Meroe, Gebel Barkal and Sanganeb: Sudan's three World Heritage properties and the Kingdom of Kush

Background

The war that fills Sudan's news pages runs across the same Nile valley that holds its World Heritage sites. UNESCO lists three properties for Sudan: the Archaeological Sites of the Island of Meroe, inscribed in 2011, Gebel Barkal and the Sites of the Napatan Region, inscribed in 2003, and the natural property of Sanganeb Marine National Park and Dungonab Bay with Mukkawar Island Marine National Park, inscribed in 2016. The Island of Meroe is a semi-desert landscape between the Nile and Atbara rivers and comprises Meroe, the Kushite royal capital with its pyramid cemetery, and the religious centres of Naqa and Musawwarat es-Sufra. Meroe was the heartland of Kush, a major power from the eighth century BCE to the fourth century CE. Gebel Barkal is a serial property of five sites, Gebel Barkal, Kurru, Nuri, Sanam and Zuma, stretching over more than 60 km along both banks of the Nile.