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Today Nubia is the region south of Egypt along the Nile, in northern Sudan, but in ancient times it was an
African kingdom.
Nubian Wedding near AswanIts people spoke at least two varieties of the Nubian language
group, a Nilo-Saharan subfamily which includes Nobiin, Kenuzi-Dongola, Midob and several related varieties in the northern
part of the Nuba Mountains in
South Kordofan. A variety - Birgid was spoken (at least until 1970) north of
Nyala in Darfur but is now
extinct. Old Nubian was used in mostly religious texts dating from the 8th and 9th centuries AD. It is considered ancestral to
modern day Nobiin.
History
In ancient times Nubia was a kingdom closely associated with Ancient
Egypt, and occasionally conquered by their more powerful northern neighbours. Nubia adopted many Egyptian practices such as
their religion and the practice of building pyramids. The kingdom of Nubia survived
longer than that of Egypt and was never annexed by the Romans. The Nubians
did trade with the Romans, and were also a source of mercenaries.
In later Roman times, Nubia was divided into three kingdoms: northernmost was Nobatia between the first and second cataract of
the Nile River, with its capital at Pachoras (modern day Faras); in the middle was Makuria, with its capital at (Old) Dongola; and southernmost was Aloda, with its capital at Soba (near Khartoum). King Silko of
Nobatia crushed the Blemmyes, and
recorded his victory in a Greek inscription carved in the wall of the
temple of Talmis (modern Kalabsha) around
AD 500.
While bishop Athanasius of Alexandria consecrated one Marcus as bishop of Philae before his death in 373, showing that Christianity had penetrated the region by the
fourth century, John of Ephesus records that a Monophysite priest named Julian converted the king and his nobles of Nobatia around
545. John of Ephesus also writes that the kingdom of Alodia was converted around 569. However, John of Bisclorum records that the kingdom of Makuria was converted to Roman Catholicism the same year, suggesting that John of Ephesus might be mistaken. Further doubt is
cast on John's testimony by an entry in the chronicle of the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Alexandria Eutychius, which
states that in 719 the church of Nubia transferred its allegiance from the Greek Orthodox to the Coptic Church.
Christianity eventually faded from Nubia. While there are records of a bishop at Qasr Ibrim in 1372, his see had come to
include that located at Faras. It is also clear that the "Royal" church at Dongola had been converted to a mosque around
1350.
Many Nubians were forcibly resettled to make room for Lake Nasser after
the construction of the dams at Aswan. Nubian
villages can now be found north of Aswan on the west bank of the Nile and on Elephantine Island, and many Nubians live in large cities such as Cairo. There was also a civilization in Nubia that was called Kush.
External links
Nubia is a fictional planet in the Star Wars galaxy, located on the outer
edge of the Core Worlds. The Nubians developed parts for star ships, including the hyperdrive for the Naboo cruiser in The Phantom Menace.
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