Sudan’s ongoing civil war is threatening the integrity of its ancient Meroë pyramids, a UNESCO World Heritage Site known for its unique and angular architecture.
Located some 200 kilometres north of the capital Khartoum, the complex comprises over 200 pyramids built between 800 BC and 350 AD as royal tombs for the rulers of the Kingdom of Kush.
None are intact. Some were decapitated, others reduced to rubble, first in the 1800s by dynamite at the hands of treasure-hunting Europeans, and then by two centuries of sand and rain.
Archaeologist Mahmoud Suleiman said their deterioration is due to combination of many "adverse" factors, including climate change, war, and halting of international preservation efforts.
“The biggest problem is that we come in the morning to find that stones have fallen, which is a huge problem,” said antiquities inspector, Mohamed Mubarak.
