A stunning scene appears from behind the mirage as you travel north from Khartoum along a short desert road toward the ancient city of Mero: hundreds of high pyramids piercing the horizon.
There is an amazing sense of discovery no matter how many times you return.
The route splits Mero, which was originally the capital of the Kingdom of Kush. The royal cemetery to the east is densely packed with about 50 sandstone and red brick pyramids of varying heights; several have shattered tops, a remnant of 19th-century European raiders. The royal city, located to the west, has the remnants of a palace, a temple, and a royal bath. Meroe’s worldwide links are reflected in the architecture of each edifice, which draws on local, Egyptian, and Greco-Roman ornamental styles.
An overview of the “Land of Kush”
Northern Sudan’s initial residents stretch back 300,000 years. It is home to the Kingdom of Kush, the oldest Sub-Saharan African kingdom (about 2500-1500 BC). This culture created some of the most magnificent Nile Valley ceramics, notably Kerma beakers.
Sudan was prized for its abundant natural riches, especially gold, ebony, and ivory. These materials are used in the creation of several artifacts in the British Museum’s collection. During the Old Kingdom (about 2686-2181 BC), ancient Egyptians were drawn southward in search of these riches, which frequently resulted in violence as Egyptian and Sudanese monarchs fought to dominate commerce.
Around 1700 BC, Kush was the most powerful state in the Nile Valley. The struggle between Egypt and Kush ensued, ending in Thutmose I’s conquest of Kush (1504-1492 BC). Neolithic cultures persisted in the west and south because they were beyond of reach of the Egyptian kings.
City of Meroë with its weird mural artwork of a giant transporting elephants
Mero is distinguished by almost two hundred pyramids, many of which are in ruins. They are the dimensions and proportions of Nubian pyramids.
Frédéric Cailliaud, a French mineralogist, first brought the Mero location to the attention of Europeans in 1821. (1787-1869). The reliefs and paintings on the walls of the sepulchral rooms were the most fascinating finds. One of the paintings portrays a massive giant carrying two elephants.
His features are Caucasian, not Nubian, and his hair is light in tone. Will this mural artwork prove the existence of a race of red-haired giants with six fingers in ancient times?
Did giants actually traverse the Nile Valley in the ancient past?
The Roman historian Josephus Flavius stated in 79 AD that the last of the Egyptian giants lived in the 13th century BC, during King Joshua’s reign. He went on to say that they had big bodies and faces that were so different from ordinary humans that it was fantastic to look at them, and it was terrifying to listen to their booming voice, which sounded like a lion roar.
Furthermore, several ancient Egyptian wall paintings represent the builders of the Pyramids as “Giant People” standing 5 to 6 meters tall. According to experts, each of these giants was capable of lifting 4 to 5 tons of blocks. Some of the old mural paintings represented huge rulers governing ancient Egypt, while others depicted fairly little subordinates serving under the giants.
In 1988, Gregor Spoerri, a Swiss entrepreneur and ardent student of Egyptian history, contacted a band of ancient grave thieves through one of Egypt’s private suppliers. Spoerri attended the meeting in a modest cottage in Bir Hooker, a hundred kilometers northeast of Cairo, where he saw a gigantic mummified finger wrapped in rags.
The finger was quite light and dry. According to Spoerri, the amazing monster to which it belonged should have stood at least 5 meters (almost 16.48ft) tall. One tomb raider displayed a photo of an X-Ray of the mummified finger taken in the 1960s to establish its authenticity.
