NUBIA. — In medieval historical geography, Nubia refers to that part of the Nile Valley which lies south of the First Cataract up to the parallel of Sennar. During the first centuries of the Christian era, the entire region was occupied by nomadic Libyan peoples who settled and established themselves there, driving out the Romans, who had occupied a large part of the area south of the First Cataract (known as the Dodecaschoenus), and the Meroites, whose kingdom extended south of this region as far as Sennar. The first of these Libyan peoples to arrive in the Nile Valley were the Nobades, who occupied the stretch between the First and Second Cataracts, where the Blemyes of the Arabian desert had also held sway for some time; later came the Makorites, who took possession of the area south of the Second Cataract as far as the region of Napata. Thus two territories were formed which, in the Middle Ages, took their names from these peoples: Nobatia and Makuria. Later, the Makorites subdued the Nobades, and a single kingdom was established with its capital at Dongola. Further south arose the kingdom of 'Alwah, with its capital at Sôba on the Blue Nile, just below its confluence with the White Nile. The entire region was evangelized from the mid-6th century onward, first by Theodore, bishop of Philae, and the priest Julian, who preached mainly in the territories of the Nobades and Makorites, and later by Longinus, who converted the kingdom of 'Alwah.
The Christian archaeology of Nubia is known in a very uneven manner: the territory of the Nobades was systematically explored by U. Monneret de Villard, so that we have reliable knowledge of almost all the Christian monuments that once stood there, whereas for Makuria and 'Alwah the same archaeologist could only carry out a cursory exploration, so that our knowledge of these regions remains merely superficial.
As in Egypt, the Nubians reused some of the ancient pagan temples, converting them into churches: at Philae those of Eri-hem-sufer, Imhotep, Hathor, and Isis; at Bigeh, using its courtyard; that of Dâbôd; the northern temple of Taifâ, whose transformation can be dated around 710; that of Ramses II known as Bêt al-Wâli at Kalâbâ, and the one built under Augustus in the same place where the church was installed in the pronaos; that of Dakka; that of Ofedûnâ (Maharraqah); that of es-Sebû'a, where the church occupies the pronaos, a feature also observed at those of Âmada and Derr, while it occupies the central hall in the rock-cut chamber dating from the time of Haremhab at Abû Hôdah. The southernmost of the temples converted into churches by the Christians is that of Akâa in the district of Serrê Garb, built by Ramses II.
However, the majority of Nubian churches were built ex novo. Such constructions are always of sun-dried brick (the use of fired brick is exceptional); stone is employed only in small parts, and only at Sitte Gasma and Sôba are there granite columns. Roofs are generally barrel-vaulted with an oval profile; groin vaults are rare, but domes are extremely abundant. Despite such modest materials, the Nubians displayed great constructive skill. The types realized are very varied, far more so than in Egypt, which demonstrates an independent development of the two architectures and the absence of any interdependence between them. The planimetric types used are mainly those of the three-aisled basilica with vaults of the same height and a very distinctive type of church with a central dome. The three aisles of the basilica are always separated by rectangular piers, and only at Sitte Gasma and Sôba are there definitely columns; both atrium and narthex are systematically absent. Entrances are very often on the long sides rather than on the façade. Sometimes the three aisles extend to the façade wall, but generally the end sections of the two aisles are closed off by a wall, forming two chambers, one of which may contain a staircase leading to the terrace above the vaults. The apse never projects or is visible externally, so that the eastern façade of the church is provided with a flat wall. The sanctuary presents two different structures: in the first case, there is a semicircular apse enclosed between two chambers corresponding to the two side aisles, as in the western church of Philae, Kalâbâ, ed-Dôma, Sinêâra, etc., up to Qasr 'Antawu, which is the southernmost example so far attested. At other times the apse is rectangular, as at Sabâ Gûra, Mediq of Gerf Husein, Kulûbnarti; at Ihmindi it is trapezoidal. In the second case, the two side chambers are connected by a corridor that passes behind the apse and between it and the outer wall: this is a specifically Nubian type found from Sabâ Gûra (southern church) in the north as far as Wâdi Gazâli, which is the southernmost example so far attested. Nubia also presents some examples of basilicas with opposed apses (as at Tokor, Medinet 'Addeh, and the church of Nabandiffi at Faras) and also of basilicas with the central nave covered by a series of domes (e.g., a church at Tamit). In the region near the Second Cataract, there are basilicas with galleries, the most characteristic being the church on the river at Adendân and that of Hammâm el-Farki at Serrê Garb. In this same territory, the churches, which are of more careful construction and richer decoration, have the triumphal arch supported by two columns with elaborate capitals: one of the most interesting examples is that of Sejib Bedawi. The type of church with a central dome is characterized by a dome on four piers built in the middle of the nave (Seima Amalika) or immediately in front of the apse (Qasr Ibrîm, Serrê, Figir 'Antawu). The church in the desert of Adendân, with a more elaborate plan, also has domes over the two side chambers behind the apse and over the two front chambers. Entirely distinctive types are seen at ar-Râmâl, where there is a church with four naves, the two central ones each having two opposed apses, and at 'Abd al-Gādir and Seīh Farīg, where the naves are not separated by piers but the vaults are carried by two wide longitudinal arcades, reproducing a Sasanian type of construction. In Nubia there is also a cruciform church at Tamit and a square-plan church covered by a dome. In only one case is there a trace of a crypt (Qasr 'Antawu). One of the characteristics of Nubian ecclesiastical architecture is the presence of paired churches, i.e., built either adjoining each other (Medinet 'Addeh, southern church of Serre) or separated only by a very narrow passage (Tamit). All this variety of forms bears witness to an intense architectural experimentation that is remarkable in this outpost of Christian civilization.
All Nubian churches were lined inside with painted plaster: in most cases these paintings have disappeared, but a few surviving examples (the ceiling at Abū Hōdah, the walls at ‘Abd al-Gādir and in the Church of the Angels at Tamit, the apse in the church of the Seīh at the same site) display high technical and stylistic qualities and a wholly distinctive development.
From the Christian period there remain in Nubia extensive cemeteries with tombs of a particular type, among which those with a domed edicule on four pillars deserve special notice.