The Archaeologist

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The Sedeinga Pyramids

are a collection of 80 little pyramids built on the west bank of the Nile valley, close to Sedeinga, Sudan, between the second and third cataracts.

During the Kingdom of Kush, an ancient African state in Nubia that included the regions between modern-day central Sudan and southern Egypt, Sedeinga served as the region's capital.

Three phases of Kushite development occurred in this area during antiquity. The first, which was Nubia's first centralized state with a native style of building and burial practices, had its capital at Kerma (2600 to 1520 BC).

The last kingdom was centered at Mero, while the second monarchy (1000–300 BC) was centered at Napata (300 BC to AD 300). The traditions and funeral rituals of Ancient Egypt had a significant influence on both later Kingdoms.

Sedeinga connected the Kingdom with Middle Egypt directly while being cut off from the majority of Kush and possibly acting as a commerce hub along an old trade route.

The pyramid site has tens of thousands of burial chambers together with the bases of 80 late Meroitic pyramids. The greatest pyramids are 22 feet wide at their base, while the smallest pyramid, which was probably built for a child's burial and is only 30 inches wide, is much smaller.

The Sedeinga pyramids were built primarily for the rich elite and showcase architectural details that have a wider Egyptian influence, such as capstones that show birds or lotuses emerging from solar discs. Pyramid burial was often reserved for royalty.

Egypt's 18th dynasty had dominion over Nubia all the way down to the fourth cataract on the Nile River. At Sedeinga, a temple was built in honor of Queen Tiye, the pharaoh Amenhotep III's consort who was said to have Nubian ancestry. This temple served as the feminine counterpart to the enormous temple Amenhotep III erected in Soleb nearby for Amun and his own god figure.