Sphinx of shepenwepet II, representative of the Kushite royalty.
The official date for the Kushite conquest of Egypt is not definitely decided. However it is known till Kush had exercised political control over Egypt as early as the 9th century BC. During this period Lower Egypt was ruled by a group of Lybian kings, who were always on the fight over power allocation. These Lybians originally immigrated to Egypt from the Lybia in the twelvth century BC. Then, due to their expertise in war, many of them ended up taking important positions in the Egyptian military forces. Starting from the 22nd dynasty, when Egypt was already weakening , many of those Lybian Militants claimed the official right over the Kingship of all of Egypt. The Kushites took advntage of the deteriorating situations in Egypt, and hence excersised political control. Evidence suggest that the eleven Libyan kings , who were ruling Egypt at thhe time , were in the hands of the Kushite state under superficial titles of Kings turning them into puppet-like agents.During the 8th century the Kushite kings at the request of the lower Egyptian cult of Amon crushed the rebelling armies of Tefnakht and Oskorn , the strongest and most influential Libyan kings in Lower Egypt.
