In the 19th century, Nubia's borders were defined in different ways. According to one interpretation, it included the entire Nile region south of Egypt to Abyssinia and further south, according to another - the space between Aswan and the mouth of Atbara, according to the third - the region second waterfall, the country of the ancient Nobads, or Nubs (“Uadi Nuba”). Nubia proper was usually the name given to the region of the middle reaches of the Nile, before the confluence of the Atbara and the Ethiopian foothills, and more South part Nile basin (the territory of modern Sudan, in the 18th century - the territory of the Sennar Sultanate) was called Upper Nubia .
The name possibly comes from the ancient Egyptian word nub- gold . In ancient times, various cultures and states successively existed on the territory of Nubia, such as the kingdoms of Kerma, Kush and others. Capital of the ancients Nubian kingdoms at that time in chronological order there were the cities of Kerma, Napata and Meroe. In the 7th-14th centuries there were several Christian Nubian states here. Nubia was then Islamized and partially settled by Arab tribes. Nubia was a source of slaves and natural resources(gold and ivory).
The history of Nubia can be traced back 5 thousand years to the development of the Egyptian civilization that lay to the north. Ancient Egyptian culture had a powerful impact on Nubia. The first developed communities are found in Nubia during the Egyptian First Dynasty (3100-2890 BC). Around 2500 BC e. the Egyptians began to move south, and from them comes most of our knowledge of Nubia, the northern part of which the Egyptians called Uauat and the southern part Kush. The strongest Nubian political education at that time had a center in Kerma.
Egyptian expansion was temporarily stopped by the decline of the Middle Kingdom of Egypt and the invasion of the Hyksos, who became allies of the Nubians. After the establishment of the New Kingdom by 1550 BC. e. Egyptian expansion resumed, but this time it met with organized opposition. Historians are not sure whether this resistance came from individual cities or from one united empire. There is also ongoing debate as to whether statehood was founded local residents or brought from Egypt.
As a result of the Egyptian invasion, the region again became the possession of Egypt under the control of Egypt, whose army maintained power thanks to a number of fortresses, some of which were built during the Middle Kingdom (for example, Buchen). Nubia, up to the fourth and fifth cataracts of the Nile, was included in Egypt during the 18th dynasty of the New Kingdom and was subordinated for five centuries to the pharaoh's governors, who bore the title of the royal son of Kush. With the collapse of the New Kingdom around 1070. BC. Kush became an independent state with its capital at Napata.
The territory of Upper Nubia from Meroe to the third cataract of the Nile was united under the rule of Alara in the period around 780-755 BC. e. Alara was considered the founder of the Nubian royal dynasty by their successors - the XXV, Kushite dynasty of Egypt. The kingdom increased its sphere of influence, and during the reign of Kashta, a follower of Alara, dominated southern Egypt, the region of Elephantine and even Thebes. Kashta forced Shepenupet I, the half-sister of Pharaoh Takelot III, who served as the Divine Wife of Amun, to recognize his daughter Amenirdis I as his heir. After this event, Thebes came under the de facto control of Napata. The power of the kingdom has reached highest point during the reign of Piankha, successor to Kashte, who conquered all of Egypt by the age of 20, and began the XXV Dynasty.
Kush again became a separate state from Egypt when the Assyrians invaded Egypt in 671 BC. e. The last Kushite king to attempt to regain control of Egypt was Tanuatamun, who failed crushing defeat from the Assyrians in 664 BC. e. After this, the influence of the kingdom in Egypt began to decline and ceased by 656 BC. e. when Psammetichus I, founder of the XXVI Dynasty, united all of Egypt under his rule. In 591 BC. e. The Egyptians, under the leadership of Psammetichus II, invaded Kush, possibly because the ruler of Kush, Aspelta, was preparing an invasion of Egypt, sacked and burned Napata.
From various historical sources it follows that Aspelta's followers moved the capital to Meroe, far south of Napata. Exact time The transfer remains unclear, but many historians believe that it occurred during Aspelta's reign, in response to the Egyptian invasion of lower Nubia. Other historians believe that the transfer of the kingdom to the south was associated with iron mining - around Meroe, unlike Napata, there were extensive forests that could serve as a source of fuel for blast furnaces. In addition, the arrival of Greek traders in the region meant that the Kushites were less dependent on the Nile trade route and could now trade with Greek colonies on the Red Sea coast.
An alternative theory states that there were two separate but closely related states, centered on Napata and Meroe. The state with its capital in Meroe gradually eclipsed its northern neighbor. Nothing resembling a royal residence has been found north of Meroe, and perhaps Napata was only a religious center. However, Napata definitely remained important center, kings were crowned and buried in it even during the periods when they lived in Meroe.
The final transfer of the capital to Meroe occurred around 300 BC. e., when monarchs began to be buried there, and not in Napata. There is a theory that this transfer reflects the liberation of the monarchs from the power of the priests of Napata. According to Diodorus Siculus, the priests ordered a Meroitic ruler named Ergamenes to commit suicide, however, he flouted tradition and executed the priests instead.
IN early period The Nubians used Egyptian hieroglyphs, but during the Meroitic period a new, still incompletely deciphered Meroitic script was developed, which was used to write the Meroitic language. The country traded with its neighbors and continued to build monuments and tombs.
In 23, the Roman prefect of Egypt, Gaius Petronius, invaded Nubia in response to a Nubian attack on southern Egypt. He plundered the north of the country, including Napata, and returned to Egypt.
TO 7th century n. e. Nubia consisted of small scattered Christian kingdoms (Aloa, Mukurra, Nobatia) and possessions.
Around 960, an oligarchic state was formed in eastern Nubia, led by the top of the Arab Rabia tribe. Other Arab tribes settled Lower Nubia, which was annexed by Egypt in 1174. In 1272, the ruler of the state of Dongola, in alliance with the crusaders, attacked Egypt, but was defeated, and in 1275, Dongola became a vassal of Egypt.
After Christianization in the 6th century, the church in Nubia, like the Ethiopian Church, experienced cultural and religious influence from Egypt. Two northern kingdoms of the region - Nubia was cut off from all contacts with Byzantium and everything in general Christian world. And yet she is within long centuries managed to hold back the Islamic offensive and preserve their Christianity and their political independence. Nubia remained a Christian region until the end of the Middle Ages.
The Nubian Church was ruled by the Coptic Egyptian Church. All bishops were appointed directly by the Cairo patriarch and were responsible only to him. The Church in Nubia was not organized as an autocephalous or even autonomous national education: It was considered as part of the Coptic Church. As a result, due to this Cairo control, the Nubian Church was unable to develop among the people the sense of ethnic solidarity that was usually decisive factor for the survival of autocephalous national churches. When Nubian Christianity faced changing political and social structure, much-needed organizational unity failed to materialize. To others important factor, contributed slowly dying and the eventual disappearance of Christianity south of Aswan, was the inability of the Nubian Church to maintain constant contact with the Christian world beyond its borders.
Although the Nubian Church was subordinate to Cairo, Coptic did not become its main liturgical language. It is interesting that the Nubian Eucharist (a slightly modified version of the liturgy of St. Mark) until the 12th century. served in Greek. But in parallel, starting from the 9th century, the Old Nubian language began to be used. Monasticism, which played a role in the Egyptian Church important role, in Nubia was a very little-known phenomenon: archaeological excavations discovered only a small handful of monasteries in the entire vast country. This was also an indicator of a certain weakness of the Nubian Church.
The main factor in the Islamization of Nubia was the beginning of the 10th century. the process of buying fertile lands in the north of the country by Egyptian Arabs, which ultimately led to the de facto independence of these lands from central authorities. Gradually, Arab Muslim settlements moved south. The population mixed through marriages; It is interesting that in such cases, as a rule, the faith of the newcomers was chosen.
In 1323, the ruler of Makuria, the largest of the Nubian kingdoms, converted to Islam. Gradually the population followed their ruler. Alua remained a Christian state until early XVI century. It was in this century that all of Nubia came under the control of Islamic rulers, and the ancient kingdom became integral part Arab and Islamic world.
In 1958, the French explorer Henri Lot discovered a series of rock paintings in the sands of the Sahara dating back to approximately the 5th millennium BC. e. According to these drawings, the first human settlements already existed in the heart of Africa. These were hunters and herders ancient tribe, whose name has not been preserved in the annals of History. Men hunted existing Stone Age animals, some of them were engaged in breeding large and small livestock. Women and children did housework. Based on the drawings, it can also be argued that the Sahara of that time was a blooming paradise. The abundance of lush vegetation and rich animal kingdom allowed man to lead a fairly calm lifestyle.
Dramatic climate change on Earth has led to the Sahara becoming a desert. Migration of tribes to other areas of Africa began. In 4000 BC the first beginnings of civilization arose. People settled at the mouths of rivers and along their banks, where there were areas abounding in animals suitable for hunting. Cattle breeding gave impetus to the development of agriculture. The settled tribes, who had finally established themselves on the earth, began to actively interact with each other, and primitive trade began - an exchange between tribal communities products Agriculture and products obtained by processing the bones and skins of animals hunted by hunters. Already at that time, Africans knew 8 types of cereals and 4 types of vegetables. As a result of a primitive study of minerals and attempts to process them manually, man discovered iron, which gave a new impetus to the development of trade and the creation of effective weapons and tools. The result of thousands of years of metamorphoses of humanity was Nubia - richest country Africa, one of the first ancestors of modern African states.
The cradle of many ancient civilizations, the most remote land. The people who inhabited it are the favorites of the gods. The gods of Olympus descended to them, participated in their games, and graciously accepted sacrifices from them.
This is what Homer wrote about Nubia. Indeed, Nubia's geographical position allowed it to become an intermediary in trade between another ancient civilization- Egypt and the southern tribes of Africa. The connecting thread was the Nile - the Great River.
Flowing from springs in the mountains bordering the Great Eastern Rift, the Nile connects peoples settled along its banks over a distance of 6,671 km.
Nevertheless, it is difficult to call such a connection continuous. On its way, the river overcomes six rapids. Between the first and second rapids lies Batn el Hagar, which in Arabic means Belly of the Rocks. There is very scarce land here and therefore, from the moment of the emergence of Egypt as a state, and for a thousand years, the 2nd threshold was considered impregnable. It was here that the border of Lower Nubia lay. Further, the land became more and more fertile and between the 3rd and 4th rapids, in the bend of Dongol, the ancient kingdom of Kush arose - the heart of Nubia. Then all other lands along the banks of the Nile up to the sixth cataract also came under the protection of the ruler of Kush. These one and a half thousand kilometers of fertile soils, savannas, deserts, swamps and glaciers have been called the source of Egyptian civilization, which is not entirely accurate. Much later, between the 5th and 6th cataracts of the Great River, the center of the late Nubian state of Meroe was founded.
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In the 19th century, Nubia's borders were defined in different ways. According to one interpretation, it included the entire Nile region south of Egypt to Abyssinia and further south, according to another - the space between Aswan and the mouth of Atbara, according to the third - the region second waterfall, the country of the ancient Nobads, or Nubs (“Uadi Nuba”). Nubia proper was usually called the region of the middle reaches of the Nile, before the confluence of the Atbara and the Ethiopian foothills, and the more southern part of the Nile basin (the territory of modern Sudan, in the 18th century - the territory of the Sennar Sultanate) was called Upper Nubia .
The name possibly comes from the ancient Egyptian word nub- gold . In ancient times, various cultures and states successively existed on the territory of Nubia, such as the kingdoms of Kerma, Kush and others. The capitals of the ancient Nubian kingdoms at that time, chronologically, were the cities of Kerma, Napata and Meroe. In the 7th-14th centuries there were several Christian Nubian states here. Nubia was then Islamized and partially settled by Arab tribes. Nubia was a source of slaves and natural resources (gold and ivory).
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Ancient Nubia (narrated by historian Svetlana Malykh)
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Ancient Nubia
The history of Nubia can be traced back 5 thousand years to the development of the Egyptian civilization that lay to the north. Ancient Egyptian culture had a powerful impact on Nubia. The first developed communities are found in Nubia during the Egyptian First Dynasty (3100-2890 BC). Around 2500 BC e. the Egyptians began to move south, and from them comes most of our knowledge of Nubia, the northern part of which the Egyptians called Uauat and the southern part Kush. The strongest Nubian political entity at that time had its center in Kerma.
Egyptian expansion was temporarily stopped by the decline of the Middle Kingdom of Egypt and the invasion of the Hyksos, who became allies of the Nubians. After the establishment of the New Kingdom by 1550 BC. e. Egyptian expansion resumed, but this time it met with organized opposition. Historians are not sure whether this resistance came from individual cities or from one united empire. There is also ongoing debate as to whether statehood was founded by local residents or brought in from Egypt.
As a result of the Egyptian invasion, the region again became the possession of Egypt under the control of Egypt, whose army maintained power thanks to a number of fortresses, some of which were built during the Middle Kingdom (for example, Buchen). Nubia, up to the fourth and fifth cataracts of the Nile, was included in Egypt during the 18th dynasty of the New Kingdom and for five centuries was subordinated to the pharaoh's governors, who bore the title of the royal son of Kush. With the collapse of the New Kingdom around 1070. BC. Kush became an independent state with its capital at Napata.
Kushite Kingdom (Napata)
The territory of Upper Nubia from Meroe to the third cataract of the Nile was united under the rule of Alara in the period around 780-755 BC. e. Alara was considered the founder of the Nubian royal dynasty by his successors, the XXV Kushite Dynasty of Egypt. The kingdom increased its sphere of influence, and during the reign of Kashta, a follower of Alara, dominated southern Egypt, the region of Elephantine and even Thebes. Kashta forced Shepenupet I, the half-sister of Pharaoh Takelot III, who served as the Divine Wife of Amun, to recognize his daughter Amenirdis I as his heir. After this event, Thebes came under the de facto control of Napata. The power of the kingdom reached its highest point during the reign of Piankha, successor to Kashte, who conquered all of Egypt by the age of 20, and marked the beginning of the XXV Dynasty.
Kush again became a separate state from Egypt when the Assyrians invaded Egypt in 671 BC. e. The last Kushite king to attempt to regain control of Egypt was Tanuatamun, who was soundly defeated by the Assyrians in 664 BC. e. After this, the influence of the kingdom in Egypt began to decline and ceased by 656 BC. e. when Psammetichus I, the founder of the XXVI dynasty, united all of Egypt under his rule. In 591 BC. e. The Egyptians, under the leadership of Psammetichus II, invaded Kush, possibly due to the fact that the ruler of Kush, Aspelta, was preparing an invasion of Egypt, sacked and burned Napata.
Meroitic kingdom
Various historical sources indicate that Aspelta's followers moved the capital to Meroe, far south of Napata. The exact timing of the transfer remains unclear, but many historians believe it occurred during Aspelta's reign, in response to the Egyptian invasion of lower Nubia. Other historians believe that the transfer of the kingdom to the south was associated with iron mining - around Meroe, unlike Napata, there were extensive forests that could serve as a source of fuel for blast furnaces. In addition, the arrival of Greek traders in the region meant that the Kushites were less dependent on the Nile trade route and could now trade with the Greek colonies on the Red Sea coast.
An alternative theory states that there were two separate but closely related states, centered on Napata and Meroe. The state with its capital in Meroe gradually eclipsed its northern neighbor. Nothing resembling a royal residence has been found north of Meroe, and perhaps Napata was only a religious center. However, Napata certainly remained an important center, with kings being crowned and buried there even during periods when they lived in Meroe.
The final transfer of the capital to Meroe occurred around 300 BC. e., when monarchs began to be buried there, and not in Napata. There is a theory that this transfer reflects the liberation of the monarchs from the power of the priests of Napata. According to Diodorus Siculus, the priests ordered a Meroitic ruler named Ergamenes to commit suicide, but he flouted tradition and executed the priests instead.
In the early period, the Nubians used Egyptian hieroglyphs, but during the Meroitic period a new, still incompletely deciphered Meroitic script was developed, which was used to write the Meroitic language. The country traded with its neighbors and continued to build monuments and tombs.
In 23, the Roman prefect of Egypt, Gaius Petronius, invaded Nubia in response to a Nubian attack on southern Egypt. He plundered the north of the country, including Napata, and returned to Egypt.
Christian Nubia
By the 7th century AD e. Nubia consisted of small scattered Christian kingdoms (Aloa, Mukurra, Nobatia) and possessions.
Muslim Nubia
Around 960, an oligarchic state was formed in eastern Nubia, led by the top of the Arab Rabia tribe. Other Arab tribes settled Lower Nubia, which was annexed by Egypt in 1174. In 1272, the ruler of the state of Dongola, in alliance with the crusaders, attacked Egypt, but was defeated, and in 1275, Dongola became a vassal of Egypt.
Religion
After Christianization in the 6th century, the church in Nubia, like the Ethiopian Church, experienced cultural and religious influence from Egypt. The two northern kingdoms of the region - and in general with the entire Christian world. And yet, for many centuries, she managed to hold back the Islamic offensive and maintain her Christianity and her political independence. Nubia remained a Christian region until the end of the Middle Ages.
The Nubian Church was ruled by the Coptic Egyptian Church. All bishops were appointed directly by the Cairo patriarch and were responsible only to him. The Church in Nubia was not organized as an autocephalous or even autonomous national entity: it was seen as part of the Coptic Church. As a result, due to this Cairo control, the Nubian Church was unable to develop among the people a sense of ethnic solidarity, which was usually a decisive factor for the survival of autocephalous national churches. When Nubian Christianity was faced with changes in political and social structure, much-needed organizational unity could not be realized. Another important factor contributing to the slow death and eventual disappearance of Christianity south of Aswan was the inability of the Nubian Church to maintain ongoing contact with the Christian world beyond its borders.
Although the Nubian church was subordinate to Cairo, Coptic did not become its main liturgical language. It is interesting that the Nubian Eucharist (a slightly modified version of the liturgy of St. Mark) until the 12th century. served in Greek. But in parallel, starting from the 9th century, the Old Nubian language began to be used. Monasticism, which played an important role in the Egyptian Church, was a very little-known phenomenon in Nubia: archaeological excavations have discovered only a small handful of monasteries in the entire vast country. This was also an indicator of a certain weakness of the Nubian Church.
The main factor in the Islamization of Nubia was the beginning of the 10th century. the process of purchasing fertile lands in the north of the country by Egyptian Arabs, which ultimately led to the de facto independence of these lands from the central authorities. Gradually, Arab Muslim settlements moved south. The population mixed through marriages; It is interesting that in such cases, as a rule, the faith of the newcomers was chosen.
In 1323, the ruler of Makuria, the largest of the Nubian kingdoms, converted to Islam. Gradually the population followed their ruler. Alois remained a Christian state until the beginning of the 16th century. It was in this century that all of Nubia came under the control of Islamic rulers, and the ancient kingdom became an integral part of the Arab and Islamic world.
Sudan is big. Very big. Until the moment of separation South Sudan he is the most big state Africa was. From the northern end to the southern end it was like from St. Petersburg to Sochi. Now I'm third. Became from Moscow to Crimea.
Nubia is the northern part of Sudan and the southernmost part of Egypt. Approximately from Khartoum to Aswan. And almost all the time of history Nubia was with Egypt common state. They had unity and struggle of opposites. The Egyptians are white, the Nubians are black, although, however, they are not blacks at all.
In ancient times, Nubia was known as the land of Kush. And many Sudanese even say that the Egyptian civilization was not actually Egyptian, but Nubian. So or not, I don’t know, but at least they definitely took part in it. And some of the Egyptian pharaohs were, indeed, of Nubian origin. And they have pyramids in Sudanese Nubia, in Meroe, where the ancient Nubian capital was. Not as huge as in Egypt, but there are almost no tourists there.
The Nubians have their own language, not Arabic at all, but now they speak it less and less. The Nubians were also Christians before the Arabs. In Nubia, Christian kingdoms existed until the 16th century. In the Khartoum Museum, the entire first floor is occupied by their pharaonic antiquities, and the second floor by ancient icons. And their alphabet was almost like ours, also based on Greek. Very similar to ancient Slavic.
There are still many Christians in Sudan, but they are said to be mainly descendants of those who came from Egypt to more late times. And then there are the South Sudanese Christians, and that's a whole different story. And they are just blacks. And now they are a separate country.
And in Johannesburg, on the other side of Africa, when my friend Mosibudi got her beautiful hair done - braided - her friends saw her and said: “What a Nubian princess you have become!” It turns out that Nubia is famous throughout Africa and is considered cool.
Well, now you know about Nubia, so I told you a little of what I know.
In the photo above are Nubians on camels. There are few tourists here, but there are some. They ride them for money, like in Egypt.
Mountains. Looks like big ruined pyramids
Pyramids at Meroe, general view.
Restored pyramid.
Another pyramid.
Ancient Nubian manuscript (from Wikipedia).
On the pond.
Like wild watermelons. I broke one and found it white and bitter inside.
The remaining photos show various Nubian antiquities that were seen on the road between Meroe and Khartoum. Which is called - I don’t know. It is interesting, however, that there are not only ancient Egyptian buildings, but also quite antique ones. It turns out that they also had a Hellenistic period.
historical area in the valley between the 1st and 5th cataracts of the Nile on the territory of modern Egypt and Sudan, as well as the one that existed here in the 7th-14th centuries. Christian state of the Nubians with its capital in Dongola Old. TO end of the 14th century V. inhabited by Arab tribes and Islamized.
Excellent definition
NUBIA
Kash, Kush - among the ancient Egyptians, Nile Ethiopia - among ancient authors) - ist. region. It is located approximately between the 1st and 6th cataracts of the Nile and somewhat further to the south and east along the White and Blue Nile, between the Red Metro and Libyan desert. The name N., dating back to the 10th century. n. e., probably comes from someone who lived in the 3rd century. n. e. to the east bank of the Nile south of the 1st threshold of the Nobat tribe. To the indigenous population of the territory. N. - related to the ancient Egyptians, Hamitic. tribes, from mid. 2nd millennium BC e. Negroid elements infiltrated from the South were mixed in. In the era Ancient kingdom Egypt The pharaohs sent to the territory. N. bargaining caravans and predatory expeditions for slaves, cattle, gold, ebony, ivory etc. and by the 15th century. BC e. captured it up to the 4th threshold. N. was governed by a governor, the so-called. the royal son of Kush. Egyptian influence contributed to the spread of Egypt. culture and accelerated the collapse of primitive communal relations. In the 11th century BC e. achieved independence. Subsequently, on her territory. The Napata kingdom arose (see Napata). By the end of the 6th century. BC e. the capital of this kingdom was moved to Meroe (see Meroe). In the 4th century. n. e. Means. part of the country was captured by the Aksumite king Ezana. From the 6th century n. e. Christianity spread to N. In the 6th-8th centuries. Two kingdoms were formed - Mukurra (in the North) and Aloa (in the South). In 652 it was attacked by the Arabs. Recurring since the 13th century. Mamluk raids and the settlement of Arabs contributed to the spread of Islam in Nizhny Novgorod, which forced out by the beginning. 16th century Christianity. In the 16th century on the territory N. the state of Fung arose. In 1821 part of it was captured by Egypt. Terr. North N. up to the 2nd threshold is now part of the UAR, the rest of the districts belong to Sudan. Due to construction Aswan Dam Many monuments of Ancient Nizhny - the temple of Abu Simbel and others - fell into the flood. To study and save them, the UNESCO International was created in 1960. action committee with an Expert Advisory Board. The most valuable monuments are transferred to a flood-free zone (1966). Lit.: Katsnelson I. S., Problems historical development ancient Nubia, "VDI", 1948, No. 2; him, Some features political system Nubia in the VI-IV centuries. BC e.. International XXV Congress of Orientalists. Reports of the USSR delegation, M., 1960; his, Nubia under Egyptian rule, "VMGU", 1948, No. 6; his, Slavery in Kush, "VDI", 1964, No. 2; Ancient Nubia. The results of the archaeological work. expedition of the USSR Academy of Sciences in the United Arab Republic. 1961-1962, under general ed.. B. B. Piotrovsky, M.-L., 1964; S?ve-S?derbergh T., ?gypten und Nubien, Lund, 1941; Arkell A. J., A history of the Sudan from the earliest times to 1821, L., 1961; magazine "Kush", Khartum, since 1953. I. S. Katsnelson. Moscow. -***-***-***- Nubia before the 13th century