Meroe

The southern capital of the Kushite Empire, Meroe was a rich metropolis that flourished due to its positioning on a number of major trade routes.

Thriving for more than a thousand years, the city’s heyday and that of its culture came to an abrupt end following its conquest by the Aksumite Empire in the fourth century AD. The remains of this impressive imperial city can still be seen, but it is the ancient Royal Cemetery that captures most attention. More than 200 spikey Nubian-style pyramids, in various states of disrepair, are clustered in three groups around the city.