Ancient site · City
Meroë
The capital of the Kingdom of Kush beside the Nile north of Khartoum in Sudan, from about 590 BCE to the 4th century CE. More than 200 steep-sided Nubian pyramids stand in its cemeteries, built for kings and queens from about 300 BCE.
The city was a centre of iron-working and trade between Africa and the Mediterranean, and its rulers included powerful queens called kandake. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
- Dates
- c. 800 BCE – 350 CE; royal pyramids c. 300 BCE – 350 CE
- Still standing
- Yes
- UNESCO World Heritage
- Yes
- Location
- 16.93° N, 33.73° E
How we know
Meroitic inscriptions can be read aloud but are still not fully understood; Egyptian, Greek and Roman texts also describe Meroë.
Nearby sites
- Kerma c. 2500–1500 BCE
- Aksum (stelae fields) capital from c. 1st century BCE–1st century CE; great stelae c. 300–400 CE
- Yeha (Great Temple) temple c. 700 BCE
- Abu Simbel temples c. 1264–1244 BCE
- Matara c. 8th century BCE – 7th century CE (approximate; pre-Aksumite to Aksumite)
- Nabta Playa c. 7500–3500 BCE; stone circle 5th millennium BCE