Meroe

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The ancient city of Meroe, situated on the banks of the river Nile, about 200km north of Khartoum in modern Sudan, was once the southern seat of the Kush empire, which spanned both Sudan and some of Ethiopia. According to the Greek historian Diodorus, the first royal tomb was built in the city when Ergamenes, a king contemporary of the Egyptian ruler Ptolemy II, refused the kingdom's tradition that priests, with their words from God, could choose the time of the king's death.

Under the Nubian dynasty of Egypt, Meroe flourished and became a city of importance in the Ancient Egyptian Empire. Exact details of its rulership are scant, yet by the first century AD certainly aspects of Greek and Roman culture were seeping into its history. Rome's capture of Egypt lead to many border struggles and expansion of the Meroitic Kingdom. The Roman historian Pliny noted that the area was lush; the Greek historian Simonides was even said to have lived in Meroe. Buildings at the site include temples, shrines and small dwellings - as well as the bigger palace.

Modern excavation of Meroe has been confounded due to Sudan's ongoing civil war - even though the site is listed by UNESCO on its World Heritage List. Giuseppe Ferlini ran the first European dig in 1834, followed by Karl Richard Lepsius in 1844 and E.A. Wallis Budge in 1902 and 1905. The temples have yielded many remains, treasures and artifacts including some chapters of the almost-mythical Book of the Dead.

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