True, the pyramids of Sudan are steeper and much smaller than the famous pyramids of Giza, which attract millions of tourists to Egypt: for example, the height of the world’s largest pyramid of Cheops reaches 137 meters, and the length of the side of the square base is 235 meters. This structure was the tallest in the world for many centuries, until the Cologne Cathedral in Germany (began construction in 1248, but was not completed until 1880) emerged, whose two towers are 157 meters high.
In addition, the pyramids in Sudan appeared much later than in ancient Egypt, and in modern times they were often looted and lost a lot of value as a result.
The area of the Nile Valley known as Nubia, located in the territory of today’s Sudan, was home to as many as three Kushite kingdoms in ancient times.
The first had its capital in Kerma (2600-1520 BC), the second in Napata (1000-300 BC), the third in Meroje (300 BC-300 AD).
Kerma was Nubia’s first centralized kingdom with a local distinctive form of architecture and burial customs. And the largest site of the Nubian pyramids is Meroje, between the fifth and sixth falls of the Nile, about 100 km north of Sudan’s capital, Khartoum.
More than 40 kings and queens were buried here during the Meroitic period.
The physical proportions of the pyramids in Nubia are very different from those in Egypt. They are built from stone blocks stacked horizontally in steps, the height ranges from 6 to 30 meters, but the foundation is rather small in width – usually about 8 square meters. meters. The foundations of Egyptian pyramids of similar height are at least five times wider.
Most of the Sudanese pyramids also have sacrificial temples with features from the Kushite period.
There are about 200 Egyptian pyramids and about 2,000 Kushite pyramids that have survived today, which show the connection between the Egyptian and African civilizations, the bilateral exchange, the movement of people and the exchange of knowledge.
The Kushite kingdoms collapsed due to various wars and the influx of foreigners.
In Nubia, the pyramids were looted as soon as the kingdom became more unstable: these structures indicated where valuables could be found, and they attracted robbers much like banks later did to thieves because they held a lot of money.
The pyramids of Egypt became more famous in the world also because this country was once conquered by the Greeks, Romans, and then ruled by the British.
The Upper Nile was not directly accessible via the Mediterranean Sea until it was finally completely cut off by the Islamic conquests in the 7th century.
