Meroë South Cemetery — Pyramid Beg. S.10
Late Napatan to Early Meroitic, c.350–300 BCE·Kushite·🇸🇩 River Nile State, Bayuda, Meroë South, Sudan
About
About Meroë South Cemetery — Pyramid Beg. S.10
South Cemetery pyramid Beg. S.10 (c.350–300 BCE) for Queen (?) Amanislo fragment? 12 m base, heavily eroded sandstone pyramid with mudbrick chapel forecourt. Shinnie & Bradley 1970s Sudan Antiquities Service survey documented cemetery strip 700 m long with >25 pyramids. Desert varnish and sand fill.
Why it mattersSouth Cemetery demonstrates Meroë before North Royal shift.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Owner identification without inscription preserved
Theories
- 01South Cemetery as chief/queen cemetery
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- c.350–300 BCE
- Period
- Late Napatan to Early Meroitic, c.350–300 BCE
- Culture
- Kushite
- Purpose
- Royal/ elite tomb — South Cemetery elite transition
- Excavation
- Excavation ongoing
c.350–300 BCE
Initial construction / foundation
c.500 CE
Major refurbishment / enlargement phase
c.1100 CE
Abandonment or conversion
1890–1930
Modern rediscovery and first scientific survey
On the ground
Structures & features
16.9345° N · 33.7495° E · 375 m · 2 mapped features
Mudbrick chapel forecourt
chapelMudbrick pylon chapel with offering niche, plaster traces
16.9346° N · 33.7494° EStepped descent to chamber
chamberStepped stair cut in sandstone to rectangular chamber
16.9344° N · 33.7496° E