El-Kurru was one of the royal cemeteries used by the Nubian royal family of Kush and Egypt's 25th dynasty. It is now located in Northern state, Sudan. Excavated by George Reisner, most of the royal Nubian pyramids date to the early part of the Kushite period, from Alara of Nubia to King Nastasen. The area is divided into three parts by two wadis. The central section seems to be the oldest and contains several tumulus type tombs that predate the Kingdom of Napata. Reisner thought that the earliest tomb, Tum.1, dated back to the time of Pharaoh Sheshonq I of Ancient Egypt and predates the Kingdom of Napata by some 200 years. At the present scholars think the early cemetery stretches back to the Ramesside period and date the earliest burials to the end of the Twentieth Dynasty of Ancient Egypt, although Kendall has reverted his position and now adheres to a dating closer to the one proposed by Reisner. The highest part of the cemetery contains four tumulus tombs. To the north, across the northern wadi Tum. 6 is located. To the east of the tumuli is a row of at least eight pyramids. One of them partially intrudes on a tumulus tomb. The southernmost of this row of pyramids belonging to Kashta his wifePebatjma. Before this row is another row of pyramids which includes those of Piye, Shabaka and Tanutamani. To the south of the pyramid of Pebatjma, one has to cross the southern wadi to reach the southern pyramids. These are the pyramids of the Queens: Naparaye, Khensa , Qalhata, and Arty. In the medieval period, when the region was part of the Christian kingdom of Makuria, El-Kurru constituted a walled settlement functioning until about 1200. In this period, Christian Nubians carved various graffiti into pyramid Ku. 1, including monograms, Christian symbols and, most remarkebly, a multitude of boats, perhaps commemorating "some kind of river procession."
Pyramids and tombs at El-Kurru
Tum. 1, the oldest tomb at El-Kurru.
Tum. 2, the tomb contained a female skull.
Tum. 4
Tum. 5
Tum. 6, tomb located to the north of Tum.1, across the northern wadi.
Tum. 19, located to the east of the cluster of tumulus tombs. Pyramid K.13 partly obliterated a section of this tomb.
Pyramids dating to the time of the Kingdom of Napata and later
K.1 Unknown King. One of the largest pyramids. Located just south and adjacent to the pyramid of Piye Dated to ca 362-342 BC.
K.2
K.3 – Queen Naparaye, daughter of Piye, sister-wife of Taharqa
K.4 – Queen Khensa, daughter of Kashta, sister-wife of Piye
K.16 – King Tantamani, son of Shebitku and Queen Qalhata with two well-preserved underground chambers carrying wall and roof paintings
K.17 – King Piye, son of Kashta
K.18 – King Shebitku, son of Piye. Located west of the pyramid of Kashta and south of the tumulus tombs. The pyramid still contained a human skull which may have belonged to Shebitku himself.
K.53 – Queen Tabiry, daughter of Alara of Nubia, wife of Piye
K.54 – Possibly Peksater, daughter of Kashta, wife of Piye
Horse burials
Some 120 meters to the north-west of pyramids K.51–K.55 four rows of graves were found which contained horse burials. The rows contained four, eight, eight and four graves respectively. The four graves in the first row likely date to the time of Piye, the tombs in the second row date to the time of Shabaka, the tombs in the third row date to the time of Shebitqo, and the tombs in the fourth and last row date to the time of Tantamani. The tombs had all been robbed, but enough remained to determine that the horses were all buried in an upright position. The horses were buried with all their trappings.
Recent archaeological work
In recent years, archaeological work has begun once again at El Kurru. In collaboration with the National Council for Antiquities and Museums, and partially funded by the Qatar Sudan Archaeological Project, Dr. Geoff Emberling and Dr. Rachael J. Dann co-direct excavation, survey, documentation and conservation work at the site. Much of this work is discussed here:
