Free Republic

It has been said that the period between 760 BCE to 656 BCE in Egypt was the 'age of the black pharaohs'. It was during this time that ancient Egypt was ruled by a dynasty or succession of kings from Nubia, the Kingdom of Kush, a rival African kingdom just to its south in what is today northern Sudan. Beginning with king Kashta's successful invasion of Upper Egypt, what became known as the 25th Dynasty achieved the reunification of Lower Egypt, Upper Egypt, and also Kush (Nubia), the largest Egyptian empire since the New Kingdom. They introduced new Kushite cultural...

Over the past three years, and in the past two months especially, the Cairo government has turned a blind eye to the persecution of Coptic Christians ... Since two Christians were killed, reportedly by five Muslims, on Aug. 14, around 1,200 Christians from the Al-Kosheh region near Luxor in Upper Egypt have been arrested and many of them tortured ... The arrests began Aug. 15, when Christians in the region expressed outrage at the killings... Bishop Anba Wissa, the Coptic spiritual leader of the El-Baliana region, and his priests made official complaints Aug. 19 ... The local government continued rounding...