The most ancient African civilisation south of the Sahara is known as the kingdom of Cush or Kush, located in what is now Sudan. The first phase of the Cushite civilisation began around 2500 BCE and was centred around the city of Kerma, which is considered the "first urban centre" south of the Sahara. The Kerma culture particularly flourished between about 1780 and 1580 BCE. The language spoken by the Kerma culture may have belonged to the Nilo-Saharan (like the modern-day "Fur" language of Sudan) or Afro-Asiatic (like Semitic, Egyptian or Berber) language family. Around 1504, the Kingdom of Kerma was invaded by its powerful northern neighbour, Egypt, and was occupied by the Egyptians until about 1070 BCE. When Egyptian power weakened (what is known "Third Intermediate Period" in Egyptian history, from about 1069 BCE), independence was regained. The emerging centre of the Cushite civilisation was the city of Napata, founded in 1400s and situated near ...