mysqldump doesn't restore database. why not?
You have to use the mysql client to reload

mysql -u root -p -Ddatabasename &lt; /home/databasename_bkup.sql  


Another way to reload would be

mysql -u root -p -Ddatabasename


then from the MySQL prompt, do this

mysql&gt; source /home/databasename_bkup.sql  


If you would like the mysqldump to drop and recreate the database for you, create the dump like this:

mysqldump -u root -p --add-drop-database -B databasename &gt; /home/databasename_bkup.sql  


Then, running the script

mysql -u root -p &lt; /home/databasename_bkup.sql  


does the DROP DATABASE command for you.