Meroitic period
Pyramids of the Kushite rulers at Meroë.
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 Shown within Sudan
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| Location | River Nile, Sudan |
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| Region | Kush |
| Coordinates | 16°56′00″N 33°43′35″E / 16.93333°N 33.72639°ECoordinates: 16°56′00″N 33°43′35″E / 16.93333°N 33.72639°E |
| Type | Settlement |
| Official name | Archaeological Sites of the Island of Meroe |
| Type | Cultural |
| Criteria | ii, iii, vi, v |
| Designated | 2011 (35th session) |
| Reference no. | 1336 |
| State Party | Sudan |
| Region | Africa |
Meroë (/ˈmɛroʊeɪ/; also spelled Meroe;Meroitic: Medewi or Bedewi; Arabic: مرواه Meruwah and مروى Meruwi; Ancient Greek: Μερόη, Meróē, Biblical; tribe of Merari) is an ancient city on the east bank of the Nile about 6 km north-east of the Kabushiya station near Shendi, Sudan, approximately 200 km north-east of Khartoum. Near the site are a group of villages called Bagrawiyah. This city was the capital of the Kingdom of Kush for several centuries. The Kushitic Kingdom of Meroë gave its name to the Island of Meroë, which was the modern region of Butana, a region bounded by the Nile (from the Atbarah River to Khartoum), the Atbarah and the Blue Nile.
The city of Meroë was on the edge of Butana and there were two other Meroitic cities in Butana: Musawwarat es-Sufra and Naqa. The first of these sites was given the name Meroë by the Persian king, Cambyses, in honor of his sister who was called by that name. The city had originally borne the ancient appellation Saba, named after the country's original founder. The eponym Saba, or Seba, is named for one of the sons of Cush (see: Genesis 10:7). The presence of numerous Meroitic sites within the western Butana region and on the border of Butana proper is significant to the settlement of the core of the developed region. The orientation of these settlements exhibit the exercise of state power over subsistence production.
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