alternatehistory.com

My first thread here yay!

Anyways, this timeline is something I've been working on for fun for a couple weeks, its rough, but it is one of my first attempts at this Althist thing, I hope you guys(and gals) like it.

There will be one early POD, that is with regards to the fabled Phoenician expedition and Pharoah Necho of Egypt. In OTL, the expedition returned with no notable news. In this one, Necho is intrigued by the idea of colonizing the south in an effort to enrich Egypt.

Part One: The Founding of Aquert and the Rise of Maaburu


610 BC – c. 595 BC: Pharoah Necho II sent out an expedition of Phoenicians, which in three years sailed from the Red Sea around Africa to the mouth of the Nile. Necho II is intrigued by the idea of colonies, an idea he learned from the Phoenician sailers under his employment. After the initual expedition he orders a group of the Egyptian Navy south, where they establish a colony in what is now Kenya.
The colony is well supplied by Necho II at first, and regular supplies from the north keep arriving every few months. To increase the supply of labor, numbers of the Khoisan speaking natives are enslaved in the construction of the colony.

595–589 BC: Psamtik II succeeds his father. Psamtik II led a campaign into Nubia in 592 BC. The Kushite king Anlamani had revived the power of the kingdom of Napata. Psamtik II's campaign was initiated to destroy any future plans the Kushites may have had to reconquer Egypt, with the memory of the Nubian 25th dynasty fresh on Egypt's mind. His campaign is a serious defeat for Kush, but Psamtik II decides not to completely finish Nubia off, focusing instead briefly on developing Aquert as it soon becomes known as. Egyptian malcontents and prisoners of war are sent to the colony as sources of additional labor.
Uarseken, Aquert's governor, is a powerful man in the growing colony. He has some of the labor directed to building an impressive palace complex along with several obelisks.
Psamtik II diverts much of the colony's funds north to fund his campaign in the Levant against the Babylonians in 591 BC. In 589 Psamtik II dies and is suceeded by Apries.

589-525 BC: Apries continues his father's policies in foreign affairs, meddling with Mesopatamia. This proves disasterious for him when His unsuccessful attempt to intervene in the politics of the Kingdom of Judah was followed by a mutiny of soldiers from the strategically important Aswan garrison.
While the mutiny was contained, Apries later attempted to protect Libya from incursions by Dorian Greek invaders but his efforts here backfired spectacularly as his forces were mauled by the Greek invaders.When the defeated army returned home, a civil war broke out between the indigenous Egyptian army troops and foreign mercenaries in the Egyptian army. At this time of crisis, the Egyptians turned in support towards a victorious general, Amasis II who had led Egyptian forces in a highly successful invasion of Nubia in 592 BC under pharaoh Psamtik II, Apries' father. Amasis quickly declared himself pharaoh in 570 BC and Apries fled Egypt and sought refuge in another foreign country. When Apries marched back to Egypt in 567 BC with the aid of a Babylonian army to reclaim the throne of Egypt, he was likely killed in battle with Amasis' forces. Amasis then secured his kingship over Egypt and was now the unchallenged ruler of Egypt.
Amasis II is much to focused on internal affairs as well as with the growing threat of Persia to pay much attention to the Aquert colony.
During all the affairs in Egypt Aquert had been run mostly independently by Uarseken. Uarseken had handled a slave revolt by natives several times. To support the colony Uarseken also began trading by sea with Dʿmt, a powerful kingdom in northern Ethiopia. In 572 BC Uarseken dies of natural causes, he is soon replaced by his brother Bekenamen, who ambitiously has himself crowned Pharoah of Aquert.
Aquert receives the last trickle of Egyptian colonists when in 525 BC the Persians defeat Psamtik III, the inexprienced son of Amasis, occupy Egypt, and execute publicly many of Egypt's prominant families.Most of the nobility and other prominent people who escape the purge flee by ship south. The Nubian Kingdom of Moroe allows the refugees to pass uninhibited when news of the Persian conquest of Egypt reaches them.

524-500 BC: The colony of Aquert has at this point grown into a small city state. Aquert is ruled by Pharoah Bekenamen, who with the aid of many skilled refugees including priests, artisans and arcatects who survived the purge in Egypt, begin recreating Egypt in the far off land they have found themselves in, spreading Ancient Egyptian culture to the surrounding tribesmen. Several villages and towns begin to grow around Aquert. Aquert protects itself from the native Khoisan tribes with its small but skilled army consisting of iron-armed archers, spearmen and charioteers. Aquert also has a small navy, which is mainly used to escort sea trade north to Dʿmt and to a lesser extent, Moroe.

Bekenamen is succeeded by his son Bekenamen II in 523 BC, third Pharoah of Aquert's first dynasty. Bekenamen II continues supporting his city-kingdom by trade with D'mt and Moroe, however in the third year of his reign in 520 A few of the larger Khoisan tribes unite in opposition to Aquert slave raiders. They manage to burn down afew of the outlying Aquert villages, but are stopped before they due further harm by the Aquert military. Bekenamen II makes an agreement with the Khoisan tribes to end slavery against the Khoisan people. Many long time Khoisan slaves in Aquert are released, and they take the Ancient Egyptian culture, skills and more that they learned while in captivity with them back to their native tribes.

Bekenamen II then adopts a policy of of trade with the growing Khoisan Chiefdoms, hiring some as skilled laborers. He also adopts a policy of backing friendlier tribes against more aggressive and hostile Chiefdoms, a policy which works well for the moment. Aquert may have the culture and civilization, but they do not have the manpower to campaign and conquer like Egypt once did as of yet.
In 500 BC a new group begins settling in the region, the Nilotic tribes, who are a nomadic people of herders. They mostly settle around the great fresh water lakes of the region. Trade with Aquert soon proves profitable for both sides, and the Nilotic soon settle down near the great lakes and found many farming villages, intermarrying and merging with the Cushitic, who were earlier residents in the same region.
Bekenamen II is succeeded by his son Mer-Ba in 449 BC.

449 BC-400 BC: The Kingdom of Aquert deals with a new power in the region, a large tribe of Nilotic speakers called the Maaburu. The more aggressive Maaburu tribe proves not to be a good neighbor, and wages small raids and skirmishes against both the Khoisan Chiefdoms and other Nilotic tribes. Most of the Nilotic tribes fall to the skilled High Chieftain Mabusi and became part of the Maaburu's small empire within a decade.
Mer-Ba is a more ambitious Pharoah then his father, and also a skilled warrior. He wages the first great military campaign in Aquert's history, fighting intermittingly with the Maaburu and some troublesome Khoisan tribes. The Maaburu are skilled spearmen, but their lack of iron weaponry gives them a disadvantage against Aquert. They are skilled archers however, and this helps offset their metal handicap.
Aquert manages to protect their trading interests in the region from Maaburu, but is unable to conquer them.
Mer-Ba is succeeded in 429 after a reign of twenty years by his younger son Najja, his older son dying during a campaign against the Maaburu a year earlier. Najja attempts several times to conquer the Maaburu, but ultimate fails and even loses his life to a Maaburu arrow in 425 after only four years as Pharoah. The position of Pharoah then is in dispute between Najja's twin sons Anon and Nep-ra. This begins the ten year civil war in Aquert between the two would be Pharoahs.
Anon succurs an allaince with the Maaburu by marrying the eldest daightor of the reigning Maaburu chief, an act which enrages Nep-ra, as Anon is using their father's killers in order to gain Aquert's throne. Nep-ra alligns himself with the Khoisan chiefdoms, who fear Maaburu's growing power and definitely do not want Maaburu to take over Aquert.
After ten years of no clear winner in the war, the brothers finally end their years of hatred and agree to a peace agreement. Nep-ra is recognized as the rightful Pharoah of Aquert, while Anon becomes the Pharoah of Maaburu, succeeding his father-in-law, the last Great Chieftain of the Maaburu.
Maaburu takes in many aspects of Ancient Egyptian culture and religion, and also begins to compete in trade in the region, competing with Aquert traders in the marketplaces of Moroe and D'mt.
The Bantu migrations, which began hundreds of years ago, continue at a small pace.

400-300 BC: Nep-Ra is succeeded by this son in 400 BC, who takes the throne-name Bekenamen III. Bekenamen III continues the treaty with his uncle Anon. However five years into his reign a new deadly strain of Malaria outbreaks in the region, infecting the Pharoah himself. The malaria burns itself out quickly, but Bekenamen III is never the same afterwards and even his subjects doubt his ability to lead, taking the plague as a sign from the gods that perhaps Anon was indeed the rightful ruler of Aquert after all.
Anon ceizes the oportunity, and invades Aquert. The military of Aquert itself offers almost no resistance. Anon deposes his nephew, but allows the sickly young man to live the rest of his days in a manner befitting a king.
Anon has groomed his son Zabasa to be Pharoah, and five years after taking Aquert, Zabasa becomes the first Pharoah of the 2nd Aquert dynasty. His rule brings a great number of changes to the kingdom.
First, Aquert becomes the capital of Maaburu. The existing Aquert nobility as well as many other officials are encorporated into the greater empire, sent to educate and bring the benefits of Aquert's high civilization and culture to the rest of the region. Zabasa wears a headress modeled after a Lion's visage, with mane and "ears", rather than the traditional Pharoah's headdress. The Egyptian's lion god Maahes, considered a minor god in Egypt and Nubia(where he was known as Apedemak ) becomes the head of Maaburu-Aquert's pantheon.
To symbolize the power of the Maaburu and prove he is also the successor to the power of Ancient Egypt, Zabasa orders the construction of a great sphinx, similiar to the one fabled to be in Egypt. Unlike the Sphinx in Egypt, the monument built outside Aquert is a stylized African Lion, rather than an "Androsphinx".

In 375 BC Zabasa leaves a powerful and prosperious Maaburu to his son, who takes the throne name Maahenhet, which means "Maahes is foremost" in Maaburu-Egyptian. Maahenhet makes the southern Khoisan Chiefdoms pay an annual tribute to Maaburu, and becomes renowned for his law code, which he names after his father and hense becomes known as Zabasa's code. Some of the things said in the code are:
-Those in authority exist to serve and be served.
-An official without honor is unworthy of his station
The code covers behavior in normal life as well as in war. Maahenhet rules for sixty years, the rest of his rule is spent building a second palace for the Pharoah in Raatonen, a Maaburu-Egyptian town near the border with Ethiopia. This city becomes Maahenhet's auxilery capital and was chosen for its strategic location for war and trade. Maahenhet also has craftsmen and arcatects improve the lives for commoners living in towns and villages by making sure they have supplies of war and grain.

In 315 BC Maahenhet "The Great" leaves Maaburu to his cousin, having outlived all his children. His cousin takes the name Zabasa II and rules for seven years, abicating to his son in 308 BC, who then takes the name Maahenhet II.
Meanwhile to the North changes also occur. In Ethiopia, D'mt falls, and a number of successor kingdoms emerge and battle for supremacy in the region. Maaburu trades with the various Ethiopian Kingdoms, and some Maaburu soldiers even serve as mercanaries in Ethiopian armies,.
In Nubia the Kingdom of Meroe continues Nubian civilization mostly unchanged by the two-hundred years of Persian domination to the North in Egypt. However, Egypt itself undergoes a change when Persia is defeated and conquered by Alexander the Great of Macedonia. After Alexander's death, one of his generals, Ptolemy starts a new dynasty of Greco-Egyptian Pharoahs. Many of the scholars in Egypt uncover the history of the fabled long-lost colony of Ancient Egypt, Aquert. Ptolemy is intrigued, but is too busy with campaigns against rival Greek kingdoms in Asia and Greece itself to devote anything chasing what he considers an interesting fable but a fable nontheless.
Some of the scholars do their own independent investigations, journeying south to Meroe where they hear of a powerful kingdom of Pharoahs to the south.
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