A few kilometres from the pyramids, between the road and the river, are the foundations of the city of Meroë itself — the capital of the Kushite kingdom from the sixth century BC onwards. The visible remains include the Royal Enclosure, with the throne room and bath of the king; a large temple of Amun built on the Egyptian model; and a reservoir or "Sun Temple" out in the sand to the east.
The most curious feature is the great heaps of black slag scattered across the site. Meroë was a major iron-smelting centre — sometimes called the "Birmingham of Africa" by 19th-century explorers — and the waste from its furnaces still rises in dark mounds among the ruins. The site is less spectacular than the pyramids, but a worthwhile pause if you have come this far. The two together make a half-day; combine them and head back to Shendi for the night.