Kingdom of Nobatia
- Nobatia was a late antique kingdom in Lower Nubia. Together with the two other Nubian kingdoms, Makuria and Alodia, it succeeded the kingdom of Kush. After its establishment in around 400, Nobadia gradually expanded by defeating the Blemmyes in the north and incorporating the territory between the second and third Nile cataract in the south. In 543 it converted to Coptic Christianity.
- The kingdom of Nobatia had been founded in the former Meroitic province of Akine, which comprised large parts of Lower Nubia. The Nobatae had been invited into the region from the Western Desert by the Roman Emperor Diocletian in 297 AD. Early Nobatia is quite likely the same civilization that is known to archeologists as the Ballana culture.
- Eventually the Nobatae were successful in defeating the Blemmyes, and an inscription by Silko, "Basiliskos" of the Nobatae, claims to have driven the Blemmyes into the Eastern Desert. Around this time the Nobatian capital was established at Pakhoras (modern Faras); soon after, Nobatia converted to non-Chalcedonian Christianity.
- By 707, Nobatia had been annexed to its southern neighbor, Makuria. The merger most likely occurred before the Muslim conquest in 652, since the Arab histories speak of only one Christian state in Nubia and reached at least as far as Old Dongola. Nobatia seems to have maintained some autonomy in the new state. It was ruled by an eparch of Nobatia who was also titled the Domestikos of Pakhoras. These were originally appointed but seem to be dynastic in the later period. Some of their records have been found at Fort Ibrim, presenting a figure with a great deal of power. Nobatia՚s name is often given as al-Maris in Arabic histories. The eparchate of Nobadia remained an integral part of the kingdom of Makuria until the very end, as is confirmed by a document from 1463 mentioning an eparch named Teedderre.
- Archaeology from the pagan period confirms the relevance archery had for the Nubians and therefore also the Nobatians. The slightly reflexed longsbows, which are attested for Kushite mercenaries since the Middle Kingdom, were replaced by reflex composite bows during the Meroitic or post-Meroitic period, measuring around one meter and originally designed to be shot from horseback. One simple wooden self bow is known from an early Nobadian burial in Qustul. Furthermore, the archers wore thumb rings, measuring between three and four cm. Thus, Nubian archers would have employed a drawing technique very similar to the Persian and Chinese one, both of which also reliant on thumb rings.
- A weapon characteristic for the Nobadians was a type of short sword. It has a straight hollow-ground blade which was sharpened only on one edge and was therefore not designed to thrust, but to hack. Apart of said swords, there were also lances, some of them with large blades, as well as halberds.
- Nobadian warriors and their leadership made use of shields and body armour, most of it manufactured from leather.
Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nobatia
Ballana
Ballana was a cemetery in Lower Nubia. It was excavated by Walter Bryan Emery along with nearby Qustul between 1928 and 1931 as a rescue project before a second rising of the Aswan Low Dam. A total of 122 tombs were found under huge artificial mounds. They date to the time after the collapse of the Meroitic state but before the founding of the Christian Nubian kingdoms, around AD 350 to 600. They usually featured one or several underground chambers, with one main burial chamber. Some tombs were found unlooted, but even the robbed burials still proved to contain many burial goods.
Qasr Ibrim
Qasr Ibrim (Arabic: قصر ابريم, Old Nubian: Silimi) is an archaeological site in Lower Nubia, located in the modern country of Egypt. The name dates far back into antiquity; it was Pedeme to the Meroitic inhabitants, and Primis to the Romans. The site has a long history of occupation, ranging from as early as the eighth century BCE to 1813 CE, and was an economic, political, and religious center.
Blemmyes
The Blemmyes (Latin Blemmyae) Beja tribal kingdom that existed from at least 600 BC to the 3rd century AD in Nubia. They were described in Roman histories of the later empire, with the Emperor Diocletian enlisting Nobatae mercenaries from the Western Desert oases to safeguard Aswan, the empire's southern frontier, from raids by the Blemmyes.
Temple of Kalabsha
The Temple of Kalabsha (also Temple of Mandulis) is an Ancient Egyptian temple that was originally located at Bab al-Kalabsha (Gate of Kalabsha), approximately 50 km south of Aswan. The temple was situated on the west bank of the Nile River, in Nubia, and was originally built around 30 BC during the early Roman era. While the temple was constructed in Augustus's reign, it was never finished. The temple was a tribute to Mandulis (Merul), a Lower Nubian sun god. It was constructed over an earlier sanctuary of Amenhotep II.
Faras Cathedral
Faras Cathedral was a cathedral in the Lower Nubian city of Faras. It was active between the 7th and 14th centuries and was re-discovered by Polish archaeologists under Kazimierz Michalowski between 1960 and 1964. Its wall paintings were salvaged prior to the flooding of Lake Nasser and are today on display in the Polish National Museum in Warsaw and in the Faras Gallery of the Sudan National Museum in Khartoum. In addition, a major pottery works was found.
The Nobatian X-Group
The Post-Meroitic phase of Sudanese history, which roughly covers the period from the fourth to the sixth centuries CE, is most distinguished by the X-Group culture. The X-Group is associated with the Nobatian—or perhaps Nubian—nomads who settled different areas of Sudan's Nile Valley begeinning in about the third century.1 By the fifth century, orgnized groups of Nubians had already fought and occupied areas of the Nile Valley that were originally part of the Kushite kingdom. Some Nubian leaders proclaimed the titles of kings and claimed indipendence from the kingdom of Kush.
This page uses materials from Wikipedia available in the references. It is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0.
References