Taharqa
Taharqa, also spelled Taharka or Taharqo (Ancient Egyptian: 饟嚳饟墧饟儹饟垘, romanized:聽t隃rwq, Akkadian: Tar-qu-煤, Hebrew: 转执旨专职讛指拽指讛, romanized:聽T墨rh膩q膩, Manetho's Tarakos, Strabo's Tearco), was a pharaoh of the Twenty-fifth Dynasty of Egypt and qore (king) of the Kingdom of Kush (present day Sudan) from 690 to 664 BC.
[12] Taharqa explicitly states in Kawa Stela聽V, line 15, that he succeeded his predecessor (previously assumed to be Shebitku but now established to be Shabaka instead) after the latter's death with this statement: "I received the Crown in Memphis after the Falcon flew to heaven.
Taharqa's evasiveness on the identity of his predecessor suggests that he assumed power in an irregular fashion and chose to legitimise his kingship by conveniently stating the possible fact or propaganda that Shebitku favoured him "more than all his brothers and all his children.
[19] However, in the critical line 15 which recorded Taharqa's accession to power, a new stage of the narrative begins, separated from the previous one by a period of many years, and the king or hawk/falcon that flew to heaven is conspicuously left unnamed in order to distinguish him from His Majesty, Shebitku.
Moreover, the purpose of Kawa V, was to describe several separate events that occurred at distinct stages of Taharqa's life, instead of telling a continuous story about it.
[19] However, immediately afterwards (around the middle of line 17) the text jumps forward again to the time of Taharqa's accession: "Then she came sailing downstream to see me after a long period of years.
[21][22] The empire flourished under Taharqa, due in part to a particularly large Nile river flood, abundant crops,[21] and the "intellectual and material resources set free by an efficient central government.
During Taharqa's reign, the "central features of Theban theology were merged with Egyptian Middle and New Kingdom imperial ideology.".
[25][26][27][28][29] Taharqa continued the 25th dynasty's ambitious program to develop Jebel Barkal into a "monumental complex of sancturies...centered around the great temple of...Amun.
[22] The rest of Taharqa's constructions served to create "Temple Towns", which were "local centers of government, production, and redistribution.
[27][30][31] Taharqa built the largest pyramid (~52 meters square at base) in the Nubian region at Nuri (near El-Kurru) with the most elaborate Kushite rock-cut tomb.
"[33] Taharqa began cultivating alliances with elements in Phoenicia and Philistia who were prepared to take a more independent position against Assyria.
[22] Torok mentions the military success was due to Taharqa's efforts to strengthen the army through daily training in long-distance running, as well as Assyria's preoccupation with Babylon and Elam.
[22] Taharqa also built military settlements at the Semna and Buhen forts and the fortified site of Qasr Ibrim.
[42] This invasion, which only a few Assyrian sources discuss, ended in what some scholars have assumed was possibly one of Assyria's worst defeats.
"[21] The rebellion was stopped and Ashurbanipal appointed as his vassal ruler in Egypt Necho I, who had been king of the city Sais.
[46] As late as 665 BC, the vassal rulers of Sais, Mendes, and Pelusium were still making overtures to Taharqa in Kush.
He was followed by his appointed successor Tantamani, a son of Shabaka, who invaded Lower Egypt in hopes of restoring his family's control.
[52] According to the egyptologist Jeremy Pope, Taharqa was probably between 25 and 33 years old in 701 BC and, following Kushite custom to delegate actual leadership in combat to a subordinate, was sent by his predecessor Shabako as a military commander to fight against the Assyrians.
[53] Aubin mentions that the biblical account in Genesis 10:6-7 (Table of Nations) lists Taharqa's predecessors, Shebitku and Shabako (住址讘职转职旨讻指謶讗 and 住址讘职转指旨芝讛).
"[58] However, Sesostris, the Aegyptian, he adds, and Tearco the Aethiopian advanced as far as Europe; and Nabocodrosor, who enjoyed greater repute among the Chaldaeans than Heracles, led an army even as far as the Pillars.
