Makuria: Encyclopedia II - Makuria - Sources

Makuria - Sources

Makuria is by far the best-known kingdom of Christian Nubia, but there are still many gaps in our knowledge. The most important source for the history of the area is various Arab travelers and historians who passed through Nubia during this period. The accounts are often problematic as many of the Arab writers were biased against their Christian neighbours, and these works generally focus on only the military conflicts between Egypt and Nubia.^[2] One exception is Ibn Selim el-Aswani, an Egyptian diplomat who traveled to Dongola when Makuria was at the height of its power in the 10th century, and left a detailed account.^[3]

The Nubians were a literate society, and a fair body of writing survives from the period. These documents were written in the Old Nubian language in an uncial variety of the Greek alphabet extended with some Coptic symbols and some symbols unique to Nubian. Written in a language that is closely related to the modern Nobiin tongue, these documents have long been deciphered. However, the vast majority of them are works dealing with religion or legal records that are of little use to historians. The largest known collection, found at Qasr Ibrim, does contain some valuable governmental records.

In recent decades archaeology has become the best method of obtaining information regarding Makuria. The construction of the Aswan High Dam in 1964 promised to flood what had once been the northern half of Makuria. In 1960 UNESCO launched a massive effort to do as much archaeological work as possible before the flooding occurred. Thousands of experts were brought from around the world over the next few years. Some of more important Makurian sites looked at were the city of Faras and its cathedral, excavated by a team from Poland; the British work at Qasr Ibrim; and the University of Ghana's work at the town of Debeira West, which gave important information on daily life in Medieval Nubia. All of these sites are in what was Nobatia, the only major archaeological site in Makuria itself is the partial exploration of the capital at Old Dongola. ^[4]

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Sources", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki