|
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 .
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.
Nubian in Egypt had suffered a great deal of insecurity from
periodical inundation of their land since 1903(the construction
of the first Aswan Dam) and through 1912,1930 (raising of the
Aswan Dam) till 1960 -the construction of the Aswan High Dam.
They used to seek shelter in the chain of Nubian Mountains along
the Nile whenever their villages were inundated. Every time they
used to build new settlements which got inundated again and
again till they were relocated in Kom Ombo. Thus they had shown
a great deal of tolerance and persistence similar to their
Sudanese Nubian brothers.The Egyptian Nubian are the Kunuz
(Matokia)-an arabized Nubian,the Fadeja ( a continuation of the
Nubian in the the northern parts of Sudanese Nubia ), the
Nubanised Arabs of Koresko(Eliagat). The Nubian proper there
(these who talk old Nubian) are very proud of their culture and
heritage . Since they are a very small community in a highly
populated Arabized country , their contribution to the welfare
of Egypt is hard to separate from other Egyptian.
The land of Egyptian Nubia which was first inundated by the
water of the Aswan Dam, was inhabited by three major ethnic
groups: from north, the Kanzi, who speak Nubian; the Arab, who
as the name suggests, speak Arabic, and the Fadjga who lived in
the southern district and also speak Nubian.
This land was composed of 42 administrative areas called
nahiyat, each one containing several villages. The Kanzi area
was composed of 20 nahiyat, the Arab of 5, the Fadjga of 17. All
the villages were located on both banks of the Nile
.
The agricultural land was formed by small areas of artificial
mud isolated from each other, stretching along the valley for
more than 300 Km. All the area covered a surface of about 32,000
acres. The land was regularly cultivated using the sagiya or
waterwheel and the shaduf as in Egypt.
Agriculture was and still is the basis of the Nubian economy.
The Nubians in Egypt had two cultivation seasons, winter crops,
called “shitwi” and summer crops called “sifti”. The Nubians
depended on the rise and fall of the Nile water to irrigate
winter crops. Peas, okra, beans and lentils were cash crops sold
by the Sudanese Nubians. Today the Egyptian Nubians use their
land to cultivate sugarcane as a cash crop sold at a government
regulated price. Other crops such as fruits and vegetables were
rare.
Nubians in Egypt and in Sudan
Nubia is located in the extreme south of Egypt within the
boundaries of Aswan governorate. The Nubians inhabited this area
since the ancient Egyptian pre-dynasty era. Over their long
history, they had been subjected to many foreign influences that
changed their way of life. They belong to five groups or tribes,
geographically divided between the south and the north as
follows: Donakela, Mahiss, Sokkot, Fadija and Kanuz. The first
three tribes live in Upper Nubia (Sudanese Nubia), northern
Sudan, while the other two in Lower Nubia (Egyptian Nubia),
southern Egypt. The Kanuz area extends from Aswan in the south
to Kilometre No. 145 at al-Madheeq, comprising 17 villages and
hamlets. Kanuz tribes have their own dialects: Matouk or
Matoukia. The Fadija, who speak a dialect named after them, live
in an area comprising 19 villages, extending from Kilometre No.
183 south of the Sudanese borders.
The Economic Importance of Nubia
Precious Metals and Stones
Nubia's most important resource for Egypt was precious metal,
including gold and electrum. The gold mines of Nubia were
located in certain valleys and mountains on either side of the
Nile River, although the most important mining center was
located in the Wadi Allaqi. That valley extended eastward into
the mountains near Qubban (about 107 km. south of Elephantine).
Nubia was also an important source of valuable hard stone and
copper, both of which were necessary for Egypt's monumental
building projects.
Trading in African Goods
Especially important for Egypt was that Nubia was also a
corridor to central Africa and a point for the trans-shipment of
exotic goods from that region, including: frankincense, myrrh,
"green gold," ivory, ebony and other exotic woods, precious
oils, resins and gums, panther and leopard skins, monkeys, dogs,
giraffes, ostrich feathers and eggs, as well as pygmies (who
became important to Egyptian religious rituals). In the Old
Kingdom, the Egyptians regularly penetrated as far as the Second
Cataract to barter for these products which were coming down
through the upper Nile Valley .
|
