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Taharqa (also spelled Tirhakah, Manetho's Tarakos) was king of Egypt, and a member of the Nubian or 25th dynasty, whose reign is usually dated 690 BC to 664 BC. He was also the son of Piye, the Nubian king of Napata who previously conquered Egypt. Kenneth A. Kitchen in The Third Intermediate Period in Egypt (1973: 380-391) tells a lot about Taharqa, confirming his highest regnal date as 26 years. He was brother of Shabako or Sebaq-tawy, the previous king of Egypt. Scholars have identified him with Tirhakah, king of Ethiopia, who waged war against Sennacherib during the reign of King Hezekiah of Judah ( 2 Kings 19:9; Isaiah 37:9). (Nubia is frequently called Ethiopia in the Bible.) The events in the biblical account are believed to have taken place in 701 BC though, whereas Taharqa came to the throne some ten years later. A number of explanations have been proposed: one is that the title of king in the biblical text refers to his later title, when at the time of this account he was likely only a military commander.
Taharqa indulged in rebuilding the temple at Kawa , across the Nile from Dongola, which became a major center for the Nubian kings. He built at a number of other sites in Nubia, as well as performing restoration work at the temple of KarnakKarnak is a village in Egypt that was once part of the ancient capital of Egypt, Thebes. It is situated about 3 km (2 miles) north of Luxor Temple. For many centuries Karnak temple was the main religious centre of Egypt, with each Pharaoh adding to or alt.
It was during his reign that Egypt's enemy AssyriaThis article concerns the ancient Mesopotamian kingdom. For the modern-day peoples in northern Iraq and neighboring areas, see Assyrian. Assyria a country named after its original capital city, Asshur on the Tigris, was originally a colony of Babylonia, a, at last invaded Egypt. EsarhaddonEsarhaddon ( 681 669 BC) was a king of Assyria, the son of Sennacherib and the Aramaic queen Naqi'a/Zakitu, Sennacheribs second wife. When his father named him as successor although he was the youngest son, his brothers tried to get him into miscredit. led several campaigns against Taharqa, which he recorded on several monuments. His first attack in 677 BC, aimed to pacify Arab tribes around the Dead SeaThe Dead Sea ( Hebrew , Arabic ) is an endorheic lake of saline water (area: ca. 1050 kmē or 401 sq mi), fed by the Jordan River, surrounded by Jordan, Israel and the West Bank. The Dead Sea is the saltiest and deepest hypersaline lake in the world. The s, led him as far as the Brook of EgyptThe Brook of Egypt (identified with the Wady el-'Arish is a desert stream on the borders of Egypt. In the Bible, the border between Palestine and Egypt lies halfway between this stream and Gaza. This landmark appears in Numbers 34:5; Joshua 15:4, 47; 1 Ki. Esarhaddon invaded Egypt proper in Taharqa's 17th regnal year , after Esarhaddon had settled a revolt at AshkelonAshkelon or Ashqelon ( Hebrew alphabet Standard Hebrew Ašqlon Tiberian Hebrew Ašqlon Arabic Asqaln Latin Ascalon was an ancient Philistine seaport on the east coast of the Mediterranian sea just north of Gaza. Ashkelon is also the name of a mo. Taharqa defeated the Assyrians on that occasion, but three years later ( 671 BC) the Assyrian king captured and sacked Memphis, where he captured numerous members of the royal family. Taharqa fled to the south, and Esarhaddon reorganized the political scene in the north, establishing Necho I of the 26th dynasty as king at Sais.
Upon the Assyrian king's departure, however, Taharqa intrigued in the affairs of Lower Egypt, and fanned numerous revolts. Esarhaddon died before he could return to Egypt, and it was left to his heir Assurbanipal to once again invade Egypt. Ashurbanipal defeated Taharqa, who afterwards fled first to Thebes, then up the Nile into Nubia. After appointing Tantamani, the son of Shabako, his successor, he died in exile.
Pharaohs Kush
