Pyramids

If you have been following this blog, or my Facebook feed, by now you know that Sudan has Pyramids,  After visiting of these several sites, and scouring the internet for information, I believe I have a better understanding of them.

From about 2650 BC to 1500 BC, the Egyptian Pharaoh's built these elaborate tombs.  The oldest is the Step Pyramid, Djoser.

The most famous are the three pyramids near Giza, biggest of which is called the Great Pyramid.

Around 1500 BC, the Pharaohs started to realize that Pyramids are giant "rob me" signs.  Instead of Pyramids, they started using underground crypts in what has become know as "The Valley of the Kings."  Of course, these were still robbed.  That is why Tutankhamen's tomb was so important - it was the first one found that had not been robbed.  

To the south of Egypt was the Kingdom of Kush, a.k.a. Nubia.  The kingdom was part of Egypt, when in 760 BC the king of Kush managed to install himself as Pharaoh, starting a period know as the 25th dynasty.  For 100 years all the Pharaohs came from this line of Nubians.  They are sometimes referred to as the black Pharaohs.

Kushite Kings, and and the Pharaohs of the 25th Dynasty, were buried in chambers similar to the valley of the Kings.  In a place called El Kurra They had tombs that were painted very similarly to the Egyptians, and like the Egyptians, they were mostly robbed.  

The fifth Pharaoh of the 25th dynasty, Taharqa, decided to bring back the tradition of Pyramids in 690 BC.  He built his at a place called Nuri.  (Interesting side note:  Taharqa is mentioned, by name in the Bible twice.)  Not long after this, the Nubians lost control of Egypt.  But the Kings of Kush still kept building pyramids in Nuri for more than 300 years,

For a short period, The kings were buried at Barkal.  This is at the foot of a mountain that the Egyptians had once seen, and decided was the birth place of their main god, Amon.

Starting around 270 BC, the seat of government for the Kingdom of Kush shifted to Meroe, and the building of pyramids shifted there too.  A particular valley was used, and at first, the pyramids were built on the south side of the valley, and then shifted to the larger north side.  Building here lasted all the way until the 4th century AD.

The closer pyramids are the southern, the farther are the northern