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But the relationship between the Nubians and Egyptians extended far beyond exploitation of resources and ancient forms of colonialism; by the first millennium BC the Nubians had impacted many aspects of pharaonic culture. In 728 BC a Nubian king named Piankhy, or Piye, led an army from Nubia north into Egypt and conquered the land, establishing the Twenty-Fifth Dynasty in the process. Although the Nubian Twenty-Fifth Dynasty lasted less than 100 years, its kings were very active in shaping Egypt’s political situation. The Nubians also influenced Egyptian culture of the Late Period – the period from approximately 728 BC until the Christian Era – by promoting “archaizing” features in royal ideology and art. Their influence on Egyptian art is perhaps the most noticeable because it reintroduced older styles, while putting their own unique stamp on the finished products, especially in reliefs and statuary, as they usually depicted themselves with their distinct sub-Saharan racial features instead of as typical Egyptians.

[[File: Nubia.png|300px|thumbnail|left|Map Egypt and Nubia: the Numbers Represent the Cataracts of the Nile River]]

[[File: First Cataract.jpg|300px|thumbnail|right|The Edge of the First Cataract Near Modern Aswan/Ancient Abu]]

In Nubia proper, Nubian cultural life was centered around the city of Napata, which functioned as the capital for most of ancient Nubia’s early existence. <ref> Welsby, p. 12</ref> Kerma grew steadily in size and influence through the late third millennium BC and into the early second millennium BC – which coincided with the first collapse of the Egyptian state, known by modern scholars as the “First Intermediate Period” – until Upper and Lower Egypt were united once more during the Middle Kingdom (ca. 1975-1640 BC). Senusret I (ruled ca. 1971-1926 BC), the second king of Egypt’s Twelfth Dynasty, proved to be an especially warlike pharaoh, which was detrimental to the Kerma state. The Egyptian king led a number of military campaigns into Nubia and created a series of thirteen forts from the first cataract just south of Aswan/Abu in the north to the second cataract, near the city of Buhen in the south. <ref> Smith, p. 64</ref> Egypt was clearly the stronger state at that point in history and influenced Nubia much more culturally than the other way around. For instance, early Nubian architecture of palaces and tombs was circular and more traditionally African, but was gradually replaced by a rectangular, Egyptian shape. <ref> Smith, p. 34</ref>

The height of Nubian political power in the region came during Egypt’s Second Intermediate Period (ca. 1750-1650 BC), when a foreign dynasty known as the “Hyksos” people were in control of northern Egypt. The Nubians, though, had extended their power from the Dongola Reach region around Kerma all the way north to the first cataract. <ref> Morkot, p. 62</ref> and were apparently not content with that as they were involved an alliance with the Hyksos. <ref> Welsby, p. 12</ref> The Nubians probably had their eyes set on acquiring the region around Thebes, which also happened to be the home of the only native Egyptian dynasty at the time, but quickly had their plans destroyed when the Egyptian King Ahmose (reigned ca. 1552-1527 BC) came to power, initiating the Eighteenth Dynasty and the New Kingdom and putting Nubia once more into an inferior political position.

Nubia’s political ambitions took a dramatic turn for the worse when the Egyptian king Thutmose III (ruled ca. 1479-1425 BC) came to the throne. Thutmose III was a particularly active military pharaoh who is often compared to Julius Caesar. Most of Thutmose III’s recorded military campaigns were of his several Levant expeditions, but he did leave a number of textual and pictorial depictions of his campaigns into Nubia and he had a victory stela erected in the Nubian city of Gebel Barkal near the fourth cataract, which indicates Egyptian influence, if not outright control, extended that far south during the New Kingdom. <ref> Bryan, Betsy. “The Eighteenth Dynasty before the Amarna Period.” In <i>The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt.</i> Edited by Ian Shaw. (Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2000), p. 246</ref> By the Nineteenth Dynasty, the Egyptians had colonized Nubia so thoroughly that a new government office was created known as the “king’s son of Kush.” The king’s son of Kush essentially functioned as a viceroy of the region, overseeing the trade and colonization. <ref> O’Connor, David. “New Kingdom and Third Intermediate Period, 1552-664 BC.” In <i>Ancient Egypt: A Social History.</i> Edited by Bruce G. Trigger, Barry J. Kemp, David O’Connor, and Alan B. Lloyd. (Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2004), p. 262</ref> But as with hundreds of years of prior Egyptian-Nubian history, Egypt’s primacy would falter once more and Nubia would be there to take advantage.

[[File: Taharqa.jpg|300px|thumbnail|left|Statue of King Taharqa in the National Museum of Sudan, Khartoum]]

Egypt’s New Kingdom collapsed over a long period that was marked by widespread migrations of Libyans into Egypt, especially in the Delta region. The result was a politically fragmented Egypt: a dynasty of native Egyptian priests temporarily ruled the region around Thebes while the Twenty-First through the Twenty-Fourth dynasties were all Libyan in ethnic origins, often ruling different parts of the country simultaneously. <ref> Kitchen, Kenneth. <i>The Third Intermediate Period in Egypt: (1100 to 650 BC).</i> Second Edition. (Warminster, United Kingdom: Aris and Phillips, 1995), pgs. 1-377</ref> This period of political fragmentation and Libyan domination has become known as the Third Intermediate Period (1075-664 BC) by modern historians. Before Egypt politically and socially disintegrated, the Nubians moved their capital farther south to the city of Napata, which was located near the fourth cataract.

Perhaps the greatest impact the Nubians had on ancient Egypt was to bring back older, more established artistic styles in what modern scholars term <i>archaism</i>. In pictorial reliefs and especially in statuary, the Nubians were influenced by styles from Egypt’s Old and Middle kingdoms, but they added a couple of their own unique elements. Statues from the Twenty-Fifth Dynasty, especially those of the rulers such as Taharqa, often depict the subject in a much more realistic or individual manner, as opposed to normally stylized and somewhat generic fashion that was typical of Egyptian statuary. For instance, although Taharqa is shown wearing the typical accoutrements of an Egyptian king and clothed in traditional Egyptian garb, he is depicted as taller, more muscular, and with definite sub-Saharan African facial features. <ref> Robins, Gay. <i>The Art of Ancient Egypt.</i> (Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1997), pgs. 210-18</ref> The realistic style was continued by dynasties after the Nubians, eventually evolving to become true portraiture statuary.

The Nubians have been the Egyptians’ southern neighbors since the dawn of civilization over 5,000 years ago. During that time, the Egyptians were usually the dominant people, but the Nubians were able to impact pharaonic civilization in a number of ways. When the Egyptians were strong, especially during the New Kingdom, Nubia was a source of great wealth for the Egyptians. The Egyptians established forts and colonies that exploited the rich mineral resources of Nubia, which they then traded on the international market with other Near Eastern kingdoms. Later, when the central government in Egypt collapsed, the Nubians conquered Egypt and brought back a certain amount of stability. The Nubians involved themselves in the affairs of the Near East, which ultimately proved detrimental to Egypt, and brought back older artistic styles and conventions that proved to give new impetus to a culture that seemed exhausted of ideas.