The hook
More pyramids than all of Egypt, steeper, smaller, and standing almost alone in the rolling sands of the Sudanese desert, the royal tombs of the ancient Black African kingdom of Kush.
01Why it's worth it
Ancient Nubia, along the Nile in what is now Sudan, was home to the kingdom of Kush, a powerful Black African civilisation that rivalled and at times ruled Egypt, and it built pyramids of its own, hundreds of them, so that Sudan actually contains more pyramids than Egypt. The finest cluster stands at Meroë, the later Kushite capital: dozens of steep-sided, narrow sandstone pyramids, quite different in shape from the Egyptian ones, marching across desert dunes as royal tombs, often with little chapels attached, and frequently with scarcely another soul in sight. Standing among them in the empty desert, with camels and drifting sand and none of the crowds or commercialism of Giza, is a hauntingly beautiful experience and a powerful reminder of a great and often-overlooked African civilisation. Tragically, Sudan descended into a devastating civil war in 2023, causing immense human suffering and a vast humanitarian crisis, and travel there is unsafe, with the country's heritage also at risk. This entry records an extraordinary and under-appreciated site, offered in hope of peace, not as a current travel recommendation.
02How to experience it
Not now: Sudan is engulfed in civil war, travel is unsafe, and this stands as a record of the Meroë pyramids and the ancient kingdom of Kush, not a travel suggestion. In hope of a peaceful future, it remembers one of Africa's most remarkable and least-known ancient wonders. Supporting humanitarian relief and heritage protection in Sudan is the meaningful engagement now.