KemetLeads
Piye
Kushite pharaoh; founder of Egypt's 25th Dynasty
The Nubian king who conquered Egypt and ruled as a Black pharaoh.
The rise
King of Kush in what is now Sudan, Piye marched north to reunify a fractured Egypt under Nubian rule.
What they did
He founded the 25th Dynasty of 'Black Pharaohs', recorded his campaign on a great victory stela, and revived classical Egyptian art, religion and pyramid-building along the Nile.
The full picture
His dynasty's grip on Egypt was eventually broken by Assyrian invasion, but Kushite civilization flourished for centuries at Napata and Meroë.
Why it matters
Piye anchors the deep, shared history of Nubia and Kemet — central to an African reading of the ancient Nile.
“I shall make the Two Lands one again, for it is the command of Amun.”