1002 lines
49 KiB
Markdown
1002 lines
49 KiB
Markdown
---
|
||
title: "Words on Warfare from Christian Nubia"
|
||
authors: ["alexandrostsakos.md"]
|
||
abstract:
|
||
keywords: []
|
||
---
|
||
|
||
The purpose of this paper is to present textual evidence from Christian
|
||
Nubia relating to issues of warfare, weaponry, and military functions.
|
||
This evidence will be gleaned mainly from manuscripts, and secondarily
|
||
from monumental epigraphy. From the four languages used in Christian
|
||
Nubia, the present study will focus primarily on Old Nubian and partly
|
||
on Greek, while occasionally evidence from sources in Arabic and Coptic
|
||
will also be used. Although the material is not particularly rich, it
|
||
may add to and/or nuance the picture of warfare in Nubia during the
|
||
medieval era (ca. 5th to 15th centuries), which otherwise lacks a
|
||
systematic study.
|
||
|
||
Moreover, evidence of warfare in the archaeological record from Nubia is
|
||
scarce.[^2] One of the major reasons is the abandonment of the ancient
|
||
custom of accompanying the dead with tomb furnishings already from the
|
||
very beginnings of the Christian era in Nubia,[^3] whereas it was
|
||
precisely tombs that provided the richest material evidence for warfare
|
||
in terms of weaponry, as can be seen in A-Group,[^4] Kerma,[^5]
|
||
Napatan,[^6] Meroitic,[^7] and post-Meroitic burials.[^8] Wars were,
|
||
however, far from absent from Christian Nubia.
|
||
|
||
Warfare in Nubia is marked on the landscape by the numerous castles and
|
||
forts of the Middle Nile region,[^9] although their function was also as
|
||
sites of power, sights of might, centers of authority[^10]; it was
|
||
witnessed by the historians who recorded the frequent wars between
|
||
Christian Nubia and the Caliphate[^11]; it is related with slavery and
|
||
slaving expeditions that have impregnated the image of the past in Sudan
|
||
from prehistory until modernity[^12]; it was recorded implicitly on the
|
||
walls of the Nubian churches, where military saints, most often on
|
||
horseback, parade as martyrs of the Christian faith and as guarantors of
|
||
the security, longevity and prosperity of the Makuritan realm.
|
||
|
||
These military saints will set off the presentation of the textual
|
||
evidence on warfare in Old Nubian,[^13] because there has also been
|
||
preserved textual evidence of their cult, in the form of both shorter
|
||
texts (dedications, prayers) and longer hagiographic works,[^14] as well
|
||
as legal documents. From the sanctified humans that populated the
|
||
celestial army, we will then move to the *archistratēgos* of the
|
||
heavens, the archangel Michael, whose cult in Nubia has produced texts
|
||
that offer important insights into the military organization of the
|
||
Makuritan state. Finally, a question about the possibility of discerning
|
||
evidence of Makuritan naval forces in our epigraphic material will
|
||
conclude this modest contribution on warfare in Christian Nubia.
|
||
|
||
# The Protector of the Four Corners of the Nubian Nation
|
||
|
||
One of the most impressive documents of legal practice from Christian
|
||
Nubia is a Royal Proclamation found at Qasr Ibrim (P.QI 3 30) and dated
|
||
to the 23rd of August 1155.[^15] Through this legal act, king Moses
|
||
George proclaims the rights and privileges of the church of Saint
|
||
Epimachos at Ibrim West.[^16] The king threatens anyone who "speaks
|
||
against and denies my statement" (P.QI 3 30, l. 30) that Epimachos will
|
||
"stab him with his spear" (ll. 30-1). The action is described by the
|
||
verb ϣⲁⲅ and the weapon by the noun ϣⲓⲅⲣ̄, but whether the latter refers
|
||
to the "spear" indeed and not to any other weapon is uncertain. Without
|
||
parallel texts in other languages, it is difficult to confirm the
|
||
definitions in OND, which seem to try to conform with the fact that the
|
||
spear was the diagnostic iconographic attribute of Epimachos in Nubian
|
||
iconography (see below). There is moreover another word in the OND for
|
||
"spear" or "lance," i.e. ϣⲁ, which possibly has a related root, but
|
||
again it does not necessarily mean "spear." Finally, it should be noted
|
||
that an Old Nubian term for "ruler" is ϣⲓⲕⲉⲣⲓ, and although in the OND
|
||
this is etymologically linked with a variant ϣⲏⲕⲕ of the term ϣⲁⲗ for
|
||
"administrative unit," a verb ϣⲓⲕ, meaning "to rule" has recently been
|
||
identified in P.QI 4 93.4 and P.QI 4 108.7. It is tempting to associate
|
||
this verb with the noun ϣⲓⲅⲣ̄ and thus suggest that ϣⲓⲕⲉⲣⲓ was a military
|
||
ruler, but for the time being this hypothesis remains speculative.
|
||
|
||
In any case, the king's threat to invoke Saint Epimachos is presented in
|
||
the royal proclamation from Qasr Ibrim as even more powerful than the
|
||
King's curse; a heart attack; the sharing of Judas Iscariot's faith; and
|
||
the rejection of the trespasser by the society. Again, after all these
|
||
threats/curses, it is Epimachos who is called upon "on the day of
|
||
judgment" to "come great in battle against him" (ll. 34-5). Here, the
|
||
Old Nubian word for battle is used, i.e. ⲡⲛ̄ⲅ. There is also attested a
|
||
verb form ⲡⲛ̄ⲕ, i.e. "to fight," as well as a synonym ⲇⲓⳟⲉ (or
|
||
ⲇⲓⳟⲁⲣ).[^17] One instance of the use of the latter term in the Old
|
||
Nubian corpus translates the Greek participle πολεμουμένων, which
|
||
derives from the term πόλεμος, i.e. "war." In Nobiin, the verb ⲇⲓⳟ also
|
||
translates as "Krieg führen," [^18] and it is not inconceivable that a
|
||
derivative of the root ⲇⲓⳟ was also used to define "war" or "warfare." A
|
||
military victory can also be discerned behind the meaning of the term
|
||
ⲇⲓⳟⲁⲣⲧ, attested once in the OND translating the Greek word νῖκος.[^19]
|
||
In the same semantic field as ⲇⲓⳟⲉ (or ⲇⲓⳟⲁⲣ), there is the verb ⲉⲥⲕ
|
||
meaning "to conquer," which seems rather related with the ability to win
|
||
rather with the fight necessary to mark a military victory. However, in
|
||
one instance, the term is directly linked with the quality of a weapon,
|
||
namely a shield (about the Old Nubian terms for this weapon, see below):
|
||
P.QI 1 11.ii.2 ⲥⲟⲩⲇⲇⲟⲩ ⲙⲉⲇⲇⲕ̄ⲕⲧⲓⲛⲁ *ⲅⲟⲩⲉⲓⲟⲩ ⲉⲥⲕⲓϭⲣⲉⲛⲛⲗ̄*, that can be
|
||
translated as "the staff which is the victorious *shield* of readiness."
|
||
|
||
Conversely, the Greek term for "war," i.e. πόλεμος, was surely known in
|
||
Christian Nubia, since it appears several times in the Septuagint and
|
||
the New Testament. It is important to note that the Greek term is also
|
||
used in the Sahidic New Testament, suggesting that it is not impossible
|
||
that it had remained untranslated in the Old Nubian version of the Bible
|
||
too (for further evidence, see the section on Saint George).
|
||
|
||
Moreover, the adjective πολέμιος for "enemy," deriving from the noun
|
||
"πόλεμος" is attested in a prayer to Raphael from Banganarti, composed
|
||
in "extremely corrupted" Greek. In the same text, a participle
|
||
"πολεμόντων" (sic) also appears.[^20] From the rich textual corpus
|
||
recorded at the same site one can also glean a couple of instances of
|
||
the use of the Greek noun ἐχθρὸς, meaning «enemy».[^21] These instances
|
||
seem to rather refer, however, to the devil and other demonic forces as
|
||
the *par excellence* enemies of the Christians.
|
||
|
||
The term πολέμιος -- denoting real, earthly enemies -- is read in the
|
||
text on the back of a small wooden plaque found at the late Christian
|
||
settlement of Attiri, where Saint Epimachos is called upon "to protect
|
||
the roads from the enemies." [^22] At the same time, there is also an
|
||
Old Nubian term for "enemy," i.e. ⲟⲩⲕⲕⲁⲧⲧ stemming apparently from the
|
||
verb ⲟⲩⲣ meaning "to oppress."
|
||
|
||
The reference to "the roads" in the text of the Attiri plaque seems to
|
||
invest Epimachos with the role of the protector of the territory that
|
||
the ruler and/or the inhabitants of Attiri controlled. This role is
|
||
confirmed and expanded to the entire Makuritan realm in the text of P.QI
|
||
3 30.26-7, where the king makes an invocation "in order that Epimachos
|
||
might arise, come and place the four corners of the nation for care
|
||
under my feet."
|
||
|
||
Although there are several saints with the name Epimachos, it is
|
||
generally thought that the Nubian Epimachos is the same with Epimachus
|
||
of Pelusium, who was not initially a warrior-saint, but a weaver from
|
||
Pelusium who martyred for the Christian faith under Diocletian.[^23]
|
||
Perhaps through his association with other martyrs under Diocletian,
|
||
like Saint George, Epimachos became a warrior saint in the belief system
|
||
of the Christian Nubians; perhaps this was due to his name, including
|
||
the Greek word for battle, i.e. μάχη; or perhaps thanks to some local
|
||
miracle that was not preserved to us due to the loss of the relevant
|
||
written source. In any case, the cult of Epimachos was widespread at
|
||
least in Lower Nubia and in the later centuries of Christianity there
|
||
(first half of the second millennium CE), as can also be seen from a
|
||
fragment of a stela in Coptic,[^24] two fragmentarily preserved texts
|
||
witnessing an Old Nubian version of his Martyrdom,[^25] as well as from
|
||
two painted representations at Aballah-n Irqi and Abu Oda, where the
|
||
saint is spearing a fallen figure, like in the plaque from Attiri.[^26]
|
||
|
||
There were, however, other military saints who were at least equally
|
||
venerated in Christian Nubia as Saint Epimachos, and it seems that the
|
||
idea of Epimachos spearing the enemies is inherently linked with the
|
||
function of such saints who speared the adversary, in the form of a
|
||
dragon, a pagan or an apostate, symbolizing in general terms the evil
|
||
itself.
|
||
|
||
# The Saint *Stratēlates* Mercurios and George
|
||
|
||
The spearing of an adversary of the Christian faith is exemplified in
|
||
the Acta of Saint Mercurios.[^27] Mercurios was a Roman soldier who
|
||
martyred under Decius. The locality of his martyrdom was near Caesarea
|
||
in Cappadocia. Thence, he was linked in one legend with Saint Basil of
|
||
Caesarea. Basil was a contemporary of Julian the Apostate and, according
|
||
to a version of his Life, during Julian's Persian campaign, Basil was
|
||
informed in a dream that Mercurios was chosen by the Theotokos to kill
|
||
the emperor. Basil rose and went to the martyrion of Mercurios, but
|
||
neither his body nor his weapons were there. Later on, the news of
|
||
Julian's death reached him.
|
||
|
||
An exegesis for this miracle may be linked with the report by Ammianus
|
||
Marcellinus that Julian was killed by a lance "no one knows whence" (Res
|
||
Gestae XXV.3.6: incertum inde).[^28] Obviously, this vagueness gave room
|
||
to speculation for divine intervention, while the reason that Mercurios
|
||
was chosen may allegedly be linked with the role of Basil and the
|
||
geographical proximity of the martyrion with Julian's Persian campaign.
|
||
|
||
In any case, when the narrative about the assassination of Julian
|
||
reached Egypt, it was still linked with both the dream of Basil and the
|
||
spear of Mercurios, but rather seen as part of the History of the
|
||
patriarchate of Athanasios, apparently in order to invest the miracle
|
||
with local references. An even further alienation from the narrative in
|
||
Basil's Life is to be found in a Greek version of the Acta of Saint
|
||
Mercurios discovered at Qasr Ibrim. There, Basil has disappeared from
|
||
the miracle story, and the person who sees the dream is Pachomios. When
|
||
this dream comes, the father of coenobitic monasticism is together with
|
||
Athanasios, during the exile of the latter in the second half of
|
||
Julian's reign, i.e. 362-3 CE. The Theotokos has also disappeared from
|
||
the narrative and it is now an angel of God who reveals things to
|
||
Pachomios. Whether this new narrative is a local, i.e. Nubian, invention
|
||
or an Egyptian contextualization of the legend around the assassination
|
||
of the Emperor Julian cannot be investigated in this context.
|
||
|
||
It can be mentioned, however, that while Mercurios is represented in
|
||
Egyptian iconography both as a holder of a spear,[^29] and as Abu
|
||
Sayfayn, i.e. the Father with the two swords,[^30] in Nubia he appears
|
||
as the slayer of Julian with his spear in all known mural
|
||
representations, i.e. from Faras, Abdel Qadir and the Central Church of
|
||
Abdallah-n Irqi.[^31] The mural from Faras is of special importance,
|
||
because it has been suggested that the story of Abu Sayfayn was already
|
||
part of the complete iconographical concept in that section of the
|
||
cathedral (see below). Thus, the iconography of Mercurios spearing
|
||
Julian unites a type of weapon with the miracle story of the saint and
|
||
underlines the identification of Mercurios with the act of eliminating
|
||
pagans and the threat of the old religion.
|
||
|
||
This identification is relevant for the purpose of this paper, when one
|
||
considers that Mercurios was the name of a very important royal figure
|
||
in the history of medieval Nubia: King Mercurios ruled during the turn
|
||
from the 7th to the 8th century and the *History of the Patriarchs
|
||
of Alexandria* calls him the New Constantine, who "became by his
|
||
beautiful conduct like one of the Disciples".[^32] Although this
|
||
characterization has been linked with the annexation of Nobadia by
|
||
Makuria and the integration of the united kingdom in the hierarchy of
|
||
the Coptic Patriarchate of Alexandria, I have suggested that the name
|
||
Mercurios might have been given to him as indeed a New Constantine who
|
||
turned away from heathen practices the Nubian people remaining to be
|
||
Christianized, stamping out paganism like his name-sake saint speared
|
||
the last pagan emperor.[^33] In sum, for Christians of the Nile Valley,
|
||
the name Mercurios must have sounded extremely heroic, belligerent and
|
||
war-like.
|
||
|
||
Finally, there are three words that are attested in the Greek version of
|
||
the Acta S. Mercurii from Qasr Ibrim, which are of direct relevance for
|
||
the present investigation, namely:
|
||
|
||
\- the noun πόλεμον for "war" commemorating the Persian campaign of
|
||
Julian and confirming the knowledge that the Nubians must have had of
|
||
this term.
|
||
|
||
\- the noun λόγχαριν for "spear" identifying the miraculous weapon of
|
||
the martyr in Greek. About the Old Nubian term, see discussion in
|
||
previous section.
|
||
|
||
\- the adjective στρατηλάτης for "general" referring to Mercurios and
|
||
linking him with the other famous "general" of the Christian faith,
|
||
saint George.
|
||
|
||
Saint George is perhaps the most renowned military saint. He belongs to
|
||
the circle of Roman soldiers who martyred for the Christian faith under
|
||
Diocletian, but his fame far surpassed that of others, for reasons that
|
||
also surpass the scope of this article. His cult reached of course
|
||
Christian Nubia too, as is witnessed by fragments of both a Greek and an
|
||
Old Nubian version of his Acta that have been unearthed at Qasr Ibrim
|
||
and Kulubnarti respectively.[^34]
|
||
|
||
The Old Nubian fragments of the Martyrdom of Saint George have been
|
||
reconstructed on the basis of the Greek *editio princeps*, but find also
|
||
parallels in witnesses in several other languages.[^35] As to the Greek
|
||
version, it exhibits a text written in a Greek language characteristic
|
||
of late Christian Nubia,[^36] while its content seems to be a
|
||
combination of Greek and Coptic versions. This observation led the
|
||
editor of the Qasr Ibrim fragments to the hypothesis that the text is
|
||
either the result of a free choice from both sources or a Nubian edition
|
||
of an original narrative of the martyrdom antedating the Greek *editio
|
||
princeps*.[^37]
|
||
|
||
In terms of vocabulary, the Martyrdom of Saint George offers interesting
|
||
attestations in both versions:
|
||
|
||
In the Greek one, the term κομητοῦρα,[^38] a Latin loan-word also
|
||
attested in the *editio princeps*, is worthwhile to comment upon,
|
||
because it confirms the acquaintance of Nubians with Latin military
|
||
jargon, most probably as a result of an influx of Latin terms in
|
||
medieval Greek. Moreover, it is interesting that Roman military
|
||
correspondence has been unearthed at Qasr Ibrim,[^39] the site of
|
||
provenance of the Greek version of the Nubian martyrdom of Saint George.
|
||
The influence of Roman military practices in the Middle Nile region has
|
||
also been marked on the ground through the apparent similarities between
|
||
Roman forts and those built in the Middle Nile region during Late
|
||
Antiquity.[^40]
|
||
|
||
As far as the Old Nubian version of the Acta S. Georgii is concerned,
|
||
the most interesting term is ⲡⲁⲇⲁⳡⳝⲁⲣⲓ\[ⲗⲅⲟⲩⲗ\], which stands for the
|
||
Greek term σπαθάριος, or etymologically "those (soldiers) who carry
|
||
sword," combining the terms ⲡⲁⲇⲁⳡ for "sword" and ⳝⲁⲣ from ⲕⲁⲣⲣ for "to
|
||
grasp, hold".[^41] The shift from *kappa* to *jima* can be explained as
|
||
progressive assimilation under influence of the palatal nasal *nia*,
|
||
while the phenomenon of the incorporation of a noun into a verbal root
|
||
complex is attested in Old Nubian.[^42]
|
||
|
||
This etymological analysis may be compromised by the existence of the
|
||
Old Nubian word ⲕⲁⲣ meaning "shield," which could translate the term as
|
||
"the holder (sic) of the sword and the shield," but without any morpheme
|
||
explicating the coining of the two terms, unless it can be found in the
|
||
reconstructed part of the manuscript. Moreover, the existence of a Greek
|
||
Vorlage for the Acta S. Georgii gives good ground for accepting the
|
||
original etymological analysis, while the term ⲕⲁⲣ is only attested in a
|
||
passage of the Stauros-text, that the Coptic parallel text does not
|
||
preserve.[^43]
|
||
|
||
Finally, the analysis of ⲡⲁⲇⲁⳡⳝⲁⲣⲓ\[ⲗⲅⲟⲩⲗ\] as "those (soldiers) who
|
||
carry sword" opens the path for a new interpretation of another office
|
||
from the titulature used in Christian Nubia, namely ⲅⲟⲩⲕⲁⲣⲕⲟⲗ.
|
||
|
||
This term is attested in P.QI 3 30.37 & 41 and seems to derive its
|
||
etymology from the word ⲅⲟⲩⲉⲓ for "shield" or "armor" more generally.
|
||
The last element ⲕⲟⲗ defines "the one who has," forming a sort of a
|
||
participle. And the remaining three letters could again be interpreted
|
||
either as ⲕⲁⲣ meaning "shield" or as ⲕⲁⲣⲣ meaning "to grasp/hold". In my
|
||
opinion, it makes better sense to use the latter etymology and to see
|
||
ⲅⲟⲩⲕⲁⲣⲕⲟⲗ as a term defining the officer who is wielding the
|
||
shield.[^44] For this etymology to work, one must account for the
|
||
dropping of the final glide, a phenomenon which is not unattested.
|
||
|
||
The relation of this office with the "shield" brings to mind the Greek
|
||
title ὑπασπιστής, which means "the one who is under the shield" and
|
||
derives from the Macedonian military organization, where the hypaspistēs
|
||
were a sort of esquires.[^45] The office continued into the Byzantine
|
||
period and, according to Maspero the hypaspistēs were the guard of the
|
||
duces in Egypt,[^46] often composed of mercenaries, also including
|
||
"Ethiopians", a term used for the peoples leaving south of Egypt, but
|
||
which remains vague whether it denoted in the medieval era the Nubians
|
||
or the inhabitants of modern-day Ethiopia or both.[^47] The meaning
|
||
"guard" for hypaspistēs appears also in Byzantine sources of the 11th
|
||
century,[^48] while in later times the hypaspistēs were important
|
||
individuals close to the ruler, sort of retainers of the king.
|
||
Interestingly, the most renowned chronicle of the Fall of Constantinople
|
||
in 1453 was written by Georgios Frantzis who was -- among other things
|
||
-- the hypaspistēs of the last Byzantine Emperor, Constantine
|
||
Paleologos.[^49]
|
||
|
||
This interest lies with the fact that both instances of the term
|
||
ⲅⲟⲩⲕⲁⲣⲕⲟⲗ in the Old Nubian corpus derive from the royal proclamation
|
||
from Qasr Ibrim, examined in the section about Epimachos. Now, the first
|
||
instance is only preserved partially as ⲅⲟⲩⲕ ̀ⲕ ́ and has been
|
||
deciphered based on the second one, although they apparently refer to
|
||
different persons, first to someone called Papasa and then to someone
|
||
called Ounta. The first one accumulates several titles, mainly monastic,
|
||
palatial, and bureaucratic; the second one is a scribe. It is not
|
||
improbable that such individuals in Christian Nubia may also have
|
||
exercised military functions, as the etymology based on ⲅⲟⲩⲉⲓ for
|
||
"shield, armor" may indicate and the history of the term hypaspistēs in
|
||
Byzantine Egypt underlines, but it is equally probable that the office
|
||
meant in Makuria the same as in the later centuries in Byzantium, namely
|
||
an esquire. At least this seems, in my opinion, more fitting with Papasa
|
||
and Ounta in the service of king Moses George.
|
||
|
||
In any case, a military aura of the Makuritan royal court is very
|
||
plausible, given, among other things, the certainly important role that
|
||
the king played in warfare, as is attested in the Arabic sources
|
||
referring to Christian Nubia, where the king always appears as the
|
||
leader of the Nubian armies. We could look for example at this same king
|
||
Moses George who stamped with hot iron a cross on the hand of the
|
||
emissary of none less than Saladin, when he was asked to subdue and
|
||
convert to Islam[^50]; or much earlier in the 8th century, when king
|
||
Kyriakos invaded Egypt and caused chaos there attempting to liberate the
|
||
imprisoned patriarch Michael[^51]; or even in the heroic defense of
|
||
Dongola in the 7th century by king Qalidurut who signed the
|
||
much-discussed *baqt* with Abdalla ibn Sa'd.[^52] During the siege, the
|
||
world came to know the might of the Nubian archers who were praised by
|
||
the Arabic chroniclers and poets for centuries to come. The Old Nubian
|
||
word for bow is attested once in a passage translated from Greek
|
||
Patristic literature: ⲇⲁⲙⲁⲣ. Interestingly, in the OND, this term is
|
||
linked etymologically with the Dongolawi/Andaandi *tungur*, which has a
|
||
striking phonetic similarity with the Old Nubian toponym for the
|
||
Makuritan capital, namely ⲧⲟⲩⲅⲅⲟⲩⲗ. Although the term tungur for "bow"
|
||
seems unrelated to the accepted etymologies of ⲧⲟⲩⲅⲅⲟⲩⲗ,[^53] it cannot
|
||
be excluded that the inhabitants of Dongola associated their city with
|
||
the war technique that their ancestors became famous for, and they
|
||
themselves surely still practiced. This is a line of thought that might
|
||
be worth investigating further in a future study.
|
||
|
||
# The ⲥⲟⳟⲟⳝ of Heavens and the Archistratēgos of the Makuritan King
|
||
|
||
Mercurios and George were sanctified and as stratēlates were
|
||
posthumously surely manning the celestial hosts in their perennial and
|
||
eternal fight against evil, along with Epimachos and the other military
|
||
saints of Nubia. In this superhuman afterlife, the martyrs would thus be
|
||
expected to join forces with the archistratēgos of heavens, the leader
|
||
of the angelic hosts, the archangel Michael.
|
||
|
||
Characteristically, the swords that Mercurios holds in his
|
||
representations in Coptic art as Abu Sayfayn are given to him by Michael
|
||
as narrated in the *Encomium of Acacius, Bishop of Caesarea, on
|
||
Mercurius the Martyr*.[^54] It seems that the Nubians were aware of that
|
||
story and while preserving the spear as weapon of the mounted Saint
|
||
Mercurios in the cathedral of Faras, they represented on the adjoining
|
||
wall Michael offering the sword to the saint.[^55]
|
||
|
||
The archangel Michael is the most venerated celestial being in the
|
||
Christian pantheon of medieval Nubia with innumerable sources dedicated
|
||
to his cult.[^56] One of the most popular aspects of the archangel's
|
||
cult is an apocryphal work called "The Book of the Investiture of the
|
||
Archangel Michael," which describes -- among other things -- the fall of
|
||
Mastema (i.e. the devil) from Heaven due to his objection to venerate
|
||
Adam as an image of God and his replacement by Michael who thence
|
||
becomes protector of the humans and leader/archistratēgos of the angelic
|
||
hosts.[^57]
|
||
|
||
A lot has been written about the importance of this work in Nubia.[^58]
|
||
One important element in the discussion is the coincidence that the
|
||
focal passage of the entire work -- the scene of the Investiture of
|
||
Michael -- is the only thing narrated in the two versions fragmentarily
|
||
preserved in two Nubian manuscripts: one in Greek from Serra East and
|
||
one in Old Nubian from Qasr Ibrim.[^59] Among other insights that this
|
||
coincidence offers, there is one that obtains a special importance in
|
||
the context of the present paper, namely that the word that translates
|
||
the Greek term ἀρχιστράτηγος in Old Nubian is ⲥⲟⳟⲟⳝ, which is most
|
||
probably the term used to define an Eparch of the Makuritan
|
||
kingdom,[^60] more often than not (but not exclusively) linked with the
|
||
Late Antique kingdom of Nobadia controlling between the 4^th^-5^th^ and
|
||
the 6^th^-7^th^ centuries Lower Nubia.
|
||
|
||
There are, however, more Eparchs attested in the Nubian sources than
|
||
just the Eparch of Nobadia. Whether all Eparchs were Songoj or whether
|
||
all Eparchs had (also) a military function, it is impossible to
|
||
ascertain. The Eparch of Nobadia though (the Migin Songoj of the Nubian
|
||
texts) seems to be the same term as the "Lord of the Mountain," which is
|
||
attested in Arabic sources and although apparently linked with economic
|
||
activities (an idea based on the nature of the documents in which the
|
||
title appears) he was also understood as a military officer and also
|
||
called "Lord of the Horses."[^61] Suffice to be reminded here that
|
||
military saints in Nubia were mostly depicted on horseback.[^62]
|
||
|
||
One more detail from the field of Nubian iconography: a mural from Faras
|
||
housed at the National Museum of Warsaw represents an unnamed Eparch who
|
||
holds a bow,[^63] perhaps the weapon par excellence of Nubians, as we
|
||
mentioned in the reference to the successful defense of Dongola against
|
||
the invading Islamic army in the 7th century. Admittedly, this is not
|
||
the only representation of an Eparch from Christian Nubia, but the sole
|
||
iconographic witness of the links between the Eparch and warfare.
|
||
|
||
So, although the title of the Eparch may have been used for a variety of
|
||
functions in the Makuritan state, the military one should not be doubted
|
||
based on the translation of ἀρχιστράτηγος as ⲥⲟⳟⲟⳝ in the Book of the
|
||
Investiture of the Archangel Michael. All this is of course the result
|
||
of the identification of the titles Eparch and ⲥⲟⳟⲟⳝ. This
|
||
identification is quite certain for some contexts, but during the
|
||
centuries (at least six) that it was in use the terms may have shifted
|
||
semantic fields. So, it is plausible that the term ⲥⲟⳟⲟⳝ translating the
|
||
Greek ἀρχιστράτηγος was a military office that supplemented the civil
|
||
functions of the Eparch, an office for which the Old Nubian term is
|
||
unknown -- if it ever existed. On the same token, one may be reminded of
|
||
the existence of the offices of *peseto* and *pelmos* in Meroitic Lower
|
||
Nubia, the former having civil functions and the latter military
|
||
ones.[^64]
|
||
|
||
Leaving aside this necessary and eventually inevitable nuancing for a
|
||
different venue, it may be concluded in the context of the present paper
|
||
that the Songoj/Eparch was (also) the archistratēgos of the Makuritan
|
||
king, a sort of a *præfectus prætorio* or ἔπαρχος στρατευμάτων.[^65]
|
||
|
||
Hence, a complementary working hypothesis can be advanced. In the Greek
|
||
version of the Book of the Investiture of the Archangel Michael, we get
|
||
a detailed description of the celestial ceremony of investiture, where
|
||
Michael is receiving the garments of his new function, the uniform of
|
||
the archistratēgos. In the first instance that the military character of
|
||
the archangel's dress is mentioned, the garments are called
|
||
στρατοπεδαρχίας ἀμφιάσματα, "the clothes of the chief of the military
|
||
encampment." The Old Nubian text prefers again to state that Michael was
|
||
dressed in the garment of the office of the ⲥⲟⳟⲟⳝ. So, it seems that for
|
||
the Makuritans the Songoj was an army general presiding over an
|
||
encampment. Was this encampment permanent? Or did the role apply to the
|
||
leadership of a special type of unit stationed at a given locality? And
|
||
to what degree such στρατοπεδαρχίαι reflect the local authority that
|
||
eventually the various Eparchs attested in our sources had? These
|
||
questions should remain open until new discoveries and a more thorough
|
||
study of the material takes place.
|
||
|
||
# War on the Nile
|
||
|
||
There is a last aspect that is worthwhile a comment in the framework of
|
||
the present paper. The dimensions of warfare discussed hereby all seem
|
||
to refer to land forces. However, the most characteristic element of the
|
||
Nubian civilization is its relation with the River Nile. Therefore, its
|
||
navigation cannot have left unaffected the military exploits of
|
||
Christian Nubians. Actually, it has already been suggested that the
|
||
placement of the fortresses of Makuria along the banks of the Nile
|
||
necessitated the existence of a fleet which could transport the army and
|
||
vital provisions in case of a land attack from intruders, be they desert
|
||
marauders or the Egyptian army.[^66] Unfortunately, there is very little
|
||
in our sources that gives information about the naval forces of the
|
||
Makuritans. Moreover, what is known about navigation on the Nile in
|
||
terms of Old Nubian vocabulary has already been presented and this
|
||
material includes nothing that points with certainty to warfare.[^67]
|
||
|
||
There exists, however, one title in Greek, namely ναυάρχης, for
|
||
ναύαρχος, meaning "admiral," who has been already seen as the leader of
|
||
the fleet transporting goods and military units to the Makuritan
|
||
fortresses.[^68] Furthermore, there should be no doubt that an "admiral"
|
||
was always in existence in Nubia, since we know of a "strategos of the
|
||
water" from Meroitic times.[^69] Now, it has been shown in an early
|
||
study of the titles and honorific epithets from Nubia that ναυάρχης,
|
||
albeit of apparently Byzantine inspiration, was not the preferred
|
||
*terminus technicus* for a Byzantine "admiral," but it was mainly to be
|
||
found in literary works.[^70] Thus, it is worthwhile enquiring whether
|
||
the Makuritans did not make some bookish research in order to find the
|
||
term that they would use for their admiral, as it seems that they have
|
||
done in other occasions, like in the accumulation of terms for "king" in
|
||
the renowned Kudanbes inscription, which -- rather unsurprisingly under
|
||
this light -- is one of the places where the term ναυάρχης is being
|
||
attested.[^71]
|
||
|
||
# Concluding Remarks
|
||
|
||
It would be difficult to pronounce a set of conclusions from this study
|
||
that aimed primarily at assembling lexicographical data about warfare in
|
||
Christian Nubia. Previous research has already traced the outlines of
|
||
the influence of Greek terminology upon the way Nubians created their
|
||
own titles and honorific epithets and there has not been found any new
|
||
military terms or words of weaponry that can be added to OND. However,
|
||
new apprehension of a couple of words on war was proposed here, while
|
||
the revisiting of both literary and documentary sources has offered a
|
||
reappraisal of some others and the nuancing of their contextualization
|
||
against the background of the Makuritan Christian kingdom, undoubtedly
|
||
involved in wars along its history and across the classes of its social
|
||
stratification. Finally, it is perhaps the main contribution of this
|
||
paper to show the potential of teasing out information about neglected
|
||
aspects of the Nubian past from a careful and educated but also bold and
|
||
imaginative reading of the available material.
|
||
|
||
# References
|
||
|
||
Browne, Gerald Michael. *Old Nubian Texts from Qasr
|
||
Ibrim*, volume 3. London: Egypt Exploration Society, 1991.
|
||
|
||
---------. "An Old Nubian Version of the Martyrdom of Saint Epimachus."
|
||
In *50 Years of Polish Excavations in Egypt and the Near East: Acts of
|
||
the Symposium at the Warsaw University, 1986*, edited by Stefan
|
||
Jakobielski and Janusz Karkowski, pp. 74--7.
|
||
Warsaw: Centre Professeur Kazimierz Michalowski d\'Archéologie
|
||
Méditerranéenne de l\'Université de Varsovie: Centre d\'Archéologie
|
||
Méditerranéenne de l\'Académie polonaise des Sciences, 1992.
|
||
|
||
---------. "Old Nubian literature." In *Études Nubiennes. Conférence de
|
||
Genève, Actes du VIIe* *Congrès international d'études nubiennes, 3--8
|
||
septembre 1990*, I: *Communications principales*, edited by Charles
|
||
Bonnet, pp. 379-87. Geneva: Compotronic SA, 1992.
|
||
|
||
--------- . *Old Nubian Dictionary*. Louvain: Peeters, 1996.
|
||
|
||
--------- . *The Old Nubian Martyrdom of Saint George* \[=CSCO 575.
|
||
Subsidia t. 101\]. Louvain: Peeters, 1998.
|
||
|
||
--------- . "An Old Nubian translation of the Martyrdom of Saint
|
||
Epimachus." *Le muséon* 115 (2002): pp. 69--76.
|
||
|
||
Budge, E. A. W. *Miscellaneous Texts in the Dialect of
|
||
Upper Egypt*. Coptic Texts; Edited with Introductions and English
|
||
Translations, 5. London: British Museum, 1915.
|
||
|
||
Crawford, Osbert Guy Stanhope. *Castles and Churches in the
|
||
Middle Nile Region* \[=Sudan Antiquities Service Occasional Papers 2).
|
||
Khartoum, 1953.
|
||
|
||
Derda, Tomasz and Adam Łajtar. "Greek and
|
||
Latin papyri from the Egypt Exploration Society excavations at Qasr
|
||
Ibrim: A testimony to the Roman army in Upper Egypt and Lower Nubia in
|
||
the first years of Augustus." In *Actes du 26e Congrès international de
|
||
papyrologie, Genève, 16--21 août 2010*, edited by Paul
|
||
Schubert, pp. 183--186. Geneva: Libraire Droz, 2012.
|
||
|
||
--------- . "The Roman Occupation of Qasr Ibrim as Reflected in the
|
||
Greek Papyri from the Site." In *Qasr Ibrim, Between Egypt and Africa*,
|
||
edited by Jacques Van der Vliet and Joost
|
||
Hagen, pp. 105-110. Leuven: Peeters, 2013.
|
||
|
||
Drzewiecki, Mariusz. *Mighty Kingdoms and their Forts. The
|
||
Role of Fortified Sites in the Fall of Meroe and Rise of Medieval Realms
|
||
in Upper Nubia* (Nubia VI). Warsaw: Institute of Mediterranean and
|
||
Oriental Cultures, Polish Academy of Sciences, 2016.
|
||
|
||
--------- . "Roman Type Forts in the Middle Nile Valley. Late Antique
|
||
Fortlets between Patterns of Roman Military Architecture and Local
|
||
Tradition." In *Experiencing the Frontier and the Frontier Experience.
|
||
Barbarian Perspectives and Roman Strategies to Deal with New Threats*,
|
||
edited by Alexander Rubel and Hans-Ulrich Voß, pp. 179-192. Oxford:
|
||
Archaeopress, 2020.
|
||
|
||
Edwards, David N. "The *Christianisation* of *Nubia*: some
|
||
archaeological pointers." *Sudan & Nubia* 5 (2001): pp. 89--96.
|
||
|
||
--------- . "Slavery and Slaving in the Medieval and Post-Medieval
|
||
Kingdoms of the Middle Nile." *Proceedings of the British Academy* 168
|
||
(2011): pp. 79-108.
|
||
|
||
Esbroeck, Michel van. "Epimachus of Pelusium, Saint." In
|
||
*The Coptic Encyclopedia*, vol. 3, edited by Aziz S.
|
||
Atiya, pp. 965b-967a. New York: MacMillan, 1991.
|
||
\[https://ccdl.claremont.edu/digital/collection/cce/id/792\] last
|
||
accessed in February 2021.
|
||
|
||
--------- . "Mercurius of Caesarea, Saint." In *The Coptic
|
||
Encyclopedia*, vol. 5, edited by Aziz S. Atiya, pp.
|
||
1592a-1594a. New York: MacMillan, 1991.
|
||
\[https://ccdl.claremont.edu/digital/collection/cce/id/1327\] last
|
||
accessed in February 2021.
|
||
|
||
Foulon, Eric. "Hypaspistes, peltastes, chrysaspides,
|
||
argyraspides, chalcaspides." *Revue des études anciennes* 98 (1996): pp.
|
||
53-63.
|
||
|
||
Francigny, Vincent. *Les coutumes funéraires dans le
|
||
royaume de Méroé : Les enterrements privés* \[=Orient et Méditerranée
|
||
22\]. Paris: Boccard, 2016.
|
||
|
||
Frend, William H.C. "The Cult of Military Saints in
|
||
Christian Nubia." In *Theologia Crucis -- Signum Crucis. Festschrift für
|
||
Erich Dinkler zum 70. Geburtstag*, edited by Carl Andersen
|
||
and Günter Klein, pp. 155-163. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck,
|
||
1979.
|
||
|
||
--------- . "Fragments of a version of the Acta S. Georgii from Q\'asr
|
||
Ibrim." *Jahrbuch für Antike und Christentum* 32 (1989): pp. 89-104.
|
||
|
||
Van Gerven Oei, Vincent WJ. *A Reference Grammar of Old
|
||
Nubian*. Leuven: Peeters, 2021.
|
||
|
||
Van Gerven Oei, Vincent W.J., Vincent Laisney, Giovanni
|
||
Ruffini, Alexandros Tsakos, Kerstin
|
||
Weber and Petra Weschenfelder, *The Old
|
||
Nubian Texts from Attiri*. \[=Dotawo Monographs 1\]. n/a: Punctum, 2016.
|
||
|
||
Van Gerven Oei, Vincent W.J., and Alexandros Tsakos.
|
||
"Apostolic Memoirs in Old Nubian", In *Parabiblica Coptica*, edited by
|
||
Ivan Miroshnikov. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, forthcoming.
|
||
|
||
Griffith, Francis Llewellyn. "Christian Documents from
|
||
Nubia." *Proceedings of the British Academy* 14 (1928): pp. 117-146.
|
||
|
||
Hafsaas-Tsakos, Henriette. "Edges of bronze
|
||
and expressions of masculinity: The emergence of a warrior class at
|
||
Kerma in Sudan." *Antiquity*, 87/335 (2013): pp. 79-91.
|
||
|
||
Hafsaas-Tsakos, Henriette. *War on the
|
||
Southern Frontier of the Emerging State of Ancient Egypt: A Warfare
|
||
Perspective on the History of the A-Group People in Lower Nubia during
|
||
the 4th millennium BCE*. PhD thesis. University of Bergen, 2015.
|
||
|
||
Hendrickx, Benjamin, "The "Lord of the Mountain". A Study
|
||
of the Nubian *eparchos of Nobadia*." *Le Muséon* 124/3-4 (2011): pp.
|
||
303-355.
|
||
|
||
Hägg, Tomas. "Titles and honorific epithets in Nubian
|
||
Greek texts." *Symbolae Osloenses* 65 (1990): pp. 147-177.
|
||
|
||
Jakobielski, Stefan. *Pachoras/Faras: The Wall Paintings
|
||
from the Cathedrals of Aetios, Paulos and Petros* \[=PAM Monograph
|
||
Series 4\]. Warsaw: Polish Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology 2017.
|
||
|
||
Khalil, Mokhtar M. *Wörterbuch der nubischen Sprache
|
||
(Fadidja/Mahas-Dialekt)*. Warsaw 1996.
|
||
|
||
Koukounas, Konstantinos, *Georgios Phrantzes, Chronicon*.
|
||
Athens: Politeia 2018 (in Greek: [Κουκούνας Κωνσταντίνος
|
||
(επ.), *Χρονικό. Φραντζής Γεώργιος (Σφραντζής)*. Αθήνα: Πολιτεία 2018)
|
||
|
||
Lenoble, Patrice. *El-Hobagi: Une Necropole de Rang
|
||
Imperial Au Soudan Central* (Fouilles de l\'Institut Francais
|
||
d\'Archeologie Orientale). Cairo: IFAO, 2018.
|
||
|
||
Łajtar, Adam. "On the Name of the Capital of the Nubian
|
||
Kingdom of Makuria." *Przeglad Humanistyczny* 2 (2013), pp. 127-34.
|
||
|
||
--------- . *A Late Christian Pilgrimage Centre in Nubia. The Evidence
|
||
of Wall Inscriptions in the Upper Church at Banganarti* \[=Journal of
|
||
Juristic Papyrology Supplement Series XXXIX\]. Leuven: Peeters, 2020.
|
||
|
||
--------- . "The so-called Kudanbes Inscription in Deir Anba Hadra (St.
|
||
Simeon Monastery) near Aswan: An Attempt at a New Reading and
|
||
Interpretation." in preparation.
|
||
|
||
Martens-Czarnecka, Małgorzata, *The Wall Paintings from
|
||
the Monastery on Kom H in Dongola* \[=Nubia III, Dongola 3\]. Warsaw:
|
||
Polish Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology 2011.
|
||
|
||
Mason, Hugh J. *Greek Terms for Roman Institutions: A
|
||
Lexicon and Analysis*. Toronto: Hakkert 1974.
|
||
|
||
Maspero, Jean. *Organisation militaire de l'Égypte
|
||
byzantine*. Paris: Librairie Honoré Champion, 1912.
|
||
|
||
Michałowski, Kazimierz. *Faras - Wall Paintings in the
|
||
Collection of the National Museum in Warsaw*. Warsaw, 1974.
|
||
|
||
Osman, Ali. "The Post-Medieval Kingdom of Kokka: A Means
|
||
for a Better Understanding of the Administration of the Medieval Kingdom
|
||
of Dongola." In *Nubian Studies*, edited by Jack Martin Plumley, pp.
|
||
185-197. Cambridge, 1978.
|
||
|
||
Ostrogorsky, George. "Observations on the Aristocracy in
|
||
Byzantium." *Dumbarton Oaks Papers* 25 (1971): pp. 1-32.
|
||
|
||
Piankoff, Alexandre. "Peintures au monastère de Saint
|
||
Antoine." *Bullétin de la Société d'archéologie copte* XIV (1958): pp.
|
||
151-163.
|
||
|
||
Plumley, Jack Martin and Gerald Michael
|
||
Browne, *Old Nubian Texts from Qasr Ibrim, volume 1*.
|
||
London: Egypt Exploration Society, 1988.
|
||
|
||
Ruffini, Giovanni. *Medieval Nubia: A Social and Economic
|
||
History*. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012.
|
||
|
||
--------- . *The Bishop, the Eparch, and the King. Old Nubian Texts from
|
||
Qasr Ibrim (P. QI IV)* \[=Journal of Juristic Papyrology Supplement
|
||
Series XXII\]. Warsaw, 2014.
|
||
|
||
Seignobos, Robin. *L'Égypte et la Nubie à l'époque
|
||
médiévale. Élaboration et transmission des savoirs historiographiques
|
||
(641-ca. 1500)*. PhD thesis. Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne,
|
||
Paris, 2016.
|
||
|
||
Simmons, Adam. *Nubia, Ethiopia, and the Crusading World,
|
||
1095-1402*. London: Routledge, 2022.
|
||
|
||
Tsakos, Alexandros. "Miscellanea Epigraphica Nubica III:
|
||
Epimachos of Attiri: a Warrior Saint of Late Christian Nubia."
|
||
*Collectanea Christiana Orientalia* 9 (2012): pp. 205-23.
|
||
|
||
--------- . "The Liber Institutionis Michaelis in Medieval Nubia."
|
||
*Dotawo* 1 (2014): pp. 51-62.
|
||
|
||
--------- . *The Greek Manuscripts on Parchment discovered at site
|
||
SR022.A in the Fourth Cataract region, North Sudan*. PhD thesis.
|
||
Humboldt University, Berlin, 2018.
|
||
|
||
--------- . "Terms for Boats and Navigation in Old Nubia." In *Graffiti
|
||
as Devotion Along the Nile and Beyond*, edited by
|
||
Emberling, Geoff and Suzanne Davis, p. 50.
|
||
Kelsey Museum Publications 16, 2019.
|
||
|
||
--------- . "Textual finds from Cerre Matto." In *Oriental Institute of
|
||
Chicago Nubian Expedition monograph series, vol. 13*, Chicago,
|
||
forthcoming.
|
||
|
||
--------- . "Sources about the cult and persona of the archangel Michael
|
||
in Nubia". In *Proceedings of the 14th International Congress of Nubian
|
||
Studies*, edited by Vincent Rondot. Paris, forthcoming*.*
|
||
|
||
--------- . "The Christianization of Nubia". In *Christianization
|
||
Processes along the Nile: Texts, Monasticism and Ecclesiastic Structures
|
||
in Egypt, Ethiopia and Nubia*, edited by [Derat,
|
||
Marie-Laure and Alexandros Tsakos. Paris, in preparation.
|
||
|
||
Vantini, Giovanni Fr. *Oriental Sources Concerning Nubia*.
|
||
Warsaw -- Heidelberg, 1975.
|
||
|
||
Van der Vliet, Jacques. *Catalogue of the Coptic
|
||
Inscriptions in the Sudan National Museum at Khartoum (I. Khartoum
|
||
Copt.)* \[=Orientalia Lovaniensia Analecta 121\]. Leuven: Peeters 2003.
|
||
|
||
Welsby, Derek A. *The Kingdom of Kush. The Napatan and
|
||
Meroitic Empires*. London: British Museum Press, 1996.
|
||
|
||
--------- . *The Medieval Kingdoms of Nubia. Pagans, Christians and
|
||
Muslims along the Middle Nile*. London: British Museum Press, 2012.
|
||
|
||
Zielińska, Dobrochna and Alexandros Tsakos.
|
||
"Representations of the Archangel Michael in Wall Paintings from
|
||
Christian Nubia." In *The Archangel Michael in Africa: History, Cult and
|
||
Persona*, edited by Ingvild Sælid Gilhus, Alexandros
|
||
Tsakos and Marta Camilla[Wright, pp. 79-94.
|
||
London-New York-Oxford-New Delhi-Sydney: Bloomsbury Academics 2019.
|
||
|
||
Żurawski, Bogdan. "Strongholds on the Middle Nile: Nubian
|
||
Fortifications of the Middle Ages." In *The Power of Walls -- The
|
||
Fortifications of Ancient Northeastern Africa: Proceedings of the
|
||
International Workshop Held at the University of Cologne 4th-7th
|
||
August 2011*, edited by Friedrike Jesse and Carola
|
||
Vogel, pp. 113-43. Cologne: Heinrich Barth Institut 2013.
|
||
|
||
[^1]: The author would like to thank Adam Łajtar and
|
||
Vincent W.J. van Gerven Oei for their reviews of this study.
|
||
|
||
[^2]: For a general presentation, see Welsby, *The
|
||
Medieval Kingdoms of Nubia*, pp. 78-82.
|
||
|
||
[^3]: Edwards, "The *Christianisation* of *Nubia*: some
|
||
archaeological pointers", p. 89
|
||
|
||
[^4]: Hafsaas-Tsakos, *War on the Southern Frontier of the Emerging
|
||
State of Ancient Egypt*.
|
||
|
||
[^5]: Hafsaas-Tsakos, "Edges of bronze and expressions of masculinity:
|
||
The emergence of a warrior class at Kerma in Sudan".
|
||
|
||
[^6]: Welsby, *The Kingdom of Kush*, pp. 39-50.
|
||
|
||
[^7]: Francigny, *Les coutumes funéraires dans le royaume
|
||
de Méroé*.
|
||
|
||
[^8]: Lenoble, *El-Hobagi*.
|
||
|
||
[^9]: Crawford, *Castles and Churches in the Middle Nile
|
||
Region.*
|
||
|
||
[^10]: Drzewiecki, *Mighty Kingdoms and their Forts.*
|
||
|
||
[^11]: Vantini, *Oriental Sources Concerning Nubia*;
|
||
Seignobos, *L'Égypte et la Nubie à l'époque
|
||
médiévale.*
|
||
|
||
[^12]: Edwards, "Slavery and Slaving in the Medieval and
|
||
Post-Medieval Kingdoms of the Middle Nile".
|
||
|
||
[^13]: All the Old Nubian words assembled in this study can be found in
|
||
Browne, Old Nubian Dictionary (hence OND).
|
||
|
||
[^14]: Frend, "The Cult of Military Saints in Christian
|
||
Nubia".
|
||
|
||
[^15]: For the correction of the date from 1156, see
|
||
Ruffini, *Medieval Nubia: A Social and Economic
|
||
History*, pp. 265-70.
|
||
|
||
[^16]: The same church may be the object of two more documents, i.e.
|
||
P.QI 3 40 & P.QI 3 53.
|
||
|
||
[^17]: Here a corrigendum to P.Attiri 1.ii.1 from \[ⲁⲛ\] to \[ⲇⲓ\]
|
||
should be noted, see Van Gerven Oei e.a., *The Old
|
||
Nubian Texts from Attiri*, p. 39.
|
||
|
||
[^18]: Khalil, *Wörterbuch der nubischen Sprache*, p. 41.
|
||
|
||
[^19]: The word ⲇⲓⳟⲧ̄ for "wrestling" is totally reconstructed in OND and
|
||
is not considered in the present discussion.
|
||
|
||
[^20]: Łajtar, *A Late Christian Pilgrimage Centre in
|
||
Nubia. The Evidence of Wall Inscriptions in the Upper Church at
|
||
Banganarti*, pp. 383-385 (inscription nr. 578). The citation is from
|
||
p. 384.
|
||
|
||
[^21]: Idem, p. 562-3 and inscription 964.
|
||
|
||
[^22]: Tsakos, "Miscellanea Epigraphica Nubica III:
|
||
Epimachos of Attiri: a Warrior Saint of Late Christian Nubia", pp.
|
||
215-7.
|
||
|
||
[^23]: Esbroeck, "Epimachus of Pelusium, Saint", *Coptic
|
||
Encyclopedia*, pp. 965b-967a.
|
||
|
||
[^24]: Van der Vliet, *I. Khartoum Copt.*, pp. 83-4 (nr.
|
||
24).
|
||
|
||
[^25]: Browne, "An Old Nubian Version of the Martyrdom of
|
||
Saint Epimachus" and "An Old Nubian translation of the Martyrdom of
|
||
Saint Epimachus".
|
||
|
||
[^26]: See Tsakos, "Miscellanea Epigraphica Nubica III:
|
||
Epimachos of Attiri: a Warrior Saint of Late Christian Nubia", p.
|
||
213 with an image of the plaque and pp. 220-1 for the other
|
||
representations with references
|
||
|
||
[^27]: Frend, "The Cult of Military Saints in Christian
|
||
Nubia", pp. 156-8.
|
||
|
||
[^28]: For the reference, see Idem, p. 157 and note 9.
|
||
|
||
[^29]: Piankoff, "Peintures au monastère de Saint
|
||
Antoine", p. 160 and ill. IV.
|
||
|
||
[^30]: Esbroeck, "Mercurius of Caesarea, Saint", pp.
|
||
1593b-1594a.
|
||
|
||
[^31]: See Frend, "The Cult of Military Saints in
|
||
Christian Nubia", p. 157 for references.
|
||
|
||
[^32]: Vantini, *Oriental Sources Concerning Nubia*, p.
|
||
40; Seignobos, *L'Égypte et la Nubie à l'époque
|
||
médiévale*, p. 96.
|
||
|
||
[^33]: Tsakos, "The Christianization of Nubia".
|
||
|
||
[^34]: For the find from Qasr Ibrim, see Frend, "Fragments
|
||
of a version of the Acta S. Georgii from Q\'asr Ibrim". For the find
|
||
from Kulubnarti, see Browne, *The Old Nubian Martyrdom
|
||
of Saint George*.
|
||
|
||
[^35]: Browne, ibid., p. 1-3.
|
||
|
||
[^36]: For the general characteristics of Greek in Late Christian Nubia,
|
||
see Łajtar, *A Late Christian Pilgrimage Centre in
|
||
Nubia. The Evidence of Wall Inscriptions in the Upper Church at
|
||
Banganarti*, pp. 20-30.
|
||
|
||
[^37]: Frend, "Fragments of a version of the Acta S.
|
||
Georgii from Q\'asr Ibrim", pp. 103-4.
|
||
|
||
[^38]: Idem., p. 94.
|
||
|
||
[^39]: See Derda and Łajtar, "Greek and
|
||
Latin papyri from the Egypt Exploration Society excavations at Qasr
|
||
Ibrim: A testimony to the Roman army in Upper Egypt and Lower Nubia
|
||
in the first years of Augustus", p. 185; Derda and
|
||
Łajtar, "The Roman Occupation of Qasr Ibrim as
|
||
Reflected in the Greek Papyri from the Site", pp. 105-6 and notes 1
|
||
and 2 for references.
|
||
|
||
[^40]: Drzewiecki, "Roman Type Forts in the Middle Nile
|
||
Valley. Late Antique Fortlets between Patterns of Roman Military
|
||
Architecture and Local Tradition".
|
||
|
||
[^41]: Browne, *The Old Nubian Martyrdom of Saint George*,
|
||
p. 11.
|
||
|
||
[^42]: For the phenomenon of "incorporation", see Van Gerven
|
||
Oei, *A Reference Grammar of Old Nubian*, §15.1.3.4.
|
||
|
||
[^43]: This passage has been interpreted as a later interpolation by the
|
||
copyist of the original work in Old Nubian, see Van Gerven
|
||
Oei and Tsakos, "Apostolic Memoirs in Old
|
||
Nubian".
|
||
|
||
[^44]: It should be noted that two more terms may be linked with ⲅⲟⲩⲉⲓ
|
||
for "shield": the first is ⲅⲟⲩϣ (or ⲅⲟⲩⲥ), perhaps from ⲅⲟⲩⲉⲓ for
|
||
"shield" and ϣⲁ for "spear", but [Osman, "The
|
||
Post-Medieval Kingdom of Kokka: A Means for a Better Understanding
|
||
of the Administration of the Medieval Kingdom of Dongola", p. 191
|
||
proposes an alternative explanation of the word, albeit still
|
||
interpreted as a military title; and the second is ⲅⲟⲩⲁⲇ, about
|
||
which there is even less certainty.
|
||
|
||
[^45]: Foulon, "Hypaspistes, peltastes, chrysaspides,
|
||
argyraspides, chalcaspides".
|
||
|
||
[^46]: Maspero, *Organisation militaire de l'Égypte
|
||
byzantine*, pp. 66-68.
|
||
|
||
[^47]: For an up-to-date discussion of the issue, see
|
||
Simmons, *Nubia, Ethiopia, and the Crusading World,
|
||
1095-1402*.
|
||
|
||
[^48]: Ostrogorsky, "Observations on the Aristocracy in
|
||
Byzantium", pp. 13-14
|
||
|
||
[^49]: Koukounas, *Georgios Phrantzes, Chronicon*.
|
||
|
||
[^50]: Vantini, *Oriental Sources Concerning Nubia*, p.
|
||
369-70.
|
||
|
||
[^51]: Vantini, *Oriental Sources Concerning Nubia*, p.
|
||
329; Seignobos, *L'Égypte et la Nubie à l'époque
|
||
médiévale*, p. 93-112.
|
||
|
||
[^52]: Vantini, *Oriental Sources Concerning Nubia*, p.
|
||
639; Seignobos, *L'Égypte et la Nubie à l'époque
|
||
médiévale*, p. 53-91.
|
||
|
||
[^53]: Łajtar, "On the Name of the Capital of the Nubian
|
||
Kingdom of Makuria".
|
||
|
||
[^54]: Budge, *Miscellaneous Texts in the Dialect of Upper
|
||
Egypt*, pp. 858-61.
|
||
|
||
[^55]: Zielińska and Tsakos,
|
||
"Representations of the Archangel Michael in Wall Paintings from
|
||
Christian Nubia", pp. 85-6.
|
||
|
||
[^56]: Tsakos, "Sources about the cult and persona of the
|
||
archangel Michael in Nubia".
|
||
|
||
[^57]: For the use of the title archistratēgos for the archangel
|
||
Raphael, see Łajtar, *A Late Christian Pilgrimage
|
||
Centre in Nubia. The Evidence of Wall Inscriptions in the Upper
|
||
Church at Banganarti*, p. 46.
|
||
|
||
[^58]: Tsakos, "The Liber Institutionis Michaelis in
|
||
Medieval Nubia".
|
||
|
||
[^59]: About this coincidence, see Browne, "Old Nubian
|
||
literature", p. 382 and Tsakos "Textual finds from
|
||
Cerre Matto".
|
||
|
||
[^60]: Ruffini, *Medieval Nubia: A Social and Economic
|
||
History*, pp. 34-5.
|
||
|
||
[^61]: Seignobos, *L'Égypte et la Nubie à l'époque
|
||
médiévale*, p. 198 and note 158.
|
||
|
||
[^62]: For examples of the contrary, see
|
||
Martens-Czarnecka, *The Wall Paintings from the
|
||
Monastery on Kom H in Dongola*, pp. 207-13.
|
||
|
||
[^63]: Michalowski, *Faras - Wall Paintings in the
|
||
Collection of the National Museum in Warsaw*, nr. 61, p. 263;
|
||
Jakobielski e.a., *Pachoras/Faras: The Wall Paintings
|
||
from the Cathedrals of Aetios, Paulos and Petros*, nr. 138, pp.
|
||
419-22.
|
||
|
||
[^64]: For a discussion framed as background for an analysis of the
|
||
title "Eparch of Nobadia," see Hendrickx, "The "Lord
|
||
of the Mountain". A Study of the Nubian *eparchos of Nobadia*".
|
||
|
||
[^65]: Mason, *Greek Terms for Roman Institutions: A
|
||
Lexicon and Analysis*, pp. 138-40.
|
||
|
||
[^66]: Żurawski, "Strongholds on the Middle Nile: Nubian
|
||
Fortifications of the Middle Ages", pp. 115-8.
|
||
|
||
[^67]: Tsakos, "Terms for Boats and Navigation in Old
|
||
Nubia".
|
||
|
||
[^68]: Żurawski, "Strongholds on the Middle Nile: Nubian
|
||
Fortifications of the Middle Ages", p. 116.
|
||
|
||
[^69]: Welsby, *The Kingdom of Kush*, p. 40
|
||
|
||
[^70]: Hägg, "Titles and honorific epithets in Nubian
|
||
Greek texts", pp. 161-2.
|
||
|
||
[^71]: Griffith, "Christian Documents from Nubia", pp.
|
||
134-45; [Łajtar, "The so-called Kudanbes Inscription in
|
||
Deir Anba Hadra (St. Simeon Monastery) near Aswan: An Attempt at a
|
||
New Reading and Interpretation".
|