Egypt in the late eighth century, the Kushites would have seen those emperors as agents of chaos and regarded themselves as sustainers of ma’at. While defense of the Nile Valley and trade considerations were the immediate reasons for the Kushites’ pre-emptive strike into Khor, the overarching reason was the need to maintain ma’at.7 Egypt’s indigenous dynasties had showed themselves incapable or unwilling to acquit themselves of their pharaonic responsibility as Amon’s representatives to repel chaos from Egypt. That explains why, starting with Piye, the Kushites felt themselves religiously
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