Country of burnt faces; the Greek word by which the Hebrew Cush is rendered (Genesis 2:13; 2 Kings 19:9; Esther 1:1; Job 28:19; Psalm 68:31; 87:4), a country which lay to the south of Egypt, beginning at Syene on the First Cataract (Ezek. 29:10; 30:6), and extending to beyond the confluence of the White and Blue Nile. It corresponds generally with what is now known as the Soudan (i.e., the land of the blacks). This country was known to the Hebrews, and is described in Isaiah 18:1; Zephaniah 3:10. They carried on some commercial intercourse with it (Isaiah 45:14).
Its inhabitants were descendants of Ham (Genesis 10:6; Jeremiah 13:23; Isaiah 18:2, "scattered and peeled, " A.V.; but in R.V., "tall and smooth"). Herodotus, the Greek historian, describes them as "the tallest and handsomest of men." They are frequently represented on Egyptian monuments, and they are all of the type of the true negro. As might be expected, the history of this country is interwoven with that of Egypt.
Ethiopia is spoken of in prophecy (Psalm 68:31; 87:4; Isaiah 45:14; Ezek. 30:4-9; Dan. 11:43; Nahum 3:8-10; Habakkuk 3:7; Zephaniah 2:12).