Ancient World
Nuri Pyramids: Royal Tombs of Kush Begun by Taharqa
Nuri served as the main royal cemetery of Kush for about three centuries and is now part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Region
Africa
Ancient World
Battle of Pelusium (525 BC): Cambyses II Conquers Egypt
Persian victory; Egypt was conquered and became a province of the Achaemenid Empire.
Ancient World
Canal of Darius: The Ancient Nile-Red Sea Waterway
Darius's canal linked the Nile with the Red Sea, allowing ships to sail from Egypt towards Persia; it was later restored by Ptolemaic, Roman and early Islamic rulers.
Ancient World
Garamantes: The Ancient Saharan Kingdom of the Libyan Fezzan
The Garamantes created the first urban state in the Sahara, irrigated by groundwater, before declining as water ran short and trade shifted.
Ancient World
Voyage of Hanno the Navigator: Carthage Explores West Africa
Carthage founded or reinforced trading settlements on the Moroccan coast and gained knowledge of West Africa preserved in a Greek account.
Ancient World
Battle of Himera (480 BC): Sicilian Greeks Defeat Carthage
Decisive Greek victory; Hamilcar was killed, Carthage paid an indemnity and did not invade Greek Sicily again until 409 BC.
Ancient World
Philae Temple of Isis: Last Temple of Ancient Egyptian Religion
The sanctuary of Isis stayed active until about AD 537 and was later moved, stone by stone, to save it from the Nile reservoirs.
Ancient World
Founding of Alexandria (331 BC) by Alexander the Great
Alexandria became the capital of Ptolemaic Egypt and one of the largest and most influential cities of the ancient world.
Ancient World
Ptolemy I Soter: Founder of the Ptolemaic Dynasty of Egypt
Ptolemy turned Egypt into an independent Hellenistic kingdom; his dynasty ruled until the death of Cleopatra VII in 30 BC.
Ancient World
Euclid's Elements (c. 300 BC): The Most Influential Maths Book
The Elements became the standard textbook of geometry and the model of mathematical proof for over two millennia.
Ancient World
Musawwarat es-Sufra: The Great Enclosure of Ancient Kush
A large Kushite religious centre was built in the semi-desert; its main buildings are now part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Ancient World
Pyramids of Meroë: The Royal Cemetery of Kush in Sudan
Meroë became the royal burial ground of the Kingdom of Kush for some six centuries, leaving the largest group of pyramids in Africa outside Egypt.