King Taharqa

- 664 BC

Pharaoh

Key Dates

Ruled 690-664 BC

Taharqa was a pharaoh of Egypt during the 25th dynasty. He is the son of the first ruler of the dynasty, Piya (Piankhy).

The 25th dynasty is a Kushite dynasty. This means that the pharaohs were from Nubia and drew their power from there. Despite his Nubian ancestry Taharqa ruled his empire from Memphis. He began a program of temple building that saw construction take place beyond the capital at places such as Qasr Ibrim, Napata, Thebes and Abydos.

Chief rival of Taharqa was the Assyrian Empire who, by the time of his rule, had pushed their borders up against the Egyptians. Around 679 BC the pharaoh led small campaigns in Lebanon and Palestine.

The rise of the Assyrian king Esarhaddon (681–669 BCE) proved to be a disaster for Taharqa. In 674 BC the Assyrians launched an invasion of the Nile Delta, an attack that the Egyptians rebuffed. In 671 Esarhaddon attacked again, this time successfully driving Taharqa back to the Sudan.

The Assyrian king recognized the first king of the Sais dynasty Necho I, as ruler of Egypt. Although Taharqa attempted to return, he found himself unable to overcome the Assyrians. He was defeated by Esarhaddon’s successor Ashurbanipal in 667 BC. Once again Taharqa fled south to Nubia, where he died in 664 BC.

A massive one ton granite statue of the pharaoh Taharqa has been found in Dangeil, deep inside Sudan. No other statue of a pharaoh has ever been found further south of Egypt than this one.