Pyramid of King Arkamani I

16.9350°N, 33.7480°E.

The pyramid of king Arkamani I at Meroë — Greek Ergamenes — built for the first Kushite ruler buried in the new royal necropolis at Meroë after the cemetery shifted south from Nuri in the early third century BCE. Construction date approximately 275–250 BCE. Original base 12 metres per side; original height around 21 metres at the steep 70° slope characteristic of the Meroitic royal pyramids. Diodorus Siculus (3.6) records that Arkamani — whom he calls Ergamenes — was the first Kushite king to break the priestly tradition by which the Amun priesthood at Meroë had previously been able to compel kings to commit ritual suicide at appointed times: Arkamani entered the temple at the head of an armed force, killed the priests, and abolished the convention.

The first king buried at Meroë after the southward shift of the royal necropolis, in a reign that according to Greek sources ended the rule of the priests over the Kushite kings.