The Black Pharaohs of Nubia

Everybody knows about the pyramids of Egypt. Here is something most people do not know.

Just south of Egypt, along the same great River Nile, there was another kingdom. It was called Kush, and it was in the land people called Nubia — today it is northern Sudan.

Kush was rich in gold and iron, and its archers were famous, and for a very long time Egypt and Kush were neighbours who traded and argued and traded again, the way neighbours do.

Then, about two thousand seven hundred years ago, a king of Kush named Piye did something remarkable. He travelled north and became pharaoh of Egypt as well as king of Kush. His family ruled both lands for around a hundred years. People today call them the Black Pharaohs.

They loved the old Egyptian ways and repaired the temples that had fallen down. And when they went home to Kush, they built pyramids of their own.

Their pyramids are not like the Egyptian ones. They are smaller, and steeper, and they stand close together in the desert sand at a place called Meroë — dozens and dozens of them, sharp against the sky.

In fact there are more pyramids in Sudan today than there are in Egypt. Nearly twice as many.

They are still standing out there tonight, in the quiet, with the stars coming out over the desert.

Goodnight, little king. Goodnight.