Kingdom of Kush · about 300 BC-AD 350

Meroe: pyramids, iron and ruling queens

South of Egypt, the kingdom of Kush ruled the Nile from its royal city of Meroe. Students discover a kingdom of steep pyramids, iron works, its own script and powerful queens who even faced down Rome.

Teach it live New Open on the map
Length
50 minutes
Ages
11–14
On the map
3 steps, 200 BC to 1 BC
Live lesson
7 rounds, 3 on the map
Worksheet
Two A4 pages, with Classroom
You need
A projector; phones for live

Live lesson · new in Classroom

Teach it live. The class answers on their phones.

Put the board on the projector. Students join with a six-digit code, no account needed, and tap the map: where was the frontier, where did the grain come from. Their pins drop in together when you reveal, and the closest student takes the round.

€19 per month: every lesson live, every worksheet, cancel anytime. Rome at its height runs live for free.

A live lesson on the projector: the class's pins on the map around Alexandria, the closest students listed beside it A student's phone: the question and a map to tap
7 rounds
3 places to find on the map, quiz questions, a class vote and a one-line answer.
About 15 minutes
Run it as the map step, or to open the discussion. You move on with the space bar.
A report
Every answer, per student and per round, to read back or print after the lesson.
1

Introduction

5 min

Read aloud

South of Egypt, the kingdom of Kush ruled the Nile from its royal city of Meroe. Students discover a kingdom of steep pyramids, iron works, its own script and powerful queens who even faced down Rome.

By the end of the lesson, students can

  • Locate Meroe and Napata on the Nile and describe the position of Kush between Egypt and inner Africa.
  • Describe three features of Meroitic civilisation: pyramids, iron working and the Meroitic script.
  • Explain how Kush dealt with Rome in the 20s BC and why the peace favored Kush.
2

Explore the map

15 min

Project the map, or let students follow on their own devices. Each step opens the map at the right year and place.

a

200 BC

A kingdom on the Nile

Open the map in 200 BC. Find the label Meroe on the Nile, south of Egypt. Follow the river north: which kingdom is its neighbor?

Open this view on the map
b

200 BC

The Island of Meroe

Zoom in on Meroe. The Nile and the Atbara river almost surround this land, which Greek writers called the "Island of Meroe". Find where the two rivers meet.

Open this view on the map
c

1 BC

Rome at the border

Move the slider to 1 BC. Rome now rules Egypt. Find the border between the Roman Empire and Meroe. What might two powers argue about here?

Open this view on the map
3

Class discussion

15 min

Pick two or three. They run from what happened to why it mattered.

  1. Meroe's kings and queens were buried in pyramids, like Egyptian pharaohs centuries earlier. Why might a kingdom borrow an idea from a neighbor and change it?
  2. Meroitic writing can be sounded out, but its language is still mostly not understood. What could we learn if it were fully deciphered?
  3. Meroe had large iron works. How would iron change farming, war and trade in the kingdom?
  4. Queens called kandakes held real power in Kush. What does that tell us about this society?
  5. Around 21 BC Rome made peace with Kush and dropped its demand for tribute. Why might the strongest empire in the Mediterranean agree to that?
4

Game round

10 min

Play one round of Rule History as Augustus. Kush has raided Roman Egypt and carried off statues of you. Do you invade or negotiate? Then compare: around 21 BC Augustus made peace with Kush on terms that favored Kush.

Open Rule History
5

Worksheet

5 min

This worksheet comes with Classroom

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