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The twenty-first, twenty-second, twenty-third, twenty-fourth and twenty-fifth dynasties of ancient Egypt are often combined under the group title, Third Intermediate Period.

The known rulers, in the History of Egypt, for the twenty-fifth dynasty are as follows:

The twenty-fifth dynasty originated in Kush (Nubia) presently in north Sudan at the city-state of Napata, whence they invaded and took control of Egypt under Piye (spelled Piankhi in older works). Manetho does not mention either the first king Piye, or the last king Tantamani, although inscriptions exist to attest to the existence of both.

The following chronology follows recent research by Dan'el Kahn^[1] which suggests that Shebitku was king of Egypt by 707/706 BC. This is based on evidence from an inscription of the Assyrian king Sargon II, which was found in modern day Northwestern Iran and dated to 706 BC. This inscription calls Shebitku the king of Melunha, and states that he sent back to Assyria a rebel named Iamanni in handcuffs. Kahn's arguments have been widely accepted by many Egyptologists including Rolf Krauss, and Aidan Dodson^[2] and other scholars at the SCIEM 2000 (Synchronisation of Civilisations of the Eastern Mediterranean in the Second Millennium B.C.) project with the notable exception of Kenneth Kitchen and Manfred Bietak at present.

Starting from the reign of Taharqa onwards, the kings of this dynasty were driven back into Nubia, at first by the Assyrians, then by the kings of the Twenty-Sixth Dynasty. Their successors came to settle in Nubia, where they established a kingdom at Napata (656 - 590 BC) then later at Meroë (590 BC - 4th century AD).

• History of Ancient Egypt
• List of monarchs of Kush

• (French) Voyage au pays des pharaons noirs Travel in Sudan : pictures and notes on the nubian history