• 730 - Piye takes nearly all of Egypt, becoming first Pharaoh of the 25th Dynasty. Lower Egypt, under a vassal king, tends to run itself.
• 720 - Piye foements rebellion in Philistia and Gaza against the Assyrians, but these are put down. This begins the Sargonite’s hatred of the Egyptians.
• 714 - Piye dies, and Shebitku becomes Pharaoh.
• 712 - 710 - Shebitku conquers Lower Egypt. Burns Bakenranef (last heir of the 24th dynasty) alive.
• 706 - Shebitku extradites a rebel to Sargon in a bid to appease him. This is an unpopular maneuver.
• 705 - Shabaka becomes Pharaoh after Shebitku dies under mysterious circumstances.
• 705 - Sargon II dies in battle. Sennacherib consolidates power of the next 3 years.
• 703 - Sennacharib puts down a Babylonian revolt.
• 701 - Shabaka allies with Babylon and the kings of the Levant. Sennacharib destroys many of the city-states of the Levant, and then lays seige to Jerusalem. Shabaka comes to their aid, sending Taharqa as general of his armies, and a huge Assyrian army is destroyed.
• 694 - Sennacharib's eldest son is eliminated as king of Babylon. Sennacharib names Esarhaddon his crown prince, to his older brother's dismay.
• 690 - Taharqa becomes Pharaoh after the death of his uncle Shabaka
• 689 - Sennacharib destroys Babylon, very unpopular, seen as sacriligious
• 681 - Sennacharib dies, assasinated by his elder son. Esarhaddon returns to Nineveh, defeats his brothers and becomes king.
• 675 - Preliminary Advance by Esarhaddon turned back
• 673 - First real invasion by Esarhaddon
• 672 - Ashurbanipal's eldest brother dies, and his other older brother is King of Babylon, so he becomes crown prince. He is not liked (especially by the priesthood), so Esarhaddon has to make deals with families to ensure loyalty to him.
• 671 - Esarhaddon brings full on war to Taharqa, takes Memphis, and captures his heir. Taharqa flees south to Thebes.

Son of Piye. Also king of Kush as indicated by the two snakes on his crown. Currently facing a recent defeat at Memphis, at the hands of Esarhaddon, where he lost his son and heir, and one of his wives. Fears losing all of Egypt. Married to three of his sisters (and spiritually to Shepenupet).

Taharqa is secretly a follower of Apedamak and Dedun. Dedun worshippers use lots of incense, and he has a ton of special incense that allow him to commune with a barghest from the Fae realm that works for the Forest Mother, who is too bizarre to be able to communicate with humans. The thing wants him to promote nature, and just tear down all of this civilization before it gets too far. As a result Taharqa has always had an urge to simply return to Napata like Shebitku and Piye, from whom he learned these traditions. But he's compelled by the need for power to make his agenda come true.

Son of Taharqa, captured recently when he sallied out from Memphis to take on Esarhaddon.

Sister of Taharqa, mother of Tantamani, still wields considerable power as Shabaka’s former Chief Queen.

Sister-wife of Taharqa. Priestess of Hathor.

High Priestess of Amun. Daughter of Piye, Taharqua’s sister and spirutual wife. Her adopted mother was Amerendis I, a sister of Piye.

Heir apparent successor to Shepenupet II as God's Wife. Daughter of Taharqa.

Son of Shabaka, had been designated as his heir, but then was displaced when Taharqa took over after his father, claiming that as brother of Shebitku, and son of Piye, that this gave him greater claim.

Tantamani has two sister-wives, Piankharty and Istemheb, who both follow his lead closely.

Son of Shabaka, high priest of Amun. Mother is Mesbat. Shabaka installed his son as high priest to try to get greater influence amongst the priests.

Chief Steward of the 'God's Wife of Amun' at Thebes since Amenirdis I installed him. Elderly now, he’s training his replacement. Inhabited by Mai.

Vizier, Count of Thebes, Governor of Upper Egypt, Fourth Prophet of Amun. Appointed by Taharqa.

Ruler of Sais, put in place by Shabaka. Wants his son, Neco, to be Pharaoh as a descendant of the 24th Dynasty (thus founding the 26th). Esarhaddon can accomplish this for him.

Wants revenge against the Egyptians for having helped defend Jerusalem against Esarhaddon’s father Sennacharib’s attempts to take it (which were disastrous). And for fomenting the conflict in Babylon, the result of which was his father's death. Taharqa was a commander at the defense of Jerusalem, the Pharaoh then being Shabaka. Esarhaddon’s son is Ashurbanipal, who comes with him on campaign.

Map of Thebes:

South end of the Necropolis (West Bank, Thebes). Includes the Temple of Millions of Years of Ramses III, which has been the palace for royals and visiting Pharaoh's for a couple of centuries:

Temple of Millions of Years of Hatshepsut: