Short answers, pulled from the story.
Nubia stretches from the confluence of the Blue and White Niles near Khartoum in central Sudan to the First Cataract south of Aswan in southern Egypt. This region encompasses the Nile River valley where archaeological evidence attests to long histories of fishing-hunting-gathering before 6000 BC.
The first Nubian kingdom to unify much of the region arose around 1650 BC during the Middle Kerma phase. Kings of Kerma organized labor for monumental town walls and large mud brick structures such as the Eastern and Western Deffufas measuring 50 by 25 by 18 meters.
Taharqa conspired with Levantine kingdoms against Assyria and aided Judah and King Hezekiah in withstanding a siege by King Sennacherib of the Assyrians in 701 BC. The Kushites had influence over their northern neighbors for nearly 100 years until they were repelled by the invading Assyrians who permanently forced the Kushites out of Egypt around 590 BC.
Meroë became the southern capital of the Kingdom of Kush from the reign of Arakamani c. 280 BC when the royal burial ground was transferred there from Napata. The town served as the base of a flourishing kingdom whose wealth was centered around a strong iron industry and international trade with India and China.
Three smaller Christian kingdoms replaced the collapsed Meroitic kingdom: Nobatia with its capital Pachoras now modern-day Faras Egypt, Makuria with its capital Old Dongola, and Alodia with its capital Soba. Christianity had been introduced to the region by the fourth century before Islam gradually supplanted it following the Baqt treaty.