Ancient pyramids in Sudan

Somewhere in present-day Sudan, pyramids stretch toward the sky. They stand at the site of the ancient city of Meroë, now inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List. As the center of a powerful civilization, Meroë was the capital of the Kingdom of Kush, whose culture flourished for centuries. The sovereign architecture and works of art it left behind are immutable witnesses to the majesty of Nubian kings and queens.

Nubian influence on Egypt

Buried in the sands of the desert on the banks of the Nile, the Nubian civilization shaped the destiny of Egypt from the 8th century BCE and even became Egypt's 25th dynasty during the Late Period. After their fall, the Nubian pharaohs retreated south of Egypt to form the Kingdom of Kush, which would flourish in splendid isolation while the rest of Egypt suffered repeated assaults by the Assyrians, Persians, and Greeks.

Meroë's unique cultural legacy

Thanks to Meroë's isolation, the Kushites managed to preserve their independence until the middle of the 4th century CE and freely practiced their personal interpretation of Egyptian culture and religion. The Meroites had access to mines and their ore and were exceptional goldsmiths. They built temples, palaces, and royal baths in their capital. The 200 pyramids erected in Meroë may be their greatest achievement (Sudan in fact has more pyramids than all of Egypt combined). Tall, slender, graceful: these monuments testify to the unaltered splendor of the ancient Kingdom of Kush.

Archaeological discoveries at Meroë

From 1980 to 1998, Swiss archaeologist Charles Bonnet excavated these lands along the banks of the Nile. He discovered traces of a civilization that enriched itself through trade and experienced abundance thanks to its fields and livestock. In fact, a distinct kingdom from Egypt, endowed with its own material culture and traditions. The power of this civilization was established with the decline of the Middle Kingdom of Egypt around 1785 BCE. By 1500 BCE, the Nubian empire extended roughly from Wadi Halfa in the north to Meroë in the south.

The rise of the 25th dynasty

Centered on Napata, its first capital, the Nubian dynasty continued to flourish militarily and economically throughout the 9th century BCE. Around 730 BCE, the king of Nubia, Piye, invaded and conquered Egypt. He now controlled the entire Nile Valley. Piye became the first emperor of Egypt's 25th dynasty (c. 770-656 BCE), the dynasty of the "black pharaohs."

Piye's burial and legacy

Piye died in 715 BCE after a reign of thirty-five years. Although he returned to Nubia after his conquest of Egypt, he requested to be buried in the Egyptian manner, a request his subjects honored. Buried in a pyramid, Piye was the first pharaoh to be buried in this manner in 500 years.

The fall of the 25th dynasty

The 25th dynasty lasted another fifty-six years and its hegemony ended in turmoil when the Assyrians invaded Egypt. The conquerors erased the names of those who belonged to the 25th dynasty from all Egyptian monuments and destroyed their statues and stelae so that history would forget their names.

Shift of the Kushite capital

After the defeat, the Nubians retreated to Napata only to be pushed further south at the beginning of the 6th century BCE when the city was sacked by Psammite II, pharaoh of the 26th dynasty. The Kushites then made Meroë their new capital. This was a well-considered choice. The lands surrounding Meroë are not only at the strategic crossroads of African land trade routes and the caravan routes coming from the Red Sea but are also fertile and rich in natural resources (iron and gold mines that feed the development of a metal industry, and especially goldsmithing).

Kushite burial practices

The funerary culture of the Kushites is influenced by a synthesis of Egyptian and African cultural practices. After settling in the south, the Kushite kings continued to be buried in the necropolis of Nuri, near Napata, around which the Egyptian cult of the god Amun revolved.

Meroë as a burial site

It was only later, around 250 BCE, that Meroë would become a preferred necropolis. Burials would take place mainly in two areas: a cemetery to the south and another to the north. The southern one is the oldest. When it reached its capacity limit, burials began in the north. It is in the northern part that today's best-preserved pyramids of the ancient city are found. Some of the most impressive tombs are there. Thirty kings (qores), eight queens (candaces), and three princes rest there.

Evolution of Meroë's pyramids

The first pyramids of Meroë were step pyramids. According to some specialists, they may have once been topped with cylinders or spheres made of materials that have since been destroyed or disappeared. The structures that appeared later were built in the 3rd century CE. They are simpler and their sides are smooth and abrupt. Despite the evident influence of classical Egyptian aesthetics, the pyramids of Meroë are significantly smaller and generally lack a pyramidion, that famous pointed capstone. They actually resemble more the chapel pyramids of Deir el-Medina, near Luxor. These were built during the New Kingdom (1539-1075 BCE), a period when many Egyptian customs began to appear in the Kushite culture.

Construction techniques of Meroë's pyramids

The stones were arranged using a shaduf, a lever used to lift stone blocks. The exterior facade was made of bricks and then covered with a reflective coating.

Interior design of the pyramids

To the east of each pyramid, steps were carved into the rock leading to a sealed entrance. Beyond the threshold, one discovered vaulted underground rooms: kings were entitled to three, queens to two. In the oldest pyramids, the burial chamber was decorated with scenes from the Book of the Dead of the Ancient Egyptians. A wooden coffin depicting the deceased was placed there, as well as the sacred bodies of animals and even servants.

Distinctive features of Meroë's chapels

On one side of an ordinary Meroitic pyramid, there was a chapel whose entrance was formed by two twin, slender pylons. It was common to place a stela, an offering table, and a distinctive element of Meroitic culture: a statue of the ba (the part of the soul giving the deceased their individuality) representing a human-headed bird body.

Kushite-Roman conflicts

The Kingdom of Kush prospered for centuries. But with the death of Cleopatra in 30 BCE, things changed. Egypt became a province of a nascent Roman Empire and this undermined the fragile ceasefire concluded with Rome. Tax revolts in Upper Egypt led to Roman incursions into Kushite territory; their lucrative gold mines were threatened.

Queen Amanirenas and the Roman conflict

The Meroitic forces, led by their terrifying queen Amanirenas, attacked Roman soldiers at Aswan (the southern border of the Roman world). In his Geography, Strabo refers to her as the one-eyed Candace, "a woman resembling a man [...] having lost an eye." This memorable war leader was eventually repelled back to Meroë, but from that moment on, the Meroitic civilization would be left relatively undisturbed.

Abandonment and looting of Meroë

Meroë would be abandoned in the 4th century CE. The centuries would see rumors spread about its monuments and the gold they supposedly contained. These rumors would eventually reach the ears of tomb raider Giuseppe Ferlini. In 1834, he reached Meroë and began looting its tombs.

Legacy of Meroë's artifacts

Even today, archaeologists lament the damage he caused. However, the few refined artifacts brought back to Europe awakened scholars to this enigmatic culture that had adopted the traditions of the pharaonic Egypt.