Gebel Barkal and the Sites of the Napatan Region

The lone sandstone butte of Gebel Barkal was holy ground for Egyptians and Kushites alike — ancient tradition placed a dwelling of the god Amun here. Around it, five archaeological zones stretching more than 60 kilometres along the Nile preserve temples, palaces, settlements and pyramid-topped tombs of the Napatan and Meroitic cultures of the kingdom of Kush, spanning roughly 900 BCE to 350 CE. Local people still hold the great temples sacred. UNESCO inscribed the sites in 2003.