Meroë (; also spelled
Meroe;
Meroitic:
Medewi or
Bedewi;
Arabic: and
Meruwi;
Ancient Greek: Μερόη,
Meróē) 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.