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General Information
Meroe Pyramids
Napata remained the religious centre until about
300BC and the kings and queens of Meroe were
buried there during this period. The town retained
considerable importance until, in 23 BC, it was
captured and sacked by the Romans. The kingdom
of Meroe reached the height of its prosperity at
the beginning of the Christian era and thereafter
gradually declined. Little is known of this period,
as the language in which the Meroitic people wrote
is not yet fully understood. The kingdom finally
succumbed either to the tribes from further south, or
to the king of Axum (Ethiopia) in about 300 BC.
The invasion of the Axumites did not lead to
permanent occupation. For the next 200 years
northern Sudan was ruled by a number of
independent kinglets. The history of this period is
obscure, as these rulers were illiterate and largely
nomadic.
Christianity in Sudan
In 542–543 AD, during the reign of Justin Ian, the
country was rapidly Christianised. To begin with it
adhered to the Greek (Melkite) church, but in about
700 AD the monotheists (Coptic Church) became
dominant. Politically, the country was divided into
two kingdoms: the northern kingdom of Makuria,
which had its capital at Old Dongola, and the
southern kingdom of Alwa, with its capital at Soba,
south of Khartoum. Many churches were built along
the Nile, but to what extent the more remote regions
were affected by Christianity is not known.
Islam in Sudan
The Muslim conquest of Egypt was followed by
further attempts to extend their rule south by attacking
Dongola several times, but these attempts were
to no avail. A treaty signed in 652 AD established
a period of uneasy peace, which lasted for six
years, but was interrupted by sporadic conflicts in
the northernmost part of Sudan. Around the year
1260, the policy of the Turkish Mamluke rulers of
Egypt towards Sudan changed, and numerous
raids during the next 50 years led to anarchy in the
northern kingdom, the sack of Old Dongola and the
overthrow of the Makurian dynasty in about 1340.
This was followed by rapid immigration from Egypt,
the Islamisation of Sudan as far south as Shendi and
the partitioning of land among tribal leaders. The
southern kingdom of Alwa survived longer, although