BIBLE HISTORY DAILY

King Taharqa of the Kingdom of Cush

Did Nubian kings save Judah?

Royal pyramids in Nuri, the ancient cemetery of Nubian kings. Photo by Hans Birger Nilsen, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

As the mighty Assyrian army of King Sennacherib was getting ready to attack Judah at the close of the eighth century BC, the Judahite King Hezekiah undertook major operations to prepare for the assault. This included building a massive defensive wall and cutting a water tunnel to redirect the waters of the Gihon Spring inside the city (2 Chronicles 32:1–7; Isaiah 22:8–11).

In the Bible, we read about another intriguing development—a Nubian pharaoh coming to Judah’s aid: “Tirhaqah, king of Cush … has set out to fight against [Sennacherib]” (Isaiah 37:9). Who was this African ruler, known in Egyptian sources as King Taharqa? In “Judah’s African Ally: Taharqa and the Kingdom of Cush,” published in the Summer 2025 issue of Biblical Archaeology Review, James K. Hoffmeier examines the biblical, Assyrian, and archaeological sources to answer the critical questions about this ruler from the African kingdom of Cush.

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Map of Egypt and the kingdom of Cush, with the region of Napata in the red square. Biblical Archaeology Society.

Professor Emeritus of Old Testament and Near Eastern Archaeology at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, Hoffmeier reveals who King Taharqa from the lineage of Nubian kings was and how he ended up moving his troops in defense of ancient Judah. First, however, Hoffmeier provides a concise history of the fabled land of Cush—also called Nubia—in what is today northern Sudan. Attested in Egyptian texts already in the early 20th century BC, Nubia was partially colonized and exploited by its northern neighbor through much of the second millennium BC. “Egypt’s domination of Cush endured throughout the New Kingdom (1550–1100 BC), during which magnificent temples were constructed in Nubia, including the iconic rock-cut temples of Ramesses II (1279–1213 BC) at Abu Simbel. Shortly after 1100, the New Kingdom crumbled, and […] Cush was liberated from Egyptian hegemony, but not from the influence of Egyptian culture,” summarizes Hoffmeier. “For the next thousand years, Cushite royalty were buried in pyramids, wrote inscriptions in Egyptian hieroglyphs, and followed Egyptian canons of art and architecture. The patron god of Thebes, Amun-Re, was the principal deity of the Cushites.”

King Taharqa wearing two royal cobras on his headdress. Photo by ALFGRN, CC BY 2.5, via Wikimedia Commons

It was not until the eighth century, however, that a new dynasty of Nubian kings based in Napata ushered in a period of Nubian power and kingship known as the Napatan period (c. 800–300 BC). Eventually, Nubian kings took control of Memphis, the traditional capital of Egypt, and established Egypt’s 25th Dynasty. The greatest among the Napatan rulers was King Taharqa, who built many monuments across Egypt and Nubia and played an active role in international politics, including the military intervention in Judah in 701.

However, King Taharqa ruled the kingdom of Cush and Egypt from 690 to 664 BC. “So how do we explain his presence in Judah in support of Hezekiah in 701 BC, more than a decade before his coronation?” asks Hoffmeier. “Scholars have long puzzled over this question, with some arguing the biblical references to Tirhaqah are anachronistic, since Egyptian chronology places another Nubian pharaoh, Shebitku, on the throne at that time. But common sense and the evidence from historical and textual sources suggest otherwise.”

King Taharqa bringing offerings to the god Amun-Re at the Temple of Kawa. Anthony Huan, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

After examining inscriptions on several of King Taharqa’s own royal stelae from the temple of Kawa, Hoffmeier concludes that Taharqa was about 20 years old in 701—not a child, as some scholars have argued. In that year, his older brother Shebitku was still the pharaoh of Egypt. This, argues Hoffmeier, explains why the biblical authors call Taharqa only “king of Cush” (melek kush), not “pharaoh.” Apparently, “the biblical writers understood that in 701 BC Taharqa was simply a Cushite prince who perhaps ruled Cush on behalf of Pharaoh Shebitku in Memphis.” And it was in this function that he led his brother’s army against the Assyrians.

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We know close to nothing about King Taharqa’s military operations in Judah. Although the Bible and Cushite inscriptions are silent about the outcome, Sennacherib’s annals claim that Taharqa’s army was defeated and prisoners taken. By the end of his own reign, King Taharqa had to face the Assyrian army again. Shortly thereafter, the Nubian kings were expelled out of Egypt, and the 25th Dynasty came to an end.

To fully explore the intricacies of the historical evidence for King Taharqa’s engagement in Judah, read James K. Hoffmeier’s article “Judah’s African Ally: Taharqa and the Kingdom of Cush,” published in the Summer 2025 issue of Biblical Archaeology Review.

Subscribers: Read the full article “Judah’s African Ally: Taharqa and the Kingdom of Cush” by James K. Hoffmeier in the Summer 2025 issue of Biblical Archaeology Review.

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Related reading in Bible History Daily

The Kingdom of Cush

The Elusive Kingdom of Kush

Representing Cush in the Hebrew Bible

Cush in the Crosshairs

All-Access members, read more in the BAS Library

A Thousand Years of History in Jerusalem’s Jewish Quarter

How They Met: Geology Solves Long-Standing Mystery of Hezekiah’s Tunnelers

Biblical Profile: Representing Cush in the Hebrew Bible