Makuria
Encyclopedia
The Kingdom of Makuria was a kingdom
located in what is today Northern Sudan
and Southern Egypt
. It was one of a group of Nubia
n kingdoms that emerged during the decline of the Aksumite Empire
, which it had been part of from approximately 4BC to AD 950. Makuria originally covered the area along the Nile River from the Third Cataract
to somewhere between the Fifth and Sixth Cataracts. It also had control over the trade routes, mines, and oases to the east and west. Its capital was Dongola
(Arabic: Dunqulah), and the kingdom is sometimes known by the name of its capital.
By the end of the 6th century it had converted to Christianity, but in the 7th century Egypt was conquered by the Islamic armies, and Nubia was cut off from the rest of Christendom
. In 651 an Arab army invaded, but it was repulsed and a treaty known as the baqt
was signed creating a relative peace between the two sides that lasted until the 13th century. Makuria expanded, annexing its northern neighbour Nobatia
either at the time of the Arab invasion or during the reign of King Merkurios. The period from roughly 750 to 1150 saw the kingdom stable and prosperous, in what has been called the "Golden Age
". Increased aggression from Egypt, and internal discord led to the state's collapse in the 14th century.
Makuria is much better known than its neighbor Alodia
to the south, but there are still many gaps in our knowledge. The most important source for the history of the area is various Arab
travelers and historians who passed through Nubia during this period. These accounts are often problematic as many of the Arab writers were biased against their Christian neighbours, and these works generally focus on only the military conflicts between Egypt and Nubia. One exception is Ibn Selim el-Aswani
, an Egyptian diplomat who traveled to Dongola when Makuria was at the height of its power in the 10th century, and left a detailed account.
The Nubians were a literate society, and a fair body of writing survives from the period. These documents were written in the Old Nubian language
in an uncial
variety of the Greek alphabet
extended with some Coptic symbols and some symbols unique to Nubian. Written in a language that is closely related to the modern Nobiin tongue
, these documents have long been deciphered. However, the vast majority of them are works dealing with religion or legal records that are of little use to historians. The largest known collection, found at Qasr Ibrim
, does contain some valuable governmental records.
In recent decades archaeology
has become the best method of obtaining information regarding Makuria. The construction of the Aswan High Dam in 1964 promised to flood what had once been the northern half of Makuria. In 1960 UNESCO
launched a massive effort to do as much archaeological work as possible before the flooding occurred. Thousands of experts were brought from around the world over the next few years. Some of more important Makurian sites looked at were the city of Faras
and its cathedral, excavated by a team from Poland; the British work at Qasr Ibrim
; and the University of Ghana
's work at the town of Debeira West, which gave important information on daily life in medieval
Nubia. All of these sites are in what was Nobatia, the only major archaeological site in Makuria itself is the partial exploration of the capital at Old Dongola
.
mentions a Nubian people known as the Makkourae, who might be ancestors to the Makurians. The kingdom is believed to have formed in the 4th or 5th century. The first recorded mention of it is in a work by the 6th-century John of Ephesus
, who decries its hostility to Monophysite missionaries traveling to Alodia
. Soon after John of Biclarum wrote approvingly of the "Makurritae"'s adoption of the rival Melkite
faith.
led by the Rashidun Caliphate
. They defeated an Arab army at the First Battle of Dongola
in 642
. The Arabs had taken Egypt in 641, and the jihad
soon turned south.They repeated this feat again in 652
at the Second Battle of Dongola
. In both battles, Arab writers noted the Makurians' skill with the bow
. This was one of the few major defeats suffered by an Arab army in the first century of Islamic expansion, and it led to an unprecedented agreement, the bakt, which guaranteed peaceful relations between the two sides. In this treaty the Nubians agreed to send several hundred slaves each year to Egypt, while the Egyptians
may have been obliged to send food and manufactured goods south.
at Taifa
that makes clear that Nobatia was under Makurian control by the middle of the eighth century. Every source after this date has Nobatia under Makurian control. This leads many scholars to infer that the unification occurred during the reign of Merkurios, who was described as the "New Constantine" by John the Deacon
.
What this merged kingdom should be called is unclear in both contemporary sources and among modern historians. Makuria remained in use as a geographic term for the southern half of the kingdom, but it was also used to describe the kingdom in its entirety. Some writers refer to it simply as Nubia, ignoring that southern Nubia was still under the independent kingdom of Alodia. It is also sometimes called the Kingdom of Dongola, after the capital city. Another name, the Kingdom of Makuria and Nobatia, perhaps implies a dual monarchy
. Dotawo
could be another name, or it could refer to an entirely separate kingdom.
was still Christian, and it looked to the Nubian kingdoms for protection. One report has a Nubian army sacking Cairo in the eighth century to defend the Christians, but this is probably apocryphal.
Not a great deal is known about Makuria during this period. One important story is that of Zacharias III
sending his son Georgios
to Baghdad
to negotiate a reduction of the bakt. Georgios as king also plays a prominent role in the story of Arab adventurer al-Umari. The best evidence from this time is archaeological. Excavations show that this era was one of stability and seeming prosperity. Nubian pottery, painting, and architecture all reached their heights during this era. It also seems to have been a long period of stability in the Nile floods, without the famine caused by small floods or the destruction caused by large ones.
Egypt and Makuria developed close and peaceful relations when Egypt was ruled by the Fatimid
s. The Shi'ite Fatimids had few allies in the Muslim world, and they turned to the southern Christians as allies. Fatimid power also depended upon the slaves provided by Makuria, who were used to man the Fatimid army. Trade between the two states flourished: Egypt sent wheat
, wine
, and linen
south while Makuria exported ivory
, cattle
, ostrich
feathers, and slave
s. Relations with Egypt soured when the Ayyubids came to power in 1171. Early in the Ayyubid period the Nubians invaded Egypt, perhaps in support of their Fatimid allies. The Ayyubids repulsed their invasion and in response Salah-ed-din
dispatched his brother Turan Shah to invade Nubia. He defeated the Nubians, and for several years occupied Qasr Ibrim
before retreating north. The Ayyubids dispatched an emissary to Makuria to see if it was worth conquering, but he reported that the land was too poor. The Ayyubids seem to have thus largely ignored their southern neighbour for the next century.
, writing several decades later, who blamed it on Bedouin
invasions and Nubian intermarriage with Arabs.
. Houses throughout the region were built far sturdier, with secret hiding places for food and other valuables. Archaeology also shows increased signs of Arabization and Islamicization. Free trade between the kingdoms was part of the bakt, and over time Arab merchants became prominent in Dongola and other cities. Eventually the northern area, most of what was once Nobatia, had become largely Arabized and Islamicized. Largely independent of Dongola it was increasingly referred to as al-Maris.
es are far better documented. An important component of the bakt was the promise that Makuria would secure Egypt's southern border against raids by desert nomads, like the Beja
. The Makurian state could no longer do this, prompting interventions by Egyptian armies that further weakened it. In 1272 the Mamluk Sultan Baybars invaded, after King David I had attacked the Egyptian city of Aidhab, initiating several decades of intervention by the Mamlukes in Nubian affairs.
. This was not accepted by other Makurian leaders and the nation fell into civil war and anarchy that very year. The countryside came under the control of the raiding tribes from the desert, and the monarchy was left with effective control over little more than the capital. This effectively ended Makuria as a unified state. There is some evidence the Makurian dynasty survived until the end of the 14th century, including a Makurian call for aid in 1397. It has been suggested that the change of African trade routes and the Black Death
did play a major role in the collapse.
. The Awlad Kenz remained the de facto rulers of Nubia until 1517, when the area was conquered and amalgamated into Egypt by the armies of the Ottoman
Sultan Selim
.
, millet
, and date
s. The methods used were generally the same that had been used for millennia. Small plots of well irrigated land were lined along the banks of the Nile, which would be fertilized by the river's annual flooding. One important technological advance was the saqiya
, an oxen-powered water wheel
, that was introduced in the Roman period and helped increase yields and population density. Settlement patterns indicate that land was divided into individual plots rather than as in a manorial system. The peasants lived in small villages composed of clustered houses of sun-dried brick.
Important industries included the production of pottery
, based at Faras
, and weaving
based at Dongola
. Smaller local industries include leather
working, metalworking, and the widespread production of basket
s, mat
s, and sandal
s from palm fibre. Also important was the gold mined in the Red Sea Hills to the east of Makuria.
Makurian trade was largely by barter as the state never adopted a currency
. In the north, however, Egyptian coins were common. Makurian trade with Egypt was of great import. From Egypt a wide array of luxury and manufactured goods were imported. The main Makurian export was slaves. The slaves sent north were not from Makuria itself, but rather from further south and west in Africa. Little is known about Makurian trade and relations with other parts of Africa. There is some archaeological evidence of contacts and trade with the areas to the west such as Darfur
and Kanem-Bornu
, but few details. There seem to have been important political relations between Makuria and Christian Ethiopia
to the south-east. For instance, in the 10th century, Georgios II
successfully intervened on behalf of the unnamed ruler at that time, and persuaded Patriarch Philotheos of Alexandria
to at last ordain an abuna
, or metropolitan
, for the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. However, there is little evidence of much trade between the two Christian states.
. How succession
was decided is not clear. Early writers indicate it was from father to son. After the eleventh century, however, it seems clear that Makuria was using the uncle-to-sister's-son system favoured for millennia in Kush
. Shinnie speculates that the later form may have actually been used throughout, and that the early Arab writers merely misunderstood the situation and incorrectly described Makurian succession as similar to what they were used to.
Little is known about government below the king. A wide array of officials, generally using Byzantine titles, are mentioned, but their roles are never explained. One figure who is well-known, thanks to the documents found at Qasr Ibrim
, is the Eparch of Nobatia
, who seems to have been the viceroy in that region after it was annexed to Makuria. The Eparch's records make clear that he was also responsible for trade and diplomacy with the Egyptians. Early records make it seem like the Eparch was appointed by the king, but later ones indicate that the position had become hereditary. This office would eventually become that of the "Lord of the Horses" ruling the autonomous and then Egyptian-controlled al-Maris.
The bishop
s might have played a role in the governance of the state. Ibn Selim el-Aswani
noted that before the king responded to his mission he met with a council of bishops. El-Aswani described a highly centralized state, but other writers state that Makuria was a federation of thirteen kingdoms presided over by the great king at Dongola. It is unclear what the reality was, but the Kingdom of Dotawo
, prominently mentioned in the Qasr Ibrim documents, might be one of these sub-kingdoms.
One of the most debated issues among scholars is over the religion of Makuria. Up to the fifth century the old faith of Meroe
seems to have remained strong, even while its counterpart
in Egypt disappeared. In the fifth century the Nubians went so far as to launch an invasion of Egypt when the Christians there tried to turn some of the main temples into churches. Archaeological evidence in this period finds a number of Christian ornaments in Nubia, and some scholars feel that this implies that conversion from below was already taking place. Others argue that it is more likely that these reflected the faith of the manufacturers in Egypt rather than the buyers in Nubia.
Certain conversion came with a series of sixth-century missions. The Byzantine Empire
dispatched an official party to try to convert the kingdoms to Chalcedonian
Christianity, but Empress Theodora
reportedly conspired to delay the party to allow a group of Monophysites to arrive first. John of Ephesus
reports that the Monophysites successfully converted the kingdoms of Nobatia
and Alodia
, but that Makuria remained hostile. John of Biclarum states that Makuria then embraced the rival Byzantine Christianity. Archaeological evidence seems to point to a rapid conversion brought about by an official adoption of the new faith. Millennia-old traditions such as the building of elaborate tombs, and the burying of expensive grave goods with the dead were abandoned, and temples throughout the region seem to have been converted to churches. Churches eventually were built in virtually every town and village.
After this point the exact course of Makurian Christianity is much disputed. It is clear that by the seventh century Makuria had become officially Coptic
and loyal to the Coptic Patriarch of Alexandria; the king of Makuria became the defender of the patriarch of Alexandria, occasionally intervening militarily to protect him, as Kyriakos
did in 722. This same period saw Melkite Makuria absorb the Coptic Nobatia, and historians have long wondered why the conquering state adopted the religion of its rival. It is fairly clear that Egyptian Coptic influence was far stronger in the region, and that Byzantine power was fading, and this might have played a role. Historians are also divided on whether this was the end of the Melkite/Coptic split as there is some evidence that a Melkite minority persisted until the end of the kingdom.
The Makurian church was divided into seven bishoprics: Kalabsha, Qupta, Qasr Ibrim
, Faras
, Sai, Dongola
, and Suenkur. Unlike Ethiopia
, it appears that no national church was established and all seven bishops reported directly to the Coptic Patriarch of Alexandria. The bishops were appointed by the Patriarch, not the king, though they seem to have largely been local Nubians rather than Egyptians.
Unlike in Egypt, there is not much evidence for monasticism
in Makuria. According to Adams there are only three archaeological sites that are certainly monastic. All three are fairly small and quite Coptic, leading to the possibility that they were set up by Egyptian refugees rather than indigenous Makurians.
The end of Christianity in Makuria is unclear. Shinnie interprets the evidence from two different graveyards, in the Wadi Halfa area and at Meinarti, to conclude that Islam was present in Makuria by the early tenth century, "and it appears that Christians and Muslims must have been living in amity for some centuries." However, there is a suggestion that the Christian community was waning: the excavation of the tomb of a bishop at Qasr Ibrim recovered two rolls dated to 1372 recording his consecration in Cairo and authorizing his enthronement. Shinnie concludes this "makes it quite clear that Christianity was still of significance" although "perhaps the combining of the two under one bishop is a reflection of the dwindling of the number of Christians in the area."
We are offered a glimpse of the problems the local church faced at the end from the account of the traveler Francisco Álvares
. While at the court of Emperor Lebna Dengel in the 1520s, he witnessed an embassy from the Nubian Christians, who came to the Emperor asking for priests, bishops, and other personnel desperately needed to keep Christianity alive in their land. Lebna Dengel declined to help, stating that he received his bishop from the Patriarch of Alexandria, and that they too should go to him for help.
of previous eras. Modern scholars realize that this was due to cultural reasons, and that the Makurians actually had a rich and vibrant art and culture.
. This large building had been completely filled with sand preserving a series of magnificent paintings. Similar, but less well preserved, paintings have been found at several other sites in Makuria, including palaces and private homes, giving an overall impression of Makurian art. The style and content was heavily influenced by Byzantine art
, and also showed influence from Egyptian Coptic art and from Palestine. Mainly religious in nature, it depicts many of the standard Christian scenes
. Also illustrated are a number of Makurian kings and bishops, with noticeably darker skin than the Biblical figures.
. It also saw much of Nubian pottery imported from Egypt rather than produced domestically. Adams feels this trade ended with the invasion of 652; Shinnie links it to the collapse of Umayyad
rule in 750. After this domestic production increased, with a major production facility at Faras
. In this middle era, which lasted until around 1100, the pottery was painted with floral and zoomorphic scenes and showed distinct Umayyad and even Sassanian influences. The late period during Makuria's decline saw domestic production again fall in favour of imports from Egypt. Pottery produced in Makuria became less ornate, but better control of firing temperatures allowed different colours of clay.
was the primary written language and perhaps also the language used by the royal court. Greek continued to be used in later centuries for ceremonial purposes, such as on many gravestones, but these later inscriptions are marked by frequent spelling and grammar errors implying reduced knowledge of the language. Eventually Old Nubian
, which was the language used by most of the population, became the main written language; Old Nubian translations of the bible and many other religious documents were used widely. One Arab traveler to the region stated that Nobatia and Makuria spoke different languages; almost all our documents are from what was Nobatia and this language seems ancestral to the modern Nobiin language
still spoken in the region. Adams notes that the ancient border between Makuria and Nobatia today is close to the border between the Nobiin and Dongolawi languages. Another important language in Makuria was Coptic
. Links with Egyptian Christians were strong and Makuria seems to have made wide use of Coptic religious literature. Makuria also saw regular influxes of Coptic-speaking Christian refugees from Egypt. In the later years of the kingdom's existence, Arabic became an increasingly important tongue. Arab traders were important throughout the area and Arabic seems to have become the language of commerce. As these traders settled, each major community gained an Arab quarter.
Monarchy
A monarchy is a form of government in which the office of head of state is usually held until death or abdication and is often hereditary and includes a royal house. In some cases, the monarch is elected...
located in what is today Northern Sudan
Sudan
Sudan , officially the Republic of the Sudan , is a country in North Africa, sometimes considered part of the Middle East politically. It is bordered by Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the northeast, Eritrea and Ethiopia to the east, South Sudan to the south, the Central African Republic to the...
and Southern Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
. It was one of a group of Nubia
Nubia
Nubia is a region along the Nile river, which is located in northern Sudan and southern Egypt.There were a number of small Nubian kingdoms throughout the Middle Ages, the last of which collapsed in 1504, when Nubia became divided between Egypt and the Sennar sultanate resulting in the Arabization...
n kingdoms that emerged during the decline of the Aksumite Empire
Aksumite Empire
The Kingdom of Aksum or Axum, also known as the Aksumite Empire, was an important trading nation in northeastern Africa, growing from the proto-Aksumite Iron Age period ca. 4th century BC to achieve prominence by the 1st century AD...
, which it had been part of from approximately 4BC to AD 950. Makuria originally covered the area along the Nile River from the Third Cataract
Cataracts of the Nile
The cataracts of the Nile are shallow lengths of the Nile between Aswan and Khartoum where the surface of the water is broken by many small boulders and stones protruding out of the river bed, as well as many rocky islets. Aswan is also the Southern boundary of Upper Egypt...
to somewhere between the Fifth and Sixth Cataracts. It also had control over the trade routes, mines, and oases to the east and west. Its capital was Dongola
Old Dongola
Old Dongola is a deserted town in Sudan located on the east bank of the Nile opposite the Wadi Al-Malik. An important city in medieval Nubia, and the departure point for caravans west to Darfur and Kordofan, from the fourth to the fourteenth century Old Dongola was the capital of the Makurian state...
(Arabic: Dunqulah), and the kingdom is sometimes known by the name of its capital.
By the end of the 6th century it had converted to Christianity, but in the 7th century Egypt was conquered by the Islamic armies, and Nubia was cut off from the rest of Christendom
Christendom
Christendom, or the Christian world, has several meanings. In a cultural sense it refers to the worldwide community of Christians, adherents of Christianity...
. In 651 an Arab army invaded, but it was repulsed and a treaty known as the baqt
Bakt
The Baqt was a treaty between the Christian state of Makuria and the Muslim rulers of Egypt. Lasting almost seven hundred years it is by some measures the longest lasting treaty in history...
was signed creating a relative peace between the two sides that lasted until the 13th century. Makuria expanded, annexing its northern neighbour Nobatia
Nobatia
Nobatia or Nobadia was an ancient African Christian kingdom in Lower Nubia and subsequently a region of the larger Nubian Kingdom of Makuria...
either at the time of the Arab invasion or during the reign of King Merkurios. The period from roughly 750 to 1150 saw the kingdom stable and prosperous, in what has been called the "Golden Age
Golden Age
The term Golden Age comes from Greek mythology and legend and refers to the first in a sequence of four or five Ages of Man, in which the Golden Age is first, followed in sequence, by the Silver, Bronze, and Iron Ages, and then the present, a period of decline...
". Increased aggression from Egypt, and internal discord led to the state's collapse in the 14th century.
Sources
Alodia
Alodia or Alwa was the southernmost of the three kingdoms of Christian Nubia; the other two were Nobatia and Makuria to the north.Much about this kingdom is still unknown, despite its thousand year existence and considerable power and geographic size. Due to fewer excavations far less is known...
to the south, but there are still many gaps in our knowledge. The most important source for the history of the area is various Arab
Arab
Arab people, also known as Arabs , are a panethnicity primarily living in the Arab world, which is located in Western Asia and North Africa. They are identified as such on one or more of genealogical, linguistic, or cultural grounds, with tribal affiliations, and intra-tribal relationships playing...
travelers and historians who passed through Nubia during this period. These accounts are often problematic as many of the Arab writers were biased against their Christian neighbours, and these works generally focus on only the military conflicts between Egypt and Nubia. One exception is Ibn Selim el-Aswani
Ibn Selim el-Aswani
Ibn Selim el-Aswani was a tenth century Egyptian diplomat who was dispatched to Nubia and left a written record of his travels. He traveled through much of Lower Nubia to the Makurian capital at Dongola...
, an Egyptian diplomat who traveled to Dongola when Makuria was at the height of its power in the 10th century, and left a detailed account.
The Nubians were a literate society, and a fair body of writing survives from the period. These documents were written in the Old Nubian language
Old Nubian language
Old Nubian is an ancient variety of Nubian, attested in writing from the 8th to the 15th century . It is ancestral to modern-day Nobiin and related to other Nubian languages such as Dongolawi. It was used throughout the medieval Christian kingdom of Makuria and its satellite Nobadia...
in an uncial
Uncial
Uncial is a majuscule script commonly used from the 3rd to 8th centuries AD by Latin and Greek scribes. Uncial letters are written in either Greek, Latin, or Gothic.-Development:...
variety of the Greek alphabet
Greek alphabet
The Greek alphabet is the script that has been used to write the Greek language since at least 730 BC . The alphabet in its classical and modern form consists of 24 letters ordered in sequence from alpha to omega...
extended with some Coptic symbols and some symbols unique to Nubian. Written in a language that is closely related to the modern Nobiin tongue
Nobiin language
Nobiin is a Northern Nubian language of the Nilo-Saharan phylum. ‘Nobiin’ is the genitive form of Nòòbíí ‘Nubian" and literally means ‘ of the Nubians"...
, these documents have long been deciphered. However, the vast majority of them are works dealing with religion or legal records that are of little use to historians. The largest known collection, found at Qasr Ibrim
Qasr Ibrim
Qasr Ibrim is an archaeological site in Lower Nubia. It was originally a major city perched on a cliff above the Nile, but the flooding of Lake Nasser after the construction of the Aswan High Dam transformed it into an island and flooded its outskirts. Qasr Ibrim is the only major archaeological...
, does contain some valuable governmental records.
In recent decades archaeology
Archaeology
Archaeology, or archeology , is the study of human society, primarily through the recovery and analysis of the material culture and environmental data that they have left behind, which includes artifacts, architecture, biofacts and cultural landscapes...
has become the best method of obtaining information regarding Makuria. The construction of the Aswan High Dam in 1964 promised to flood what had once been the northern half of Makuria. In 1960 UNESCO
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
launched a massive effort to do as much archaeological work as possible before the flooding occurred. Thousands of experts were brought from around the world over the next few years. Some of more important Makurian sites looked at were the city of Faras
Faras
Faras was a major city in Lower Nubia in modern Egypt. The site of the city was flooded by Lake Nasser in the 1960s, and is now permanently underwater...
and its cathedral, excavated by a team from Poland; the British work at Qasr Ibrim
Qasr Ibrim
Qasr Ibrim is an archaeological site in Lower Nubia. It was originally a major city perched on a cliff above the Nile, but the flooding of Lake Nasser after the construction of the Aswan High Dam transformed it into an island and flooded its outskirts. Qasr Ibrim is the only major archaeological...
; and the University of Ghana
University of Ghana
The University of Ghana is the oldest and largest of the thirteen Ghanaian universities and tertiary institutions. It is one of the best universities in Africa and by far the most prestigious in West Africa...
's work at the town of Debeira West, which gave important information on daily life in medieval
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
Nubia. All of these sites are in what was Nobatia, the only major archaeological site in Makuria itself is the partial exploration of the capital at Old Dongola
Old Dongola
Old Dongola is a deserted town in Sudan located on the east bank of the Nile opposite the Wadi Al-Malik. An important city in medieval Nubia, and the departure point for caravans west to Darfur and Kordofan, from the fourth to the fourteenth century Old Dongola was the capital of the Makurian state...
.
Origins
The origins of Makuria are uncertain. PtolemyPtolemy
Claudius Ptolemy , was a Roman citizen of Egypt who wrote in Greek. He was a mathematician, astronomer, geographer, astrologer, and poet of a single epigram in the Greek Anthology. He lived in Egypt under Roman rule, and is believed to have been born in the town of Ptolemais Hermiou in the...
mentions a Nubian people known as the Makkourae, who might be ancestors to the Makurians. The kingdom is believed to have formed in the 4th or 5th century. The first recorded mention of it is in a work by the 6th-century John of Ephesus
John of Ephesus
John of Ephesus was a leader of the non-Chalcedonian Syriac-speaking Church in the sixth century, and one of the earliest and most important of historians who wrote in Syriac.-Life:...
, who decries its hostility to Monophysite missionaries traveling to Alodia
Alodia
Alodia or Alwa was the southernmost of the three kingdoms of Christian Nubia; the other two were Nobatia and Makuria to the north.Much about this kingdom is still unknown, despite its thousand year existence and considerable power and geographic size. Due to fewer excavations far less is known...
. Soon after John of Biclarum wrote approvingly of the "Makurritae"'s adoption of the rival Melkite
Melkite
The term Melkite, also written Melchite, refers to various Byzantine Rite Christian churches and their members originating in the Middle East. The word comes from the Syriac word malkāyā , and the Arabic word Malakī...
faith.
Resistance to Muslim Expansion
Makuria was one of the few states in the world to effectively resist Muslim conquestsMuslim conquests
Muslim conquests also referred to as the Islamic conquests or Arab conquests, began with the Islamic prophet Muhammad. He established a new unified polity in the Arabian Peninsula which under the subsequent Rashidun and Umayyad Caliphates saw a century of rapid expansion of Muslim power.They...
led by the Rashidun Caliphate
Rashidun Caliphate
The Rashidun Caliphate , comprising the first four caliphs in Islam's history, was founded after Muhammad's death in 632, Year 10 A.H.. At its height, the Caliphate extended from the Arabian Peninsula, to the Levant, Caucasus and North Africa in the west, to the Iranian highlands and Central Asia...
. They defeated an Arab army at the First Battle of Dongola
First Battle of Dongola
The First Battle of Dongola was a meeting engagement or encounter between early Arab-Muslim forces of the Rashidun Caliphate and the Nubian-Christian forces of the Kingdom of Makuria in 642...
in 642
642
Year 642 was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 642 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.- Europe :* August 5 – In the Battle of...
. The Arabs had taken Egypt in 641, and the jihad
Jihad
Jihad , an Islamic term, is a religious duty of Muslims. In Arabic, the word jihād translates as a noun meaning "struggle". Jihad appears 41 times in the Quran and frequently in the idiomatic expression "striving in the way of God ". A person engaged in jihad is called a mujahid; the plural is...
soon turned south.They repeated this feat again in 652
652
Year 652 was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 652 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.- Africa :* Second Battle of Dongola between Makuria and...
at the Second Battle of Dongola
Second Battle of Dongola
The Second Battle of Dongola or Siege of Dongola was a military engagement between early Arab-Egyptian forces of the Rashidun Caliphate and the Nubian-Christian forces of the Kingdom of Makuria in 652. The battle ended Muslim expansion into Nubia, establishing trade and a historic peace between the...
. In both battles, Arab writers noted the Makurians' skill with the bow
Bow (weapon)
The bow and arrow is a projectile weapon system that predates recorded history and is common to most cultures.-Description:A bow is a flexible arc that shoots aerodynamic projectiles by means of elastic energy. Essentially, the bow is a form of spring powered by a string or cord...
. This was one of the few major defeats suffered by an Arab army in the first century of Islamic expansion, and it led to an unprecedented agreement, the bakt, which guaranteed peaceful relations between the two sides. In this treaty the Nubians agreed to send several hundred slaves each year to Egypt, while the Egyptians
Egyptians
Egyptians are nation an ethnic group made up of Mediterranean North Africans, the indigenous people of Egypt.Egyptian identity is closely tied to geography. The population of Egypt is concentrated in the lower Nile Valley, the small strip of cultivable land stretching from the First Cataract to...
may have been obliged to send food and manufactured goods south.
Absorption of Nobatia
At some point Makuria merged with Nobatia to the north. The evidence for when this occurred is contradictory. The Arab accounts of the invasion of 652 only make reference to a single state based at Dongola. The bakt, negotiated by the Makurian king, applied to all of Nubia north of Alodia. This has led some scholars to propose that the two kingdoms were unified during this turbulent period. However, a book written in 690 makes clear that Makuria and Nobatia were still two separate and rather hostile kingdoms. Clear evidence for union is provided by an inscription from the reign of King MerkuriosMerkurios of Makuria
Merkurios was ruler of the Nubian kingdom of Makuria. Authorities believe that during his reign Makuria absorbed the Nubian kingdom of Nobatia....
at Taifa
Taifa
In the history of the Iberian Peninsula, a taifa was an independent Muslim-ruled principality, usually an emirate or petty kingdom, though there was one oligarchy, of which a number formed in the Al-Andalus after the final collapse of the Umayyad Caliphate of Córdoba in 1031.-Rise:The origins of...
that makes clear that Nobatia was under Makurian control by the middle of the eighth century. Every source after this date has Nobatia under Makurian control. This leads many scholars to infer that the unification occurred during the reign of Merkurios, who was described as the "New Constantine" by John the Deacon
John the Deacon (Egyptian chronicler)
John the Deacon was a Monophysite Egyptian chronicler whose Life of the Patriarch Michael, finished c.768–70, is the most important source for the Christian Nubia in the first half of the eighth century. The later historian Sawirus ibn al-Muqaffaʿ made heavy use of it, and although John is one of...
.
What this merged kingdom should be called is unclear in both contemporary sources and among modern historians. Makuria remained in use as a geographic term for the southern half of the kingdom, but it was also used to describe the kingdom in its entirety. Some writers refer to it simply as Nubia, ignoring that southern Nubia was still under the independent kingdom of Alodia. It is also sometimes called the Kingdom of Dongola, after the capital city. Another name, the Kingdom of Makuria and Nobatia, perhaps implies a dual monarchy
Personal union
A personal union is the combination by which two or more different states have the same monarch while their boundaries, their laws and their interests remain distinct. It should not be confused with a federation which is internationally considered a single state...
. Dotawo
Dotawo
Dotawo was a kingdom that might have existed in the Beja Region of Northern Sudan and Southern Egypt Lower Nubia in the Middle Ages. It has long been known that a kingdom by this name is mentioned as existing during the collapse of Makuria in the thirteenth century. It was reported to be one of...
could be another name, or it could refer to an entirely separate kingdom.
Zenith
Makuria seems to have been stable and prosperous during the eighth and ninth centuries. During this period Egypt was weakened by frequent civil wars, and there was thus little threat of invasion from the north. Instead it was the Nubians who intervened in the affairs of their neighbour. Much of Upper EgyptUpper Egypt
Upper Egypt is the strip of land, on both sides of the Nile valley, that extends from the cataract boundaries of modern-day Aswan north to the area between El-Ayait and Zawyet Dahshur . The northern section of Upper Egypt, between El-Ayait and Sohag is sometimes known as Middle Egypt...
was still Christian, and it looked to the Nubian kingdoms for protection. One report has a Nubian army sacking Cairo in the eighth century to defend the Christians, but this is probably apocryphal.
Not a great deal is known about Makuria during this period. One important story is that of Zacharias III
Zacharias III of Makuria
Zacharias III was ruler of the Nubian kingdom of Makuria. In 833 he ceased paying the Baqt to the rulers of Egypt, and prepared to fight the Abbasid Caliph al-Mu'tasim over the tribute...
sending his son Georgios
Georgios I of Makuria
Georgios I was a ruler of the Nubian state of Makuria . The events about the king are preserved in the writings of the Egyptian historians Al-Maqrizi, el-Balawi and Ibn Taghribirdi...
to Baghdad
Baghdad
Baghdad is the capital of Iraq, as well as the coterminous Baghdad Governorate. The population of Baghdad in 2011 is approximately 7,216,040...
to negotiate a reduction of the bakt. Georgios as king also plays a prominent role in the story of Arab adventurer al-Umari. The best evidence from this time is archaeological. Excavations show that this era was one of stability and seeming prosperity. Nubian pottery, painting, and architecture all reached their heights during this era. It also seems to have been a long period of stability in the Nile floods, without the famine caused by small floods or the destruction caused by large ones.
Egypt and Makuria developed close and peaceful relations when Egypt was ruled by the Fatimid
Fatimid
The Fatimid Islamic Caliphate or al-Fāṭimiyyūn was a Berber Shia Muslim caliphate first centered in Tunisia and later in Egypt that ruled over varying areas of the Maghreb, Sudan, Sicily, the Levant, and Hijaz from 5 January 909 to 1171.The caliphate was ruled by the Fatimids, who established the...
s. The Shi'ite Fatimids had few allies in the Muslim world, and they turned to the southern Christians as allies. Fatimid power also depended upon the slaves provided by Makuria, who were used to man the Fatimid army. Trade between the two states flourished: Egypt sent wheat
Wheat
Wheat is a cereal grain, originally from the Levant region of the Near East, but now cultivated worldwide. In 2007 world production of wheat was 607 million tons, making it the third most-produced cereal after maize and rice...
, wine
Wine
Wine is an alcoholic beverage, made of fermented fruit juice, usually from grapes. The natural chemical balance of grapes lets them ferment without the addition of sugars, acids, enzymes, or other nutrients. Grape wine is produced by fermenting crushed grapes using various types of yeast. Yeast...
, and linen
Linen
Linen is a textile made from the fibers of the flax plant, Linum usitatissimum. Linen is labor-intensive to manufacture, but when it is made into garments, it is valued for its exceptional coolness and freshness in hot weather....
south while Makuria exported ivory
Ivory
Ivory is a term for dentine, which constitutes the bulk of the teeth and tusks of animals, when used as a material for art or manufacturing. Ivory has been important since ancient times for making a range of items, from ivory carvings to false teeth, fans, dominoes, joint tubes, piano keys and...
, cattle
Cattle
Cattle are the most common type of large domesticated ungulates. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae, are the most widespread species of the genus Bos, and are most commonly classified collectively as Bos primigenius...
, ostrich
Ostrich
The Ostrich is one or two species of large flightless birds native to Africa, the only living member of the genus Struthio. Some analyses indicate that the Somali Ostrich may be better considered a full species apart from the Common Ostrich, but most taxonomists consider it to be a...
feathers, and slave
Slavery
Slavery is a system under which people are treated as property to be bought and sold, and are forced to work. Slaves can be held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase or birth, and deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to demand compensation...
s. Relations with Egypt soured when the Ayyubids came to power in 1171. Early in the Ayyubid period the Nubians invaded Egypt, perhaps in support of their Fatimid allies. The Ayyubids repulsed their invasion and in response Salah-ed-din
Saladin
Ṣalāḥ ad-Dīn Yūsuf ibn Ayyūb , better known in the Western world as Saladin, was an Arabized Kurdish Muslim, who became the first Sultan of Egypt and Syria, and founded the Ayyubid dynasty. He led Muslim and Arab opposition to the Franks and other European Crusaders in the Levant...
dispatched his brother Turan Shah to invade Nubia. He defeated the Nubians, and for several years occupied Qasr Ibrim
Qasr Ibrim
Qasr Ibrim is an archaeological site in Lower Nubia. It was originally a major city perched on a cliff above the Nile, but the flooding of Lake Nasser after the construction of the Aswan High Dam transformed it into an island and flooded its outskirts. Qasr Ibrim is the only major archaeological...
before retreating north. The Ayyubids dispatched an emissary to Makuria to see if it was worth conquering, but he reported that the land was too poor. The Ayyubids seem to have thus largely ignored their southern neighbour for the next century.
Decline
There are no records from travelers to Makuria from 1171 to 1272, and the events of this period have long been a mystery, although modern discoveries have shed some light on this era. During this period Makuria seems to have entered a steep decline. The best source on this is Ibn KhaldunIbn Khaldun
Ibn Khaldūn or Ibn Khaldoun was an Arab Tunisian historiographer and historian who is often viewed as one of the forerunners of modern historiography, sociology and economics...
, writing several decades later, who blamed it on Bedouin
Bedouin
The Bedouin are a part of a predominantly desert-dwelling Arab ethnic group traditionally divided into tribes or clans, known in Arabic as ..-Etymology:...
invasions and Nubian intermarriage with Arabs.
al-Maris
The Ayyubids dealt very aggressively with the Bedouin tribes of the nearby deserts, forcing them south into conflict with the Nubians. Archaeology gives clear evidence of increasing instability in Makuria. Once unfortified cities gained city walls, the people retreated to better defended positions, such as the cliff tops at Qasr IbrimQasr Ibrim
Qasr Ibrim is an archaeological site in Lower Nubia. It was originally a major city perched on a cliff above the Nile, but the flooding of Lake Nasser after the construction of the Aswan High Dam transformed it into an island and flooded its outskirts. Qasr Ibrim is the only major archaeological...
. Houses throughout the region were built far sturdier, with secret hiding places for food and other valuables. Archaeology also shows increased signs of Arabization and Islamicization. Free trade between the kingdoms was part of the bakt, and over time Arab merchants became prominent in Dongola and other cities. Eventually the northern area, most of what was once Nobatia, had become largely Arabized and Islamicized. Largely independent of Dongola it was increasingly referred to as al-Maris.
Mamluke Intervention
While the desert tribes may have been the most important destructive force, the campaigns of the Egyptian MamlukMamluk
A Mamluk was a soldier of slave origin, who were predominantly Cumans/Kipchaks The "mamluk phenomenon", as David Ayalon dubbed the creation of the specific warrior...
es are far better documented. An important component of the bakt was the promise that Makuria would secure Egypt's southern border against raids by desert nomads, like the Beja
Beja people
The Beja people are an ethnic group dwelling in parts of North Africa and the Horn of Africa.-Geography:The Beja are found mostly in Sudan, but also in parts of Eritrea, and Egypt...
. The Makurian state could no longer do this, prompting interventions by Egyptian armies that further weakened it. In 1272 the Mamluk Sultan Baybars invaded, after King David I had attacked the Egyptian city of Aidhab, initiating several decades of intervention by the Mamlukes in Nubian affairs.
Shekanda the Usurper
Internal difficulties seem to have also hurt the kingdom. King David's cousin Shekanda claimed the throne and traveled to Cairo to seek the support of the Mamelukes. They agreed and invaded Nubia in 1276, and placed Shekanda on the throne. The Christian Shekanda then signed an agreement making Makuria a vassal of Egypt, and a Mamluke garrison was stationed in Dongola.Shamamun's War
After only a few years of occupation Shamamun, another member of the Makurian royal family, led a rebellion against Shekanda to restore Makurian independence. He eventually defeated the Mamluk garrison and took the throne in 1286. He offered the Egyptians an increase in the annual bakt payments in return for scrapping the obligations to which Shekanda had agreed. The Mamluke armies were occupied elsewhere, and the Sultan of Egypt agreed to this new arrangement.Civil War and Collapse
After a period of peace King Karanbas defaulted on these payments, and the Mamluks again invaded and occupied the kingdom in 1312. This time a Muslim member of the Makurian dynasty was placed on the throne. Sayf al-Din Abdullah Barshambu began converting the nation to Islam and in 1317 the Dongola cathedral was turned into a mosqueMosque
A mosque is a place of worship for followers of Islam. The word is likely to have entered the English language through French , from Portuguese , from Spanish , and from Berber , ultimately originating in — . The Arabic word masjid literally means a place of prostration...
. This was not accepted by other Makurian leaders and the nation fell into civil war and anarchy that very year. The countryside came under the control of the raiding tribes from the desert, and the monarchy was left with effective control over little more than the capital. This effectively ended Makuria as a unified state. There is some evidence the Makurian dynasty survived until the end of the 14th century, including a Makurian call for aid in 1397. It has been suggested that the change of African trade routes and the Black Death
Black Death
The Black Death was one of the most devastating pandemics in human history, peaking in Europe between 1348 and 1350. Of several competing theories, the dominant explanation for the Black Death is the plague theory, which attributes the outbreak to the bacterium Yersinia pestis. Thought to have...
did play a major role in the collapse.
The Awlad Kenz
In 1412, the Awlad Kenz took control of Nubia and part of Egypt above the ThebaidThebaid
The Thebaid or Thebais is the region of ancient Egypt containing the thirteen southernmost nomes of Upper Egypt, from Abydos to Aswan. It acquired its name from its proximity to the ancient Egyptian capital of Thebes....
. The Awlad Kenz remained the de facto rulers of Nubia until 1517, when the area was conquered and amalgamated into Egypt by the armies of the Ottoman
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
Sultan Selim
Selim I
Selim I, Yavuz Sultân Selim Khan, Hâdim-ül Haramain-ish Sharifain , nicknamed Yavuz "the Stern" or "the Steadfast", but often rendered in English as "the Grim" , was the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1512 to...
.
Economy
The main economic activity in Makuria was agriculture, with farmers growing several crops a year of barleyBarley
Barley is a major cereal grain, a member of the grass family. It serves as a major animal fodder, as a base malt for beer and certain distilled beverages, and as a component of various health foods...
, millet
Millet
The millets are a group of small-seeded species of cereal crops or grains, widely grown around the world for food and fodder. They do not form a taxonomic group, but rather a functional or agronomic one. Their essential similarities are that they are small-seeded grasses grown in difficult...
, and date
Date Palm
The date palm is a palm in the genus Phoenix, cultivated for its edible sweet fruit. Although its place of origin is unknown because of long cultivation, it probably originated from lands around the Persian Gulf. It is a medium-sized plant, 15–25 m tall, growing singly or forming a clump with...
s. The methods used were generally the same that had been used for millennia. Small plots of well irrigated land were lined along the banks of the Nile, which would be fertilized by the river's annual flooding. One important technological advance was the saqiya
Saqiya
Saqiya was a village in Palestine away from Jaffa, depopulated in 1948.-Location:The village was located east of Jaffa, above sea level, on uneven land in the central coastal plain...
, an oxen-powered water wheel
Water wheel
A water wheel is a machine for converting the energy of free-flowing or falling water into useful forms of power. A water wheel consists of a large wooden or metal wheel, with a number of blades or buckets arranged on the outside rim forming the driving surface...
, that was introduced in the Roman period and helped increase yields and population density. Settlement patterns indicate that land was divided into individual plots rather than as in a manorial system. The peasants lived in small villages composed of clustered houses of sun-dried brick.
Important industries included the production of pottery
Pottery
Pottery is the material from which the potteryware is made, of which major types include earthenware, stoneware and porcelain. The place where such wares are made is also called a pottery . Pottery also refers to the art or craft of the potter or the manufacture of pottery...
, based at Faras
Faras
Faras was a major city in Lower Nubia in modern Egypt. The site of the city was flooded by Lake Nasser in the 1960s, and is now permanently underwater...
, and weaving
Weaving
Weaving is a method of fabric production in which two distinct sets of yarns or threads are interlaced at right angles to form a fabric or cloth. The other methods are knitting, lace making and felting. The longitudinal threads are called the warp and the lateral threads are the weft or filling...
based at Dongola
Old Dongola
Old Dongola is a deserted town in Sudan located on the east bank of the Nile opposite the Wadi Al-Malik. An important city in medieval Nubia, and the departure point for caravans west to Darfur and Kordofan, from the fourth to the fourteenth century Old Dongola was the capital of the Makurian state...
. Smaller local industries include leather
Leather
Leather is a durable and flexible material created via the tanning of putrescible animal rawhide and skin, primarily cattlehide. It can be produced through different manufacturing processes, ranging from cottage industry to heavy industry.-Forms:...
working, metalworking, and the widespread production of basket
Basket
A basket is a container which is traditionally constructed from stiff fibres, which can be made from a range of materials, including wood splints, runners, and cane. While most baskets are made from plant materials, other materials such as horsehair, baleen, or metal wire can be used. Baskets are...
s, mat
Mat
A mat is a generic term for a piece of fabric or flat material, generally placed on a floor or other flat surface, and serving a range of purposes including:* providing a regular or flat surface, such as a mousepad....
s, and sandal
Sandal (footwear)
Sandals are an open type of outdoor footwear, consisting of a sole held to the wearer's foot by straps passing over the instep and, sometimes, around the ankle...
s from palm fibre. Also important was the gold mined in the Red Sea Hills to the east of Makuria.
Makurian trade was largely by barter as the state never adopted a currency
Currency
In economics, currency refers to a generally accepted medium of exchange. These are usually the coins and banknotes of a particular government, which comprise the physical aspects of a nation's money supply...
. In the north, however, Egyptian coins were common. Makurian trade with Egypt was of great import. From Egypt a wide array of luxury and manufactured goods were imported. The main Makurian export was slaves. The slaves sent north were not from Makuria itself, but rather from further south and west in Africa. Little is known about Makurian trade and relations with other parts of Africa. There is some archaeological evidence of contacts and trade with the areas to the west such as Darfur
Darfur
Darfur is a region in western Sudan. An independent sultanate for several hundred years, it was incorporated into Sudan by Anglo-Egyptian forces in 1916. The region is divided into three federal states: West Darfur, South Darfur, and North Darfur...
and Kanem-Bornu
Kanem Empire
The Kanem Empire was located in the present countries of Chad, Nigeria and Libya. At its height it encompassed an area covering not only much of Chad, but also parts of southern Libya , eastern Niger and north-eastern Nigeria...
, but few details. There seem to have been important political relations between Makuria and Christian Ethiopia
History of Ethiopia
This article covers the prehistory and history of Ethiopia.-Prehistory:Lucy, discovered in the Awash Valley of Ethiopia's Afar region, is considered the world's second-oldest, but most complete and best preserved, adult Australopithecine fossil...
to the south-east. For instance, in the 10th century, Georgios II
Georgios II of Makuria
Georgios II was ruler of the Nubian kingdom of Makuria. When Jawhar, the governor of Egypt, sent a mission to receive the baqt, he included an invitation to Georgios to embrace Islam...
successfully intervened on behalf of the unnamed ruler at that time, and persuaded Patriarch Philotheos of Alexandria
Pope Philotheos of Alexandria
Pope Philotheos of Alexandria was the Coptic Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the See of St. Mark .It was during his office that a conflict between Alexandria and the king of Ethiopia that began in the time of Cosmas III ended, helped by the efforts of Georgios II of Makuria...
to at last ordain an abuna
Abuna
Also see Leaders of ChristianityAbun is the honorific title used for any bishop of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church as well as of the Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church...
, or metropolitan
Metropolitan bishop
In Christian churches with episcopal polity, the rank of metropolitan bishop, or simply metropolitan, pertains to the diocesan bishop or archbishop of a metropolis; that is, the chief city of a historical Roman province, ecclesiastical province, or regional capital.Before the establishment of...
, for the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. However, there is little evidence of much trade between the two Christian states.
Government
Makuria was a monarchy ruled by a king based in Dongola. The king was also considered a priest and could perform massMass
Mass can be defined as a quantitive measure of the resistance an object has to change in its velocity.In physics, mass commonly refers to any of the following three properties of matter, which have been shown experimentally to be equivalent:...
. How succession
Order of succession
An order of succession is a formula or algorithm that determines who inherits an office upon the death, resignation, or removal of its current occupant.-Monarchies and nobility:...
was decided is not clear. Early writers indicate it was from father to son. After the eleventh century, however, it seems clear that Makuria was using the uncle-to-sister's-son system favoured for millennia in Kush
Kingdom of Kush
The native name of the Kingdom was likely kaš, recorded in Egyptian as .The name Kash is probably connected to Cush in the Hebrew Bible , son of Ham ....
. Shinnie speculates that the later form may have actually been used throughout, and that the early Arab writers merely misunderstood the situation and incorrectly described Makurian succession as similar to what they were used to.
Little is known about government below the king. A wide array of officials, generally using Byzantine titles, are mentioned, but their roles are never explained. One figure who is well-known, thanks to the documents found at Qasr Ibrim
Qasr Ibrim
Qasr Ibrim is an archaeological site in Lower Nubia. It was originally a major city perched on a cliff above the Nile, but the flooding of Lake Nasser after the construction of the Aswan High Dam transformed it into an island and flooded its outskirts. Qasr Ibrim is the only major archaeological...
, is the Eparch of Nobatia
Nobatia
Nobatia or Nobadia was an ancient African Christian kingdom in Lower Nubia and subsequently a region of the larger Nubian Kingdom of Makuria...
, who seems to have been the viceroy in that region after it was annexed to Makuria. The Eparch's records make clear that he was also responsible for trade and diplomacy with the Egyptians. Early records make it seem like the Eparch was appointed by the king, but later ones indicate that the position had become hereditary. This office would eventually become that of the "Lord of the Horses" ruling the autonomous and then Egyptian-controlled al-Maris.
The bishop
Bishop
A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...
s might have played a role in the governance of the state. Ibn Selim el-Aswani
Ibn Selim el-Aswani
Ibn Selim el-Aswani was a tenth century Egyptian diplomat who was dispatched to Nubia and left a written record of his travels. He traveled through much of Lower Nubia to the Makurian capital at Dongola...
noted that before the king responded to his mission he met with a council of bishops. El-Aswani described a highly centralized state, but other writers state that Makuria was a federation of thirteen kingdoms presided over by the great king at Dongola. It is unclear what the reality was, but the Kingdom of Dotawo
Dotawo
Dotawo was a kingdom that might have existed in the Beja Region of Northern Sudan and Southern Egypt Lower Nubia in the Middle Ages. It has long been known that a kingdom by this name is mentioned as existing during the collapse of Makuria in the thirteenth century. It was reported to be one of...
, prominently mentioned in the Qasr Ibrim documents, might be one of these sub-kingdoms.
Religion
Meroë
Meroë Meroitic: Medewi or Bedewi; Arabic: and Meruwi) 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...
seems to have remained strong, even while its counterpart
Egyptian mythology
Ancient Egyptian religion was a complex system of polytheistic beliefs and rituals which were an integral part of ancient Egyptian society. It centered on the Egyptians' interaction with a multitude of deities who were believed to be present in, and in control of, the forces and elements of nature...
in Egypt disappeared. In the fifth century the Nubians went so far as to launch an invasion of Egypt when the Christians there tried to turn some of the main temples into churches. Archaeological evidence in this period finds a number of Christian ornaments in Nubia, and some scholars feel that this implies that conversion from below was already taking place. Others argue that it is more likely that these reflected the faith of the manufacturers in Egypt rather than the buyers in Nubia.
Certain conversion came with a series of sixth-century missions. The Byzantine Empire
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...
dispatched an official party to try to convert the kingdoms to Chalcedonian
Chalcedonian
Chalcedonian describes churches and theologians which accept the definition given at the Council of Chalcedon of how the divine and human relate in the person of Jesus Christ...
Christianity, but Empress Theodora
Theodora (6th century)
Theodora , was empress of the Roman Empire and the wife of Emperor Justinian I. Like her husband, she is a saint in the Orthodox Church, commemorated on November 14...
reportedly conspired to delay the party to allow a group of Monophysites to arrive first. John of Ephesus
John of Ephesus
John of Ephesus was a leader of the non-Chalcedonian Syriac-speaking Church in the sixth century, and one of the earliest and most important of historians who wrote in Syriac.-Life:...
reports that the Monophysites successfully converted the kingdoms of Nobatia
Nobatia
Nobatia or Nobadia was an ancient African Christian kingdom in Lower Nubia and subsequently a region of the larger Nubian Kingdom of Makuria...
and Alodia
Alodia
Alodia or Alwa was the southernmost of the three kingdoms of Christian Nubia; the other two were Nobatia and Makuria to the north.Much about this kingdom is still unknown, despite its thousand year existence and considerable power and geographic size. Due to fewer excavations far less is known...
, but that Makuria remained hostile. John of Biclarum states that Makuria then embraced the rival Byzantine Christianity. Archaeological evidence seems to point to a rapid conversion brought about by an official adoption of the new faith. Millennia-old traditions such as the building of elaborate tombs, and the burying of expensive grave goods with the dead were abandoned, and temples throughout the region seem to have been converted to churches. Churches eventually were built in virtually every town and village.
After this point the exact course of Makurian Christianity is much disputed. It is clear that by the seventh century Makuria had become officially Coptic
Coptic Christianity
The Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria is the official name for the largest Christian church in Egypt and the Middle East. The Church belongs to the Oriental Orthodox family of churches, which has been a distinct church body since the Council of Chalcedon in AD 451, when it took a different...
and loyal to the Coptic Patriarch of Alexandria; the king of Makuria became the defender of the patriarch of Alexandria, occasionally intervening militarily to protect him, as Kyriakos
Kyriakos of Makuria
Kyriakos or Cyriacus was a ruler of the Nubian kingdom of Makuria. While some authorities place his reign between Merkurios and Zacharias I, according to Severus of El Ashmunein, Kyriakos succeeded Markos....
did in 722. This same period saw Melkite Makuria absorb the Coptic Nobatia, and historians have long wondered why the conquering state adopted the religion of its rival. It is fairly clear that Egyptian Coptic influence was far stronger in the region, and that Byzantine power was fading, and this might have played a role. Historians are also divided on whether this was the end of the Melkite/Coptic split as there is some evidence that a Melkite minority persisted until the end of the kingdom.
The Makurian church was divided into seven bishoprics: Kalabsha, Qupta, Qasr Ibrim
Qasr Ibrim
Qasr Ibrim is an archaeological site in Lower Nubia. It was originally a major city perched on a cliff above the Nile, but the flooding of Lake Nasser after the construction of the Aswan High Dam transformed it into an island and flooded its outskirts. Qasr Ibrim is the only major archaeological...
, Faras
Faras
Faras was a major city in Lower Nubia in modern Egypt. The site of the city was flooded by Lake Nasser in the 1960s, and is now permanently underwater...
, Sai, Dongola
Old Dongola
Old Dongola is a deserted town in Sudan located on the east bank of the Nile opposite the Wadi Al-Malik. An important city in medieval Nubia, and the departure point for caravans west to Darfur and Kordofan, from the fourth to the fourteenth century Old Dongola was the capital of the Makurian state...
, and Suenkur. Unlike Ethiopia
Ethiopia
Ethiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...
, it appears that no national church was established and all seven bishops reported directly to the Coptic Patriarch of Alexandria. The bishops were appointed by the Patriarch, not the king, though they seem to have largely been local Nubians rather than Egyptians.
Unlike in Egypt, there is not much evidence for monasticism
Christian monasticism
Christian monasticism is a practice which began to develop early in the history of the Christian Church, modeled upon scriptural examples and ideals, including those in the Old Testament, but not mandated as an institution in the scriptures. It has come to be regulated by religious rules Christian...
in Makuria. According to Adams there are only three archaeological sites that are certainly monastic. All three are fairly small and quite Coptic, leading to the possibility that they were set up by Egyptian refugees rather than indigenous Makurians.
The end of Christianity in Makuria is unclear. Shinnie interprets the evidence from two different graveyards, in the Wadi Halfa area and at Meinarti, to conclude that Islam was present in Makuria by the early tenth century, "and it appears that Christians and Muslims must have been living in amity for some centuries." However, there is a suggestion that the Christian community was waning: the excavation of the tomb of a bishop at Qasr Ibrim recovered two rolls dated to 1372 recording his consecration in Cairo and authorizing his enthronement. Shinnie concludes this "makes it quite clear that Christianity was still of significance" although "perhaps the combining of the two under one bishop is a reflection of the dwindling of the number of Christians in the area."
We are offered a glimpse of the problems the local church faced at the end from the account of the traveler Francisco Álvares
Francisco Álvares
Francisco Álvares was a Portuguese missionary and explorer. In 1515 he traveled to Ethiopia as part of the Portuguese embassy to emperor Lebna Dengel accompanied by returning Ethiopian ambassador Matheus. The embassy arrived only in 1520 to Ethiopia where he joined long sought Portuguese envoy...
. While at the court of Emperor Lebna Dengel in the 1520s, he witnessed an embassy from the Nubian Christians, who came to the Emperor asking for priests, bishops, and other personnel desperately needed to keep Christianity alive in their land. Lebna Dengel declined to help, stating that he received his bishop from the Patriarch of Alexandria, and that they too should go to him for help.
Culture
Christian Nubia was long considered something of a backwater, mainly because its graves were small and lacking the grave goodsGrave goods
Grave goods, in archaeology and anthropology, are the items buried along with the body.They are usually personal possessions, supplies to smooth the deceased's journey into the afterlife or offerings to the gods. Grave goods are a type of votive deposit...
of previous eras. Modern scholars realize that this was due to cultural reasons, and that the Makurians actually had a rich and vibrant art and culture.
Painting
One of the most important discoveries of the rushed work prior to the flooding of Lower Nubia was the Cathedral of FarasFaras
Faras was a major city in Lower Nubia in modern Egypt. The site of the city was flooded by Lake Nasser in the 1960s, and is now permanently underwater...
. This large building had been completely filled with sand preserving a series of magnificent paintings. Similar, but less well preserved, paintings have been found at several other sites in Makuria, including palaces and private homes, giving an overall impression of Makurian art. The style and content was heavily influenced by Byzantine art
Byzantine art
Byzantine art is the term commonly used to describe the artistic products of the Byzantine Empire from about the 5th century until the Fall of Constantinople in 1453....
, and also showed influence from Egyptian Coptic art and from Palestine. Mainly religious in nature, it depicts many of the standard Christian scenes
Christian art
Christian art is sacred art produced in an attempt to illustrate, supplement and portray in tangible form the principles of Christianity, though other definitions are possible. Most Christian groups use or have used art to some extent, although some have had strong objections to some forms of...
. Also illustrated are a number of Makurian kings and bishops, with noticeably darker skin than the Biblical figures.
Pottery
Nubian pottery in this period is also notable. Shinnie refers to it as the "richest indigenous pottery tradition on the African continent." Scholars divide the pottery into three eras. The early period, from 550 to 650 according to Adams, or to 750 according to Shinnie, saw fairly simple pottery similar to that of the late Roman EmpireRoman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
. It also saw much of Nubian pottery imported from Egypt rather than produced domestically. Adams feels this trade ended with the invasion of 652; Shinnie links it to the collapse of Umayyad
Umayyad
The Umayyad Caliphate was the second of the four major Arab caliphates established after the death of Muhammad. It was ruled by the Umayyad dynasty, whose name derives from Umayya ibn Abd Shams, the great-grandfather of the first Umayyad caliph. Although the Umayyad family originally came from the...
rule in 750. After this domestic production increased, with a major production facility at Faras
Faras
Faras was a major city in Lower Nubia in modern Egypt. The site of the city was flooded by Lake Nasser in the 1960s, and is now permanently underwater...
. In this middle era, which lasted until around 1100, the pottery was painted with floral and zoomorphic scenes and showed distinct Umayyad and even Sassanian influences. The late period during Makuria's decline saw domestic production again fall in favour of imports from Egypt. Pottery produced in Makuria became less ornate, but better control of firing temperatures allowed different colours of clay.
Language
There were a number of different languages in use in Makuria. In early centuries, when Byzantine influence was still strong, GreekGreek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
was the primary written language and perhaps also the language used by the royal court. Greek continued to be used in later centuries for ceremonial purposes, such as on many gravestones, but these later inscriptions are marked by frequent spelling and grammar errors implying reduced knowledge of the language. Eventually Old Nubian
Old Nubian language
Old Nubian is an ancient variety of Nubian, attested in writing from the 8th to the 15th century . It is ancestral to modern-day Nobiin and related to other Nubian languages such as Dongolawi. It was used throughout the medieval Christian kingdom of Makuria and its satellite Nobadia...
, which was the language used by most of the population, became the main written language; Old Nubian translations of the bible and many other religious documents were used widely. One Arab traveler to the region stated that Nobatia and Makuria spoke different languages; almost all our documents are from what was Nobatia and this language seems ancestral to the modern Nobiin language
Nobiin language
Nobiin is a Northern Nubian language of the Nilo-Saharan phylum. ‘Nobiin’ is the genitive form of Nòòbíí ‘Nubian" and literally means ‘ of the Nubians"...
still spoken in the region. Adams notes that the ancient border between Makuria and Nobatia today is close to the border between the Nobiin and Dongolawi languages. Another important language in Makuria was Coptic
Coptic language
Coptic or Coptic Egyptian is the current stage of the Egyptian language, a northern Afro-Asiatic language spoken in Egypt until at least the 17th century. Egyptian began to be written using the Greek alphabet in the 1st century...
. Links with Egyptian Christians were strong and Makuria seems to have made wide use of Coptic religious literature. Makuria also saw regular influxes of Coptic-speaking Christian refugees from Egypt. In the later years of the kingdom's existence, Arabic became an increasingly important tongue. Arab traders were important throughout the area and Arabic seems to have become the language of commerce. As these traders settled, each major community gained an Arab quarter.