While home to 138 pyramids, Egypt lags behind another nation along the Nile.

The pyramid capitol lies across Egypt’s southern border in modern-day Sudan, where there are between between 200 and 255 ancient pyramid sites. The area was once the seat of the mighty Nubian Empire, which conquered Egypt in the 8th century B.C.

Adopting the religion and iconography of the native Egyptians, the Nubian pharaohs ushered in a pyramid-building renaissance, which had been on the wane in Egypt for over eight hundred years.

After Egyptian king Ahmose I finished his funerary monument sometime between 1550 and 1525 B.C., his successors halted pyramid construction, perhaps because the conspicuous royal tombs made easy targets for looters.

References

Hrala, Josh. “Egypt Isn’t the Country with the Most Pyramids.” ScienceAlert. Accessed February 28, 2022. https://www.sciencealert.com/sorry-egypt-but-sudan-is-the-pyramid-capital-of-the-world.

Jarus, Owen. “Why Did Ancient Egyptian Pharaohs Stop Building Pyramids?” LiveScience. Purch, November 26, 2021. https://www.livescience.com/why-ancient-egyptians-stopped-building-pyramids.