NUBIA

NUBIA. – In medieval historical geography, N. denotes that part of the Nile valley lying south of the First Cataract approximately as far as the parallel of Sennâr. During the first centuries of the Christian era, this entire region was occupied by nomadic Libyan peoples, who settled and established themselves in the territory, driving out the Romans, who had occupied a large part of it south of the First Cataract (called Dodecaskoinos), and the Meroites, whose kingdom extended south of that area approximately as far as Sennâr. The first of these Libyan peoples to arrive in the Nile valley was that of the Nobades, who occupied the strip between approximately the First and Second Cataracts, where the Blemyr of the Arabian Desert had also held sway for some time; then came the Macorites, who took possession of the region south of the Second Cataract as far as the territory of Napata. Thus two territories were formed which in the Middle Ages bore, after these peoples, the names of Nobatia and Muqurrah. Later the Macorites ruled over the Nobades, and a single kingdom was formed with its capital at Dongola. Farther south, the kingdom of 'Alwah arose, with its capital at Sôba, on the Blue Nile shortly below its confluence with the White Nile. The entire region was evangelized from the middle of the sixth century onward, first through the work of Theodore, bishop of Philae, and of the Presbyter Julian, who preached chiefly in the territories of the Nobades and the Macorites, and then by Longinus, who converted the Kingdom of 'Alwah.

The Christian archaeology of N. is known very unevenly: the territory of the Nobades was systematically explored by U. Monneret de Villard, so that reliable information is available concerning almost all the Christian monuments that stood there, whereas in Muqurrah and 'Alwah the same archaeologist was able to carry out only a cursory exploration, with the result that our knowledge of them is merely summary.

As in Egypt, the Nubians made use of some of the ancient pagan temples, transforming them into churches: at Philae, those of Eri-hems-nufer, Imhotep, Hathor, and Isis; at Bigeh, by making use of the courtyard; that of Dâbôd; the northern temple at Taifâ, whose transformation may be dated to around 710; that of Ramses II, known as Bêt al-Wâli, at Kalâbâa, and the one erected under Augustus at the same place, where the church was installed in the pronaos; that of Dakka; that of Ofedûnia (Maharraqah); and that of es-Sebâ'a, where the church occupies the pronaos, a feature also observed in those of Âmada and Derr, whereas it occupies the central chamber in the speos excavated in the time of Haremhab in the rock of Abû Hôdah. The southernmost of the temples transformed into churches by the Christians is that of Akâa in the district of Serrê Garb, built by Ramses II.

Most Nubian churches, however, were built anew. Such structures are invariably made of mud brick (the use of fired brick is exceptional); stone is employed only in small sections, and only at Sitte Gasma and Sôba are granite columns found. The roofs are generally barrel vaults of ovoid profile; cross vaults are rare, whereas domes are extremely abundant. Despite such poor material, the Nubians displayed great building skill. The types produced are highly varied, much more so than in Egypt, which demonstrates the independent development of the two architectural traditions and the absence of any mutual dependence between them. The principal plans employed are those of the three-aisled basilica, with vaults of equal height, and a highly distinctive form of church with a central dome. The three aisles of the basilica are invariably separated by rectangular piers, and columns are found with certainty only at Sitte Gasma and Sôba; both the atrium and the narthex are systematically absent. The entrances are very often on the long sides rather than on the façade. At times the three aisles extend as far as the façade wall, but generally the end of each of the two narrow aisles is closed by a wall, forming two chambers, one of which may contain a staircase leading to the terrace above the vaults. The apse is never projecting or visible, so that the eastern front of the church is formed by a flat wall. The sanctuary exhibits two different arrangements: in the first, there is a semicircular apse enclosed between two chambers corresponding to the two narrow aisles, as in the western church at Philae, at Kalâbâa, ed-Dôma, Sinêra, and so forth, as far as Qaṣr 'Antawu, which is the southernmost example so far identified. At other times the apse is rectangular, as at Sabâ Gûra, Medîq of Gerf Husein, and Kulûbntari; at Ihmindi it is trapezoidal. In the second arrangement, the two side chambers are connected by a corridor running behind the apse, between it and the exterior 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 identified. N. offers several examples of basilicas with opposing apses (at Tokor, Medinet 'Addeh, and in the church of Nabandifî at Faras), as well as basilicas whose central nave is covered by a series of domes (for example, 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 more carefully built and more richly decorated, have a triumphal arch supported by two columns with elaborate capitals: one of the most interesting examples is that at Seîb Bedawi. The type of church with a central dome is characterized by a dome on four piers, constructed in the middle of the nave (Seîma Amalika) or immediately in front of the apse (Qaṣr Ibrîm, Serrê, Fiğir 'Antawu). The church in the desert at Adendân, whose plan is more elaborate, also has domes over the two chambers beside the apse and over the two at the façade. Entirely distinctive types are found at ar-Râmal, where there is a

(from U. Monneret de Villard, La Nubia meridionale, Cairo 1933, chap. 36)
NUBIA – Interior of the basilica of Qaṣr Ibrîm.

a church with four naves, the two central ones both provided with two opposing apses; and at ‘Abd al-Gādir and Šeih Farrig, where the naves are not separated by pillars, but the vaults are supported by two broad longitudinal arches, thus reproducing a Sāsānid type of construction. In N. there is also a cruciform church at Tamit and a church with a square plan covered by a dome. In only one case is there evidence of the presence of a crypt (Qasr ‘Antavu). One of the characteristics of Nubian ecclesiastical architecture is its presentation of paired churches, that is, churches built one against the other (Medinet ‘Addeh, the southern church of Serrè), or simply separated by an extremely narrow passage (Tamit). All this variety of forms attests to an intense architectural quest, remarkable in this distant outpost of Christian civilization.

All the Nubian churches were internally covered with painted plaster: in the vast majority of cases these paintings have disappeared, but the few examples that have survived to the present day (ceiling at Abū Hōdah, walls at ‘Abd al-Gādir and in the Church of the Angels at Tamit, apse in the Šeih church, also at Tamit) demonstrate high technical and stylistic qualities and a wholly distinctive development.

From the Christian period, extensive cemeteries with tombs of a particular character have been preserved in N.; among these, those consisting of domed aedicules on four pillars are especially noteworthy.