In the days when the Egyptians and the Hebrews ruled the ancient world, there was a kingdom in the desert that rivaled that of any major civilization. They were known as the Kushite and lived in what we now call Nubia. Archaeological evidence suggests that the first Kushite societies began to take shape before 3100 BC. Most of what we know of these people come from the ancient Egyptians themselves, however, the Kushites are mentioned in the Old Testament of the Bible. In the 8^th century BC, a Nubian king by the name of Piye took advantage of the warring rulers of Egypt and conquered the land, becoming the first Kushite Pharaoh of Egypt. Kushite rulers also built pyramids in the desert, but had their own style in doing so. Out of the 220 pyramids built by this amazing culture, 14 were made specifically for their queens.