Chapters › Christian Nubia · Sudan – Middle Nile
Nobadia
400 CE – 700 CE
Approximate area of control ≈ approximate
- Tomasz Derda & Adam Łajtar (2019) Organization of the Church in Medieval Nubia in the Light of a Newly Discovered Wall Inscription in Dongola link [low]
Geometry: Natural Earth (NACIS) Natural Earth vector data (rivers, disputed areas)
Sources: Tomasz Derda & Adam Łajtar (2019) Organization of the Church in Medieval Nubia in the Light of a Newly Discovered Wall Inscription in Dongola; Natural Earth (NACIS) Natural Earth vector data (rivers, disputed areas)
Dating note
Christianisation c.543 and merger with Makuria (7th c.) per standard accounts; specific dates not re-verified in a primary source in this pass. Merger with Makuria: date disputed. GHA II ch.12 (Michałowski, pp.332–333) gives two versions: Maqrizi has one king, Qalidurut, ruling central and northern Nubia by the mid-7th c.; 'Christian sources seem to prove that the union of Nubia was the work of King Merkurios, who came to the throne in 697.' Derda & Łajtar (2019, p.136 and n.4): 'perhaps around 630'; the earliest indubitable proof of a greater Makuria including Nobadia is the reign of Merkurios (late 7th–early 8th c.); incorporation probably before the Arab raid on Dongola in 652; Godlewski has suggested the end of the 6th c. Welsby 2002 not read on this point.
Key events
- Christianised c.543 CE
- Merged into Makuria in the 7th century
Capitals / sites
Faras (Pachoras), Qasr Ibrim
Geopolitics
Kingdom of the Nobadae from Philae to the Second Cataract, capital Faras (Pachoras); Byzantine diplomacy active in the 5th–6th c.; Persian invasion of Egypt (616) stopped at Nubia's northern frontier, with evidence of Sassanid raids; later united with Makuria (GHA II ch.12).
Culture
Official Monophysite conversion by the mission of the priest Julianos sent by Empress Theodora; Christianity had already spread among the people from Egypt; the sovereigns' palace at Faras later became the earliest cathedral (GHA II ch.12).
Economy
Caravans passing through Aswan carried trade (and beliefs) southward (GHA II ch.12).
Regional power
Research in progress We have not yet read a source for this section. It will be added once one is checked; nothing is filled in by guesswork.
Open data flags
- regional_power: no actors scored
Sources
- K. Michałowski (1981) The spreading of Christianity in Nubia (General History of Africa II, ch.12) UNESCO link [en]
- Derek A. Welsby (2002) The Medieval Kingdoms of Nubia: Pagans, Christians and Muslims along the Middle Nile British Museum Press link [en]
- Wikipedia contributors Nobadia Wikipedia link [en]
- Tomasz Derda & Adam Łajtar (2019) Organization of the Church in Medieval Nubia in the Light of a Newly Discovered Wall Inscription in Dongola Jahrbuch der Österreichischen Byzantinistik 69 (Austrian Academy of Sciences) link [en]