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Topics in this section: old kingdom pyramids | middle kingdom pyramids | nubian and late pyramids The Nubian Pyramids The kingdom of Kush, as Nubia was known to the Ancient Egyptians, grew from a trading post established on Egypt's periphery around the time of the Middle Kingdom. During the early New Kingdom, Nubia became a province of Egypt, but Egyptian control was later lost when the state declined into rival principalities. During the time of the Third Intermediate Period, a Kushite dynasty emerged from Thebes, led by a ruler called Kashta, from Napata in Nubia.
Kashta's successor Piye (Piankhi) led a campaign and claimed kingship of Upper and Lower Egypt. Kings of the rival simultaneous dynasties apparently then submitted to his leadership. The pyramids at el-Kurru
The first Nubian pyramids were built at the site of el-Kurru, 13km downstream from the Temple of Amun at Jebel Barkal. The site at el-Kurru contains the tombs of Kashta and his son Piye (Piankhi), five earlier generations, together with Piye's successors Shabaka, Shabatko and Tanutamun, and 14 pyramids of the queens. Taharqa (c.690-664 BC) built his pyramid on the new site at Nuri, but his successor Tanutamun (c.664-656 BC) returned to the site of el-Kurru. Between 1918 and 1919, American Egyptologist George Reisner conducted excavations at el-Kurru, where at that time only one pyramid remained standing. Reisner discovered low mounds of rubble, under which were the tombs of Piye and his successors of the 25th Dynasty, Shebaka, Shebitku and Tantamani. Their tombs had once been covered by pyramids, but by the early 20th century, they had been entirely removed. Reisner also discovered the tombs of 24 horses and 2 dogs nearby. At Piye's tomb, steps led down into a small part-subterranean rock-cut burial chamber where his body had been placed on a bed atop of a stone bench in the middle of the chamber. Fragments of canopic jars were discovered, along with some shabti figures, suggesting that the body had been embalmed in a typical ancient Egyptian style. There had been a chapel built above the stairway to the burial chamber, but like the pyramid, it too had been completely destroyed. Piye's tomb marked the first of over two hundred pyramids that would be built at three sites in Nubia. The pyramids at Nuri
Located on the opposite bank of the river from Jebel Barkal, the cemetery at Nuri contained the tombs of 21 kings, together with 52 queens and princes. Taharqa, the penultimate king of the 25th Dynasty was the first king to build his tomb at Nuri, and it is the biggest pyramid ever built at the site. Nuri pyramids were much larger than the earlier pyramids at el-Kurra, reaching heights of 20-30m, and were built using blocks of local red sandstone. The last king to be buried at Nuri died around 308 BC. The Nubian pyramid field at Nuri continued to receive the bodies of the royalty until about 308 BC. Afterwards, the site of Meroë, further south between the fifth and sixth cataracts rose to prominence as a royal cemetery. The pyramids at Meroë With the exception of three or four generations of pyramids near Jebel Barkal, Meroë remained the Royal Cemetery for around 600 years. Pyramids were built from stepped courses of masonry blocks of local red sandstone, and have survived the test of time rather well. The first known major king to build his tomb at Meroë was Arkamaniqo (sometimes referred to as Arikakaman, and known to Diodorus as Ergamenes). He ruled at about the same time as Ptolemy II in Egypt.
All the tombs at Meroë have been plundered, most infamously by Italian explorer Giuseppe Ferlini who smashed the tops off 40 pyramids in a quest for treasure in the 1820s. Despite the destruction he caused, Ferlini found only one cache of gold, the contents of which are now housed at the museums in Munich and Berlin. The re-emergence of the pyramid after such a significant interval is an interesting case of the transfer of an architectural idea from one region and culture to another. The Nubian pyramids are much smaller, far more numerous and considerably more standardised than those of Egypt's classic pyramid age. Their angle of inclination is severely sharper than that of the true pyramid at 52o51'. In fact the Nubian pyramids distinctly resemble the private "mini" pyramid tombs of the New Kingdom at Deir el-Medina and Abydos. The rulers of the 25th Kushite Dynasty
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