Sudan is home to more ancient pyramids than its neighbour Egypt! Despite years of tampering and looting, these unique pyramids still stand tall today. So which ones are older and hold more secrets of the African continent?
The Nubian people are to thank - an ancient community living by the Nile since 5,000 BC. They once ruled both Egypt and Sudan in what is known as the Kush Kingdom.
These structures are grouped in clusters at formerly grand sites like El Kurru, Gebel Barkal, and Meroe.
Debate rages about whether Egypt’s or Sudan’s pyramids are the oldest. What is known is that both are more than 2,000 years old.
Some sites in Sudan were sacred to the Egyptians…Jebel Barkal is a mountain that symbolised creation and fertility - being the presumed birthplace of their god of gods Amun.
A British expedition in 1897 discovered there were no burial chambers inside the Sudanese pyramids. Instead, these were underneath the pyramids - making them not tombs but colossal headstones.
Interestingly, the way they’re built - flat sides, solid on the inside - is very similar to pyramid structures in Central America. But this also made them easier to loot.
Italian treasure hunter Giuseppe Ferlini - who found gold under the pyramid in Meroe - is one of many looters to blame for truncating the pyramids……in other words, stealing the top part!
Despite years of vandalism and looting, these unique pyramids still stand tall today. And Sudan is in fact the country with the most pyramids in the world!
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He nationalised oil, sent Western corporations packing, uplifted his people, armed revolutionary groups and dared to dream of a united Africa. Muammar Gaddafi, Libya’s anti-imperialist former leader, challenged the West’s grip on Africa and paid the ultimate price. Our Facts of the Week unpack why Western powers hated him.
What happens when the state fears the voices of its children? In Kenya, it tear-gasses them. The Kenyan state is accused of doing what colonial regimes once perfected: silencing dissent, even when it comes in the form of a school play. A troupe of young actors, having earned the right to perform at a prestigious national competition, was abruptly barred from participating. Their play centred on a youth-led uprising against an authoritarian regime that stifles freedom and weaponises fear. For many Kenyans, it struck close to home, echoing the spirit of resistance seen in 2024, when Gen Z took to the streets to reject crushing taxation in the form of an IMF-backed finance bill, state violence and a biting cost of living crisis. Back then, 50 protesters were killed in the brutal crackdown, according to Kenya National Commission on Human Rights.
Observers say the government’s discomfort was evident, not because the students were wrong, but because they were right. The parallels between the fictional play and real-life protest were undeniable. And in a move reminiscent of both colonial administrators and post-independence strongmen, the state chose censorship.
But the silencing failed. The High Court overruled the ban and reaffirmed the students’ right to perform. Yet when the troupe tried to take the stage, police responded not with applause, but with tear gas - dispersing the audience and disrupting the performance. This isn’t the first time Butere Girls’ High School has faced state repression for using theatre to speak truth to power. In 2012, their play Shackles of Doom was banned for exposing ethnic inequality and corruption.
Thomas Sankara was a revolutionary who terrified the West, not because he had armies, but because he had anti-imperialist ideas. As president of Burkina Faso, he rejected foreign aid, resisted French influence and demanded that Africa produce, transform and consume its own goods. Our Facts of the Week breakdown why he was hated and seen as a threat, not just to France, but to the entire neo-colonial order.
Patrice Lumumba was not just Congo’s first democratically elected prime minister - he was a radical threat to Western imperialism. He demanded full control of Congolese resources, rejected neocolonial compromise and aligned with pan-African revolutionaries. For the West, this was intolerable. His vision of a liberated Africa terrified the West - so they silenced him. This week’s Facts of the Week break down why.
False narratives have blurred the history of slavery in the United States.
For example, despite his own words regarding his intentions, former US President Abraham Lincoln (1809-65) continues to be credited with freeing enslaved Africans and presented as a morally upright person with good intentions.
Here, we debunk some of these myths, starting with Lincoln being no abolitionist.
Many have claimed that the US Civil War was about states' rights, but this couldn’t be further from the truth! On the other hand, abolishing slavery wasn't the priority for the North.
The story has been that the US North (the union) was the moral side for not being involved in slavery. However, the reality is much different!