Pyramids of Meroe

Meroe is an ancient city of Nubia, capital of a late kingdom and known for its relatively well-preserved necropolises with steep-sloping pyramids. The site has been on the UNESCO World Heritage List since 2003. This city formed the capital of the kingdom of Kush for several centuries. The Kush kingdom of Meroe, which gave its name to the island of Meroe, is now part of modern Sudan, a region bounded by the Nile (from the Atbara River to Khartoum), the Atbara River and the Blue Nile. A state, independent of its powerful neighbor Egypt, had developed from -2500 to -1500 in the area of present-day Sudan. Its capital was Kerma. After a phase of conquest, Kerma was defeated and Nubia integrated for five centuries into Egyptian territory. We must then wait until the 7th century BC to see a new independent royal power emerge in Nubia, around the new capital Napata. This period has remained famous in particular because of a short episode of domination of Egypt by the kingdom of Kush during the XXVth dynasty. Defeated by the Assyrians, the Nubians then retreated south, the capital moving to Meroe in the fifth century BC. The Meroe site is very extensive and excavations have barely scratched the surface of the remains. Many shrines have been unearthed outside the city and about two hundred pyramids are listed in the three necropolises. Royal baths are also noteworthy. Far to the east, closing this immense plain, the royal pyramids built at the top of two small hills were still almost intact in 1834. That year, Giuseppe Ferlini, an Italian adventurer, military doctor in the service of Mehemet's army Ali, discovers a treasure in the tomb of Queen Amanishakhéto, using Cailliaud's drawings and plans. To achieve this, Ferlini ordered the pyramid to be dismantled, turning it into a heap of stone. The queen's jewelry is currently on display in Munich and Berlin (Ägyptisches Museum).