Sudan's Meroë pyramids (a UNESCO World Heritage Site located around 200 kilometres north of Khartoum, built between 800 BC and 350 AD as royal tombs for rulers of the ancient Kingdom of Kush) are facing accelerating deterioration as the country's civil war enters its third year. The conflict between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces has halted international preservation missions and left the site largely abandoned, compounding damage from salt erosion, shifting sands, and rainfall that threatens irreplaceable inscriptions and stonework. The loss would be significant: the complex of more than 200 angular pyramids, considered older than Egypt's famous monuments, was once Sudan's most visited heritage site.