers of the Kingdom of Meroë, which served as a bridge between the Mediterranean world and Africa. The site has two notable temples, one devoted to Amun and the other to Apedemak which also has a Roman kiosk nearby. With Meroë and Musawwarat es-Sufra it is known as the Island of Meroe, and was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2011.