Top 7 Ancient Ruins in Northern State, Northern State

July 21, 2021 Terina Blouin

Discover the best top things to do in Northern State, Sudan including Gebel Barkal, Third Cataract of the Nile, Soleb Temple, Nuri Pyramids, Kerma's Archeological Site, El Kurru Tombs, Al-Ghazali.
Restaurants in Northern State

1. Gebel Barkal

400 kilometres north of Khartoum, Karima Sudan +249 99 950 2577 http://jebelbarkal.info/
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5.0 based on 35 reviews

Gebel Barkal

The temples at the site of ancient Napata, an important royal residence.

Reviewed By Seahorse0804 - London, United Kingdom

Ancient pyramids, old ruined temples, the sacred mountain of Jebel Barkal - all within a few miles of the great Nile river and the town of Karima.

2. Third Cataract of the Nile

Dongola Sudan +249 99 951 2577 http://3rdcataract.info/
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4.5 based on 8 reviews

Third Cataract of the Nile

The third cataract of the Nile in Sudan is one of the most dramatic of the remaining cataracts which have not been submerged by the Aswan dam in Egypt and the Merowe dam in Sudan. The most dramatic view is from the ruins of the Ottoman fort which overlooks the third cataract and surrounding desert.

Reviewed By ethiodemet - Gerstetten, Germany

I love the atmosphere at the 3rd cataract, the view from the fortress down to the Nile is unforgettable!

3. Soleb Temple

Wawa Sudan +249 99 951 2577 http://soleb.info/index.php?Lang=en
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4.5 based on 14 reviews

Soleb Temple

Reviewed By 926m_rial

The ruins of Soleb are at the norten part of Sudan. If you are interested about archeology, history, visit it! No turist, very quaet, beautiful plece!

4. Nuri Pyramids

Kerma Sudan +249 99 951 2577 http://www.jebelbarkal.info
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4.5 based on 2 reviews

Nuri Pyramids

5. Kerma's Archeological Site

Kerma Sudan +249 99 951 2577 http://3rdcataract.info
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4.5 based on 13 reviews

Kerma's Archeological Site

Reviewed By Bielding

Kerma was the political centre of an ancient kingdom that existed in what is now northern Sudan from c. 2500 to 1500 BC (when it was eventually conquered by their rivals to the north, the Egyptians). The most impressive remains on site are the giant mud-brick platform known as the 'deffufa'. This was probably a platform for a religious structure of some kind. You can climb the deffufa - it's about 18m high and gives an impressive view over the rest of the site, which is mainly preserved only as mud-brick foundations. It's very noticeable that the ancient architecture was based around African-looking round houses, as opposed to the rectilinear traditions of Egypt to the north. There is also a very good on-site museum that contains a wealth of statuary and reliefs from slightly later periods - because the site retained its importance as a religious shrine into much later times, when it was known as Pnubs. The star attractions are the cache of statues from the early kings of Napata (c. 675-595 BC), but there are also lots of fragments of Egyptian temple relief dating from the New Kingdom too (c. 1500-1069 BC).

6. El Kurru Tombs

Barkai Street South, Karima Sudan +249 99 873 3771 http://el-kurru.info/
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4.5 based on 28 reviews

El Kurru Tombs

Reviewed By Bielding

For a specialist, this site is incredibly important as the ancestral cemetery of the kings of Napata, but for tourists the main point of interest is that you can go down into the underground burial chamber of King Tantamani (c. 664-650 BC), which is still vividly decorated with Egyptian-style paintings and hieroglyphs showing the king on his journey into the afterlife, and the spells from the Book of the Dead that he would need on his journey. King Tantamani, although he came from the Sudan, had a dream at his accession to kingship, where he was told he should conquer Egypt too - he duly went north with his army, but was eventually defeated by the Assyrian emperor Ashurbanipal, who established his own puppet rulers over Egypt. Having retreated to the south, there is some almost more-Egyptian-than-the-Egyptians about the decoration of the king's tomb - perhaps trying to make some kind of point?

7. Al-Ghazali

Bayoudah desert, Merowe Sudan
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3.5 based on 2 reviews

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