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Egypt had become fragmented and weak, and the Kushite king, Piankhi, took the opportunity to send his armies north, and capture the cities of Egypt one by one, until finally the north was quashed, and the Kushites were in charge of an empire that ran roughly from modern Khartoum to modern Alexandria.
埃及變得孱弱，王國分崩離析。庫施王皮安基抓住機會，調動軍隊北征，逐一征服埃及各個城池，直至推翻整個埃及王國。庫施當時統轄的領地從現代的喀土穆一直延伸到亞歷山大。
And in order to govern this new state, they created a new national identity, a hybrid that would combine both Egypt and Kush.
為了統治這個全新的國家，他們創造了一種新的國家認同，將埃及與庫施結合了起來。
Taharqo, represented in the British Museum sphinx, is the most important of all the Kushite kings.
大英博物館的獅身人面像所表現的塔哈爾卡王，是歷任庫施國王中最重要的一位。
He initiated a golden age for his immense new kingdom, and he succeeded largely because, rather than imposing Kushite customs on the Egyptians, he absorbed and adopted theirs.
他開啟了這一龐大新王國的黃金時期。而他成功的主要原因在于，他并沒有強迫埃及人接受庫施習俗，而是將二者融合起來。
Even in Kush itself, Taharqo built pyramids on the Egyptian model, and he worshipped the Egyptian god Amun; he restored temples in the Egyptian style, and his officials wrote in Egyptian hieroglyphics.
即使在庫施本土，他也按埃及模式修建了金字塔。他敬拜埃及的阿蒙神，按照埃及風格重修神廟，并使用埃及象形文字作為官方記錄語言。
It's a pattern that we see again and again in successful conquests.
在歷史上成功的征服案例中我們能一再看到這種模式：
They used the existing symbols and vocabulary of power, because those are the ones that are already familiar to the population.
征服者沿用原有的權力系統與王權象征，因為它們已為大眾熟知。
It makes sense to keep using a language of control that everybody is accustomed to accept.
用百姓們已經接受了的方法來統治他們，可以說是明智之舉。
The Sphinx of Taharqo, in its calculated mixture of the two different traditions, is not just a striking portrait of the Kushite ruler as a traditional Egyptian pharaoh, it's also a lesson in political method.
塔哈爾卡的獅身人面像有意把兩種不同的文明結合起來，這不只創造出了一尊庫施統治者化身為傳統埃及法老的動人肖像，也成為政治學的一種經典手段。
And for a short period, that method worked brilliantly.
從短期來看，這種手段成效驚人。
