Archaeological Sites of the Island of Meroe, World Heritage Site in Sudan

Meroe is located in the middle reaches of the Nile River.It was the capital of the Kingdom of Kush in the 4th century B.C., where a magnificent city with Egyptian-style pyramids and temples was built; although it was overrun by the Kingdom of Aksum in the 4th century, the ruins of the vast kingdom that once conquered central Africa to the Mediterranean still remain.

Here, a World Heritage enthusiast explains in an easy-to-understand manner why the archaeological sites on Meroe Island are a World Heritage Site.Read this and you will definitely learn more about Meroe!

What are the Archaeological Sites of the Island of Meroe?

Meroe is about 250 km northeast of Khartoum, the capital of Sudan; it was the royal capital of the Kingdom of Kush, which flourished from the 8th century B.C. to the 4th century A.D. The capital was moved from Napata, the capital at that time, in the 4th century B.C. Thus, the royal burial site was also moved to this location.

The ruins of Meroe consist of two parts: the royal city of Meroe, with its pyramids and other structures, and the religious cities of Musawwarat es-Sufra and Naqa. All of these ruins are in a wonderful state of preservation, with many architectural structures from the period of the Kingdom of Kush. The urban part of Meroe, in particular, is located near the Nile River and was once a wooded area. Because of the large amount of iron ore that could be mined in Meroe, iron manufacturing technology developed.

Eventually, the city became the center of iron manufacturing by black Africans for the first time in history. The city’s relocation from Napata was due in part to its abundance of mineral resources and agricultural products.

And many small pyramids remain that represent Meroe. The 25th dynasty of Egypt (747 B.C. to 656 B.C.) was created by the conquest of Egypt by the Piye（Piankhi）. However, when they were driven out of the region by the Assyrians in the 7th century B.C., the Kush were forced to move their capital to Meroe, but Egyptian exchanges continued.And the Meroe script, based on Egyptian hieroglyphs, was also formed.

For what reason are the Archaeological Sites of the Island of Meroe on the World Heritage List?

Meloe Island was recognized for the following

Registration Criteria (ii)
Meroe prospered as a trading city, and cultural exchange between the countries of sub-Saharan Africa and the Orient can be seen, and the influence of this can be seen in the architecture.

Registration Criteria (iii)
The area has seen no architecture since the spread of Christianity in the 6th century, which means that the ruins on Meroe Island are well-preserved and show what the area looked like in those days.

Registration Criteria (iv)
The Pyramid of Meroe is a representative burial monument of the Kingdom of Kush, in that its architectural style and technology shows exchange with Egypt, Greece, and Rome.

Registration Criteria (v)
Musawwarat es-Sufra and Naqa are located in the desert, far from the Nile River, which means that the people who lived there lived in a harsh environment.

Conclusions and Impressions of World Heritage Maniac

After all, Meroe is one of the few areas outside of Egypt that has pyramids, which is a good indication that Meroe developed as a trading city on the Nile River and had a lot of interaction with Egypt. And this is a site that conveys the existence of the once highly prosperous Kingdom of Kush to the present day.

Considering the scale of the pyramids at Giza, the pyramid at Meroe may seem a bit small at 6 to 30 meters. But the scale of the pyramids is amazing! Some of them have been destroyed, but the several pyramids lined up in a row have the atmosphere of a department store of pyramids, something you will never see in Egypt.

*The contents of this page are based on the research conducted by a World Heritage enthusiast. As for the data, interpretation differs depending on the medium.