Cushite

people

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June 17, 2026

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The term "Cushite" refers to a native or inhabitant of ancient Cush, a historical region in northeastern Africa located in the Nile valley, south of Egypt. The adjective "Cushite" means of or relating to ancient Cush.123

Additionally, "Cushitic" can refer to a subfamily of Afro-Asiatic languages spoken in eastern Africa, including Ethiopia, Somalia, and Kenya.4

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eastern Africa
The interior before the colonial era
…peoples who were probably southern Cushites from Ethiopia. Some traces of these interlopers remain among, for example, the Iraqw of Tanzania, and it may be that the age-old systems of irrigation found throughout this region owe their origins to this period as well. Agriculture preceded the smelting of iron in…
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…peoples who were probably southern Cushites from Ethiopia. Some traces of these interlopers remain among, for example, the Iraqw of Tanzania, and it may be that the age-old systems of irrigation found throughout this region owe their origins to this period as well. Agriculture preceded the smelting of iron in…
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Tanzania
Ethnic groups
…introduced through the migration of Cushitic people from Ethiopia. The Iraqw, the Mbugu, the Gorowa, and the Burungi have Cushitic origins. About 500 ce, iron-using Bantu agriculturalists arriving from the west and south started displacing or absorbing the San hunters and gatherers; at roughly the same time, Nilotic pastoralists entered…
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…introduced through the migration of Cushitic people from Ethiopia. The Iraqw, the Mbugu, the Gorowa, and the Burungi have Cushitic origins. About 500 ce, iron-using Bantu agriculturalists arriving from the west and south started displacing or absorbing the San hunters and gatherers; at roughly the same time, Nilotic pastoralists entered…
Read More