The Pyramids of Meroe in Sudan

Last updated on September 13, 2020

When I first moved to Sudan and heard about the archaeological sites Merowe and Meroe, I initially thought they were the same place but learned that they are two distinct historical sites in Sudan. Meroë is closer to Khartoum, about 250km away; Merowe is about 100km further. We did get to visit both sites, but quickly learned that travel in Sudan rarely goes as expected.

Visiting Meroe

For our first trip to Meroë, in April 2006, we left home in the morning for the 4 hours trip. We planned to visit the pyramids and spend the night in the hotel at the pyramids. The next morning, we would have breakfast and enjoy the scenery once more before heading back home. Nothing was as expected.

At the time, I was teaching in Sudan and went on the trip with 2 other teachers, M and T, along with 4 of T’s friends, local Sudanese men. We’d heard that a four-wheel drive was necessary to traverse the potholed roads and sandy paths safely. But it was not the sand nor the potholes that got us.

A Shortcut Failure

About halfway through our trip, the local Sudanese guys and our driver decided to try a shortcut. We turned off the paved highway unto a sandy path in the desert. It wasn’t long before we drove over something and got a tyre puncture. We changed to the spare tyre but that one didn’t last long either.

Imagine us off the main road on this sandy path in the middle of the desert under an unrelenting sun, not a cloud in the sky. The only trees around were acacia trees, which provide no shade.

We tried to hang a rug on the acacia tree for some shelter and that did not help. Eventually we decided that T and G would roll a tire to the street hitch a ride to the next town to get it fixed. Meanwhile, M and I would sit in the nearby roadside restaurant and have tea and water and most importantly, shade, while waiting for T And G to get back.

This was the start to a very long day. I don’t remember how long we waited but it was hours. And since the tires were being inexpertly patched each time, we had to stop to deal with flat tires 4-5 times before we made it back home to Khartoum.

The First View of the Pyramids

I’d like to tell you that they were beautiful or impressive or something, but I don’t remember getting a glimpse. Continuing our string of misfortunes that weekend, a haboob blew in as we drove into Meroe.

A Tent in a Haboob

The only place to stay in Meroe was the Italian camp. It is made of permanent tents, comfortably outfitted with beds and bathrooms. This could be called glamping. However, a tent, no matter how solidly constructed, cannot entirely keep out the sand in a haboob and there was definitely some sand in our comfortable beds.

It was already dark by the time we arrived at the camp, with the haboob making it even more difficult to see. There was not much for us to do but have dinner and retire to our beds. I don’t remember much about that night except lying in bed listening to the wind rustle our tent.

Visiting the pyramids

We decided to head back to Khartoum early the next morning, anticipating having more trouble with the tires. But first, we got to visit the pyramids, our reason for visiting Meroe.

The Sudanese pyramids are smaller but more numerous than the Egyptian ones. They were built over 2000 years ago during the Meroitic Kingdom. There’s not much to see except the impressive collection of almost 200 pyramids, many of which were leveled or had their tips cut off for access to their treasures. We weren’t able to see inside any of them.

The Italian Giuseppe Ferlini is famous for having cut off the tips of many of the pyramid in 1834 to steal the treasures buried inside. What he didn’t steal was later excavated by archaeologists. Some of those findings can be seen in museums in Europe.

I was sad to hear about the flooding in Sudan that threatens the pyramids. That is what prompted this post. I’ll write about Merowe another day.