If you’ve ever wondered which country has the most pyramids in the world, then you’d likely think of Egypt but the truth is a much more sinister story.
Egypt continues to draw the vast majority of visitors to its famed pyramids, with nearly 19 million tourists travelling to see the pyramids in 2025, according to government figures. But despite its fame, Egypt isn’t actually the country with the largest number of pyramids. Its neighbour, Sudan, has 255 on its territory. In a recent documentary called Arte they explain that, “due to the racism of archaeologists in previous centuries, who disdained this black African civilisation in favour of the Egyptians, and then with the recent violence in Sudan, it’s only been a few years that teams of archaeologists from dozens of countries are discovering and understanding the importance of the Kush kingdom,” shedding light on a civilisation that has been unjustly ignored. Until now.
The site of Meroe, in southern Sudan, and its many pyramids.
Yannick Tylle/GettyImagesNubia, the first African power
“The great ancient civilisations of Sudan relied on agriculture to thrive, and erected majestic tombs and temples in honour of their gods, kings, queens and nobility,” as noted in National Geographic magazine. The kingdom of Kush, which reigned over Nubia for several centuries BC, defined its borders between southeastern Egypt and southern modern Sudan. Nicknamed the “Black Pharaohs,” the Nubian kings and queens conquered a vast part of the region, whose wealth was built on the Nile, a major source of water for agriculture. Extremely prosperous, these chieftains erected a series of 255 sandstone pyramids as tombs for the regents of Napata and Meroe, but also as symbols of power in the face of Egypt, their main rival. At the time, Nubia was Africa’s leading power.