The word ‘pyramid’ is synonymous with Egypt, but it is neighboring Sudan that is home to the world’s largest collection of these spectacular ancient structures, says Ahmed Mutasim Abdalla Mahmoud, researcher in Archeology and Ancient History, at the University of Leicester ( United Kingdom).
From the year 2500 BC. C. (BC), the ancient Nubian civilization of Sudan left more than 200 pyramids rising in the desert at three archaeological sites: El Kurru, Jebel Barkal and Meroe, as well as temples, tombs and royal burial chambers, explains Mahmoud in an article on the academic dissemination platform The Conversation.
Mahmoud has carried out research, also British, at the University of Nottingham, on the movement of sand in Sudan, which has revealed the worrying situation of the Sudanese pyramids, which run the risk of being buried by mobile sand dunes.
This researcher explains to EFE that he is not sure of the current situation of the “forgotten” pyramids of Sudan. This is because he has not had the opportunity to visit, since he published his work, in 2021, the site of Meroe, near the town of Bajraweya, where these constructions are located.
Sands and dunes in continuous movement.
He explains that the sand dunes have an excessive impact on the pyramids, to which the Sudan Antiquities Service and some international missions have carried out some work to stabilize the movement of the dunes at this site.
However, during a visit to that area in 2018, Mahmoud was able to see how the sand dunes were invading and overcoming a brick wall barrier built to prevent the advance of the sands.
“In fact, the political situation in Sudan during the revolution and the current clashes in Khartoum, the capital, as well as throughout the country, caused a slowdown in the work activities of local archaeologists and international missions in these heritage areas” , Explain.
Sudan is located in northeast Africa and shares a border with Egypt to the north. “Despite being smaller than the famous Egyptian pyramids of Giza, the Nubian pyramids are just as magnificent and culturally valuable,” notes Mahmoud.
Ancient and spectacular structures.
Built of sandstone and granite, the steeply sloping pyramids contain chapels and funerary chambers decorated with illustrations and inscriptions carved in hieroglyphics and Meroitic writing (an alphabet originating from hieroglyphics and Egyptian demotic), celebrating the lives of rulers in Meroe, a rich city on the Nile and seat of power of Kush, an ancient kingdom and rival of Egypt, as he points out.
Located about 220 kilometers north of the capital Khartoum, the cultural gem of Meroe is now one of Sudan’s most important Unesco world heritage sites.
Unfortunately, lack of conservation, severe weather conditions and negligent visitors have contributed to the deterioration of these monuments, according to specialists.
For example, in the 1880s, Italian explorer Giuseppe Ferlini blew up several pyramids in his search for Kushite treasures, leaving many of the tombs without their pointed tops. Subsequently, many other pyramids in Sudan were destroyed by looters, according to Mahmoud.
“Currently, sandstorms and shifting sand dunes pose the greatest threat to Sudan’s ancient heritage sites. This phenomenon is nothing new and was even recorded thousands of years ago,” he laments.
Mahmoud points out that this threat has been exacerbated by climate change, which has made the land more arid and sandstorms more frequent. Moving sands can engulf entire houses in rural Sudan and cover fields, irrigation canals and river banks.
Although some archaeologists believe that sand movement helps preserve ancient artifacts from thieves, it is known to be detrimental to excavated sites, reburying them beneath the desert and windblown sand also eroding delicate sculptures and masonries, he points out.
The great African plant barrier.
This researcher trusts that this phenomenon will be controlled through reforestation projects, which will combat the movement of sand and desertification by increasing vegetation cover, such as ‘The Great Green Wall’, which brings together more than 20 African nations, including Sudan, in a movement to stop the expansion of the Sahara Desert, creating a barrier of trees and plants, from west to east of the continent.
When complete, this experimental project is expected to limit the frequency of dust storms and slow the movement of sand towards fertile lands and UNESCO sites in northern Sudan, according to Mahmoud.
This scientist is working on monitoring the movement of sand dunes using optical and satellite radar images, aerial laser images and other techniques, and investigating how factors such as wind speed and direction, the presence of vegetation and topography.
The goal is to develop an understanding of how sand dunes grow and migrate through the desert, which will, among other things, monitor the effectiveness of vegetative barriers and predict when and where the Sudanese pyramids might be buried and what could happen. be done to avoid it, he concludes.
Daniel Galilee.
EFE – Reports
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