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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AFRICAN STREAM RESPONDS TO NBC ACCUSING US OF 'MISINFORMATION'
African Stream has been anticipating the day when self-appointed media watchdogs would come for us. 🧵
Well, America's National Broadcasting Company (@NBCNews ) recently had its knives out - after we were named in a new report by Onyx Impact as one of an number of platforms allegedly targeting Black communities with 'misinformation.'
@NBCNews The fact that NBC couldn’t cite a single example of this in our case didn’t seem to bother the broadcaster much.
Generations of Western archaeologists have for a long time overlooked the history of one of the greatest, earliest known civilisations in the world - the Kingdom of Kush - treating it as a mere appendage to Egypt, a mere footnote in the story of pyramids. Today, there is still much to learn about Kush. This week’s Facts of the Week cast light on the kingdom’s history and reveal just how advanced a civilisation in its own right it really was.
Mumia Abu-Jamal, a political prisoner, has been fighting to get out of prison for 42 years. His loved ones have attempted for several years to win his freedom so he can obtain medical treatment for a long-term deteriorating skin condition, as well as other ailments. They have accused the prison of medical neglect.
Abu-Jamal became a Black Panther Party member at age 14 after white racists and a police officer assaulted him in 1968. During his time with the party, the FBI surveilled him through the Counterintelligence Program, better known as COINTELPRO. He then left the party in 1970.
Abu-Jamal started working for radio stations in 1975 and was recognised for reporting on the Philadelphia Police Department's harassment of the MOVE Black revolutionary group.
However, National Public Radio affiliate WHYY's management accused him of not maintaining objectivity and asked him to resign in 1981.
After being accused of shooting Philadelphia police officer Daniel Faulkner on 9 December 1981, Abu-Jamal was sentenced to death in 1982. Multiple legal attempts over four decades have failed to get him out of prison.
It’s hard to imagine, but Israel once attacked a US spy vessel - off the coast of Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula - using fighter jets and motor torpedo boats. It happened on June 8th, 1967, during the six-day Arab-Israeli war.
Tel Aviv claimed it thought the boat belonged to Egypt (then The United Arab Republic) - one of the countries it was fighting.
34 crew members of the USS Liberty lost their lives - with 171 injured. Yet the US didn’t retaliate. (When news of the attack came in, it sent war planes to defend the boat - but recalled them before they reached it.)