Basically a people from the southern Nile, but north of Ethiopia and [[Axum]]. For awhile they ruled over the whole Nile, but were culturally distinct from Egyptians. > [!quote] National Geographic [article about Kush](https://www.nationalgeographic.org/media/kingdoms-kush/) > > Kush was a part of Nubia, loosely described as the region between the Cataracts of the Nile. The Cataracts of the Nile are a series of six whitewater rapids that have been used as key waypoints for thousands of years. The first cataract roughly corresponds to the modern area of Aswan, Egypt, while the sixth lies more than 1,100 kilometers (720 miles) south, north of Khartoum, Sudan. > > Ancient Nubian cultures were sophisticated and cosmopolitan, as the region served as a major trading center for goods from the African interior, Arabian desert, and Mediterranean basin. > > From sub-Saharan Africa, Nubian communities traded gold, ivory, ebony, and animal pelts. Sometimes, merchants traded the animals themselves. African animals such as monkeys, elephants, antelopes, and giraffes were exported to private zoos across the Mediterranean and the Near East. > > From Arabia, Egypt, the Maghreb, and the Mediterranean basin, Nubians imported products such as olive oil, incense, timber (mostly acacia and cedar), and bronze. The hazardous Cataracts of the Nile made sailing long distances along the Nile nearly impossible, so many goods from the Levant had to be imported from the Nubian east, through ports on the Red Sea. > > The Kingdom of Kush is probably the most famous civilization to emerge from Nubia. Three Kushite kingdoms dominated Nubia for more than 3,000 years, with capitals in Kerma, Napata, and Meroë.