New York: Archaeologists have discovered the remains of 2,000-year-old pyramids with tombs underneath in a cemetery near the ancient town of Gematon in Sudan.
The 16 pyramids date back around 2,000 years, to a time when a kingdom called “Kush” flourished in Sudan. Pyramid building was popular among the Kushites. They built them until their kingdom collapsed in the fourth century AD.
Derek Welsby, a curator at the British Museum in London, and his team have been excavating at Gematon since 1998. So far, they have excavated six pyramids made out of stone and 10 made out of mud brick.
The largest pyramid found at Gematon was 10.6 m long on each side and would have risen around 13 m off the ground.
A tin-bronze offering table was found in one of the tombs beneath a pyramid. Carved into the table is a scene showing a prince or priest offering incense and libations to the god Osiris, the ruler of the underworld, ‘LiveScience’ reported.
Behind Osiris is the goddess Isis, who is also shown pouring libations to Osiris.
Though Osiris and Isis originated in Egypt, they were also venerated in Kush as well as other parts of the ancient world.
The offering table “is a royal object,” Welsby said.
“The person buried with this table “must have been someone very senior in the royal family,” he said.
Not all the tombs in the cemetery have pyramids: Some are buried beneath simple rectangular structures called “mastaba,” whereas others are topped with piles of rocks called “tumuli.” Other tombs have no surviving burial markers at
