The use of iron spread across
the Near East, becoming the basis for the Assyrian power. After
their defeat in 666 B.C., the Kushites and the Egyptians rapidly
adopted the new iron technology. The coming of the Iron Age to
Africa meant the production of better weapons and tools. Better
weapons provided safety from hostile foes and protection from
ferocious beasts. Better axes meant that man could live in densely
forested regions where he had not been able to live before. Better
farm implements meant that more food could be grown with less
work, this again encouraged the development of denser population
centers.
By 300 B.C., Kush had become an important iron-producing
center. Its capital, Meroe located on the upper Nile, developed into
a thriving commercial and industrial city. Archeological diggings
have unearthed the remains of streets, houses, sprawling palaces,
and huge piles of slag left from its iron industry. When scholars
are able to decipher the Kushitic writings much more will be
known about the culture and way of life of this early black empire.
In the first century A.
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