Nobatia

Nobatia ⲙⲓⲅⲛ̅ ⲙⲓⲅⲓⲧⲛ︦ ⲅⲟⲩⲗ
c. CE 400–c. CE 7th century
Nobatia and the other Christian Nubian kingdoms.
Capital	Pachoras
Common languages	Nubian Greek Coptic
Religion	Isis cult Coptic Orthodox Christianity (From 543)
Government	Monarchy
King of Nobatia
• c. CE 410-420	Charamadoye
• c. CE 450	Silko
• c. CE 450	Aburni
• c. CE 559/574	Eiparnome
• c. CE 577	Tokiltoeton
• c. CE 580	W-r-p-y-w-l (maybe read Awarfiula or Orfiulo)
• c. CE 645–655	Zacharias
Historical era	Late Antiquity/Early Middle Ages
• Established	c. CE 400
• Integrated into Makuria	c. CE 7th century
Preceded by Succeeded by Kingdom of Kush Makuria
Today part of	Sudan Egypt

Nobatia /noʊˈbeɪʃə/ or Nobadia (/noʊˈbeɪdiə/; Greek: Νοβαδία, Nobadia; Old Nubian: ⲙⲓⲅⲛ̅ Migin or ⲙⲓⲅⲓⲧⲛ︦ ⲅⲟⲩⲗ, Migitin Goul lit. "of Nobadia's land") was a late antique kingdom in Lower Nubia. Together with the two other Nubian kingdoms, Makuria and Alodia, it succeeded the kingdom of Kush. After its establishment in around 400, Nobadia gradually expanded by defeating the Blemmyes in the north and incorporating the territory between the second and third Nile cataract in the south. In 543, it converted to Coptic Christianity. It would then be annexed by Makuria, under unknown circumstances, during the 7th century.

Religion

Paganism

Since Ptolemaic times, the "state religion" of Lower Nubia had been the Isis cult of Philae. Its importance outlived the Ptolemaic and Meroitic period and Nubian pilgrims continued to travel to Philae. The temple on Philae was eventually shut down between 535 and 538 and Nubians were forbidden to enter. Another Isis cult, the Greco-Roman mysteries of Isis, has been confirmed to be practised in Nobadia by an unearthed shrine in Qasr Ibrim. This cult was practised during Meroitic times as well.

Reliefs of the "Ethiopian" chamber inside the Isis temple of Philae, depicting pilgrims and priests from the south. The inscription in front of the third figure from the left is a letter describing the gifts of a diplomatic mission sent by King Talakhidamani of Kush.

Christianity

As confirmed by epigraphical and archaeological evidence, Christianity was already present among parts of the Nobadian society even before the official conversion of 543. The Nobadian elite might have started considering to convert to Christianity in the 530s, parallel to when the Isis temple was shut down. Christianity proceeded to spread through Nobadia on various levels at different speeds. Towns, for example, were quick in adopting the new religion, while the Christianization of the villages was not accomplished until the 7th–9th centuries. South of the second cataract, Christianity seems to have begun spreading later than in the north, possibly since the late 6th or early 7th century. Many ancient Egyptian temples were converted to churches and plastered with Christian wall paintings.

• Gallery
• 
  Copy of a Coptic inscription in the Temple of Dendur, commemorating the conversion of the temple into a church during the reign of king Eirpanome (mid-6th century)
• 
  Coptic inscriptions in the Temple of Kalabsha commemorating its conversion into a church by a certain bishop Paul
• 
  Early-7th-century frieze fragment of the Faras cathedral
• 
  The converted Temple of Amada with the now-demolished Christian dome
• 
  Damaged paintings of Christian saints inside the temple of Amada
• 
  Plan of the Christian church (red) inserted into the temple of Wadi es-Sebua
• 
  Christian painting of St. Peter in the temple of Wadi es-Sebua
• 
  Christian wall paintings in the temple of Kalabsha
• 
  Painting of Christ on the ceiling of the converted Temple of Abu Oda near Gebel Adda

References

• Adams, William Y. (2013). Qasr Ibrim: The Ballana Phase. Egypt Exploration Society. ISBN 978-0856982163.
• Hubert, Reinhard; Edwards, David N. (2010). "Gebel Abba Cemetery One, 1963. Post-medieval reuse of X-Group tumuli". Sudan&Nubia. 14: 83–90.
• Lajtar, Adam (2011). "Qasr Ibrim's last land sale, AD 1463 (EA 90225)". Nubian Voices. Studies in Christian Nubian Culture.
• Obluski, Artur (2014). The Rise of Nobadia. Social Changes in Northern Nubia in Late Antiquity. University of Warsaw Faculty of Law and Administration. ISBN 978-8392591993.
• Welsby, Derek (2002). The Medieval Kingdoms of Nubia. Pagans, Christians and Muslims along the Middle Nile. The British Museum. ISBN 0714119474.
• Werner, Roland (2013). Das Christentum in Nubien. Geschichte und Gestalt einer afrikanischen Kirche. Lit.
• Williams, Bruce Beyer (1991). Noubadian X-Group Remains from Royal Complexes in Cemeteries Q and 219 and from Private Cemeteries Q, R, V, W, B, J and M at Qustul and Ballana. The University of Chicago.
• Zielinski, Lukasz (2015). "New insights into Nubian archery". Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean. 24 (1): 791–801.

Further reading

• Dane, Rachael Jane (2006). Aesthetics and identity at Qustul and Ballana, Lower Nubia (PDF). Durham thesis.
• Dijkstra, J. H. F. (2005). Religious encounters on the southern Egyptian frontier in Late Antiquity (AD 298- 642) (PDF).
• Dijkstra, J. H. F. (2014). "I, Silko, Came to Talmis and Taphis". Interactions between the Peoples beyond the Egyptian Frontier and Rome in Late Antiquity". In J.H.F. Dijkstra; G. Fisher (eds.). Inside and Out: Interactions between Rome and the Peoples on the Arabian and Egyptian Frontiers in Late Antiquity. Leuven. pp. 299–330. ISBN 978-90-429-3124-4.
• Fuller, Dorian (2015). "The Economic Basis of the Qustul Splinter State: Cash Crops, Subsistence Shifts, and Labour Demands in the Post-Meroitic Transition". In Michael Zach (ed.). The Kushite World. Proceedings of the 11th International Conference for Meroitic Studies. Vienne, 1-4 September 2008. Verein der Förderer der Sudanforschung. pp. 33–60.
• Godlewski, Wlodzimierz (1986). "Remarks on the Art of Nobadia (V–VIII Century)". Nubische Studies.
• Rostowska, Bozena (1982). "Nobadian painting. Present state of investigations". Nubia Christiana. pp. 283–299.