Pyramids and Tombs at El-Kurru, Sudan
El-Kurru was one of the royal cemeteries used by the Nubian royal family. Reisner excavated the royal pyramids. Most of the pyramids date to the early part of the Kushite period, from Alara of Nubia to King Nastasen.
The area is divided into three parts by two wadis. The central section seems to be the oldest and contains several tumulus type tombs that predate the Kingdom of Napata. Reisner thought that the earliest tomb, Tum.1, dated back to the time of Pharaoh Sheshonq I of Ancient Egypt and predates the Kingdom of Napata by some 200 years. At the present scholars think the early cemetery stretches back to the Ramesside period and date the earliest burials to the end of the Twentieth Dynasty of Ancient Egypt, although Kendall has reverted his position and now adheres to a dating closer to the one proposed by Reisner.
Epic Sudan Culture & Adventure Route © Monika Newbound