Editing Nubian pyramids (section)

== Notable figures and their discoveries ==
In the 1830s [[Giuseppe Ferlini]] came to Meroe seeking treasure and raided and demolished a number of pyramids which had been found "in good conditions" by [[Frédéric Cailliaud]] just a few years earlier.<ref name="cimmino">{{cite book |last=Cimmino |first=Franco |title=Storia delle Piramidi |date=1996 |publisher=Rusconi |isbn=88-18-70143-6 |location=Milano |language=it}}<!--|access-date= October 26, 2015-->, pp. 416-7</ref> At [[Wad ban Naqa]], he leveled the pyramid N6 of the ''[[kandake]]'' [[Amanishakheto]] starting from the top, and found dozens of gold and silver jewelry pieces. Overall, he is considered responsible for the destruction of over 40 pyramids.<ref name="cimmino" /><ref>{{cite book |last=Welsby |first=Derek A. |title=The kingdom of Kush: the Napatan and Meroitic empire |date=1998 |publisher=Markus Wiener |location=Princeton, New Jersey}}, pp. 86; 185</ref>[[Image:Sudan Meroe Pyramids 30sep2005 3.jpg|thumb|right|220px|Ferlini raided the Meroe pyramids in 1834.]]
Ferlini returned home in 1836, having found the treasure he was looking for.<ref name="grave">[[Epitaph]] from his gravestone in the Certosa di Bologna.</ref> A year later he wrote a report of his expedition containing a catalog of his findings, which was translated in French and republished in 1838.{{efn|group=note|Giuseppe Ferlini, ''Relation Historique des Fouilles Operées dans la Nubia par le docteur Joseph Ferlini de Bologna, suivie d'un catalogue des objets qu'il a trouvés dans l'une des quarante-sept pyramides aux environs de l'ancienne ville de Meroe, et d'une description des grands déserts de Coruscah et de Sinnaar.'' Rome, 1838.}}<ref name="www">{{cite book |last1=Dawson |first1=Warren R. |author-link1=Warren R. Dawson |title=Who Was Who in Egyptology |last2=Uphill |first2=Eric P. |date=1972 |publisher=Harrison & sons |location=London}}, p.&nbsp;166</ref> He tried to sell the treasure, but at this time nobody believed that such high quality jewellery could be made in [[Sub-Saharan Africa]]. His finds were finally sold in Germany: part of these were purchased by King [[Ludwig I of Bavaria]] and are now in the [[Staatliche Sammlung für Ägyptische Kunst|State Museum of Egyptian Art of Munich]], while the remaining – under suggestions of [[Karl Richard Lepsius]] and of [[Christian Charles Josias von Bunsen]] – was bought by the [[Egyptian Museum of Berlin]] where it still is.<ref name="cimmino" />

[[George Andrew Reisner|George Reisner]], a Harvard archaeologist, investigated the pyramids at Nuri and mapped more than 80 royal Kushite burials in 1916–1919.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Emberling |first=Geoff |date=2014-04-04 |title=Continuing Excavations at an Ancient Burial Site Last Touched in 1919 |url=https://blog.nationalgeographic.org/2014/04/04/continuing-excavations-at-an-ancient-burial-site-last-touched-in-1919/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180108033413/https://blog.nationalgeographic.org/2014/04/04/continuing-excavations-at-an-ancient-burial-site-last-touched-in-1919/ |archive-date=January 8, 2018 |access-date=2019-07-04 |website=National Geographic Society Newsroom |language=en-US}}</ref>  Reisner started to explore burial chambers but he found they were flooded by the rising water table. During his excavation, a staircase collapsed and killed five of his workers. He abandoned his expedition believing it to be too dangerous.<ref name=":0" /> Some of his findings were published in 1955.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Romey |first=Kristin |date=2019-07-02 |title=Dive beneath the pyramids of Egypt's black pharaohs |url=https://www.nationalgeographic.com/culture/2019/07/dive-ancient-pyramid-nuri-sudan/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20200317000739/https://www.nationalgeographic.com/culture/2019/07/dive-ancient-pyramid-nuri-sudan/ |archive-date=March 17, 2020 |access-date=2019-07-04 |website=National Geographic, Culture & History}}</ref> Nonetheless, Reisner's work helped to piece together the history of an ancient kingdom, one that was previously little known outside of its biblical mentions.<ref name=":2" />

National Geographic funded explorations from 2015 to 2019 using underwater scuba diving equipment<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Gwin |first1=Peter |last2=Romey |first2=Kirstin |date=2019-07-02 |title=Episode 4: Scuba diving in a pyramid |url=https://www.nationalgeographic.com/podcasts/overheard/article/episode-4-scuba-diving-underwater-pyramid |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210220001041/https://www.nationalgeographic.com/podcasts/overheard/article/episode-4-scuba-diving-underwater-pyramid |archive-date=February 20, 2021 |access-date=2019-07-04 |website=National Geographic}}</ref> and remote controlled robots.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Rappaport |first=Nora |date=2015-05-21 |title=Amazing Drone Footage of Nubian Pyramids |url=https://blog.nationalgeographic.org/2015/05/21/amazing-drone-footage-of-nubian-pyramids/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180729141748/https://blog.nationalgeographic.org/2015/05/21/amazing-drone-footage-of-nubian-pyramids/ |archive-date=July 29, 2018 |access-date=2019-07-04 |website=National Geographic Society Newsroom |language=en-US}}</ref>

[[File:Pyramids of Nuri (cropped).jpg|thumb|Pyramids of Nubian kings [[Aspelta]] (foreground), [[Aramatle-qo]] and [[Amaninatakilebte]] at Nuri.]]

[[File:NubianMeroePyramids30sep2005(2).jpg|600px|center|thumb|Wide view of Nubian pyramids, [[Meroë]]. Three of these pyramids are reconstructed.]]

[[File:Pyramids of Meroe in 1821 (plan).jpg|thumb|upright=1.5|Layout of the pyramids of Meroë in 1821]]

{{multiple image
| perrow            = 2
| total_width       = 350
| caption_align     = center
| align             = right
| direction         = horizontal
| header            = Destructions
| image1            = A great pyramid at Meroe in 1821.jpg
| image2            = Meroe N6.JPG
| footer            = Great pyramid N6 of the [[Pyramids of Meroë]], belonging to Queen [[Amanishakheto]], before and after its destruction by the treasure-hunter [[Giuseppe Ferlini]] in the 1830s
}}