Merkurios | |
---|---|
King of Makuria | |
Reign | 697 - 722 |
Predecessor | Qalidurut |
Successor | Zacharias I |
Born | Dongola |
Religion | Greek Orthodox Christianity (until 710) Coptic Orthodox Christianity (from 710 onwards) |
Merkurios (reigned 697 - c. 722) was ruler of the Nubian kingdom of Makuria. Authorities believe that during his reign Makuria absorbed the Nubian kingdom of Nobatia.
According to P.L. Shinnie, [1] the first year of Merkurios' reign can be dated by an inscription on the foundation stone in Faras, which was dated to AD 707, and also to Merkurios' eleventh regnal year. In 710, Merkurios erected an inscription at Taifa, which indicates that his kingdom had united with Nobatia by that date.
John the Deacon, an Egyptian Christian writing around 768, described Merkurios as the "New Constantine", which Shinnie interprets as evidence that Merkurios played some important role in the Nubian church.
Nubians are a Nilo-Saharan speaking ethnic group indigenous to the region which is now northern Sudan and southern Egypt. They originate from the early inhabitants of the central Nile valley, believed to be one of the earliest cradles of civilization. In the southern valley of Egypt, Nubians differ culturally and ethnically from Egyptians, although they intermarried with members of other ethnic groups, especially Arabs. They speak Nubian languages as a mother tongue, part of the Northern Eastern Sudanic languages, and Arabic as a second language.
Makuria was a medieval Nubian kingdom in what is today northern Sudan and southern Egypt. Its capital was Dongola in the fertile Dongola Reach, and the kingdom is sometimes known by the name of its capital.
Old Nubian is an extinct Nubian language, attested in writing from the 8th to the 15th century AD. It is ancestral to modern-day Nobiin and closely related to Dongolawi and Kenzi. It was used throughout the kingdom of Makuria, including the eparchy of Nobatia. The language is preserved in more than a hundred pages of documents and inscriptions, both of a religious nature, and related to the state and private life, written using adaptation of the Coptic alphabet.
Alodia, also known as Alwa, was a medieval kingdom in what is now central and southern Sudan. Its capital was the city of Soba, located near modern-day Khartoum at the confluence of the Blue and White Nile rivers.
Kyriakos or Cyriacus was a ruler of the Nubian kingdom of Makuria. While some authorities place his reign between Merkurios and Zacharias I, according to Severus of El Ashmunein, Kyriakos succeeded Markos.
Rafael was a ruler of the Nubian kingdom of Makuria.
Salomo or Solomon was a ruler of the Nubian kingdom of Makuria.
Dotawo was a Christian kingdom in Lower Nubia in the Middle Ages. It is attested in Old Nubian documents from the 12th to the 15th centuries. It is one of the last attested Christian states to survive in the region.
Faras was a major city in Lower Nubia. The site of the city, on the border between modern Egypt and Sudan at Wadi Halfa Salient, was flooded by Lake Nasser in the 1960s and is now permanently underwater. Before this flooding, extensive archaeological work was conducted by a Polish archaeological team led by professor Kazimierz Michałowski.
Nobatia or Nobadia was a late antique kingdom in Lower Nubia. Together with the two other Nubian kingdoms, Makuria and Alodia, it succeeded the kingdom of Kush. After its establishment in around 400, Nobadia gradually expanded by defeating the Blemmyes in the north and incorporating the territory between the second and third Nile cataract in the south. In 543, it converted to Coptic Christianity. It would then be annexed by Makuria, under unknown circumstances, during the 7th century.
Zacharias I was a ruler of the Nubian kingdom of Makuria.
Simon was ruler of the Nubian kingdom of Makuria.
Abraham was ruler of the Nubian kingdom of Makuria.
The terms African civilizations, also classical African civilizations, or African empires are terms that generally refer to the various pre-colonial African kingdoms. The civilizations usually include Egypt, Carthage, Axum, Numidia, and Nubia, but may also be extended to the prehistoric Land of Punt and others: Kingdom of Dagbon, the Empire of Ashanti, Kingdom of Kongo, Empire of Mali, Kingdom of Zimbabwe, Songhai Empire, the Garamantes the Empire of Ghana, Bono state, Harla Kingdom, Kingdom of Benin, Ife Empire and Oyo Empire.
Noba is a term found in a number of historical sources discussing ancient and Medieval Nubia. Its exact meaning is uncertain, with ancient sources themselves seeming confused about the region south of Egypt. Most likely it refers to two separate groups: the Nuba, a people from southeast of Nubia, and a people later known as the Nobatae (Nubians), a group of unknown origin who invaded Nubia during the decline of Meroe, conquered the Kingdom of Kush, most likely founded the kingdoms of Nobatia and Makuria, and gave their name to Nubia itself as well as the Nubian languages. There are mentions of the "black" Noba and the "red " Noba in Axumite sources threatening the Axumite borders which prompts a response by the Axumites to attack Meroe.
Nubia is a region along the Nile river encompassing the area between the first cataract of the Nile and the confluence of the Blue and White Niles, or more strictly, Al Dabbah. It was the seat of one of the earliest civilizations of ancient Africa, the Kerma culture, which lasted from around 2500 BC until its conquest by the New Kingdom of Egypt under Pharaoh Thutmose I around 1500 BC, whose heirs ruled most of Nubia for the next 400 years. Nubia was home to several empires, most prominently the Kingdom of Kush, which conquered Egypt in the eighth century BC during the reign of Piye and ruled the country as its 25th Dynasty.
The Kingdom of Kush, also known as the Kushite Empire, or simply Kush, was an ancient kingdom in Nubia, centered along the Nile Valley in what is now northern Sudan and southern Egypt.
The first battle of Dongola took place between the early Muslim Rashidun army and the Oriental Orthodox Christian Nubians of the Makuria in 642.
The second battle of Dongola or siege of Dongola was a military engagement between early Arab forces of the Rashidun Caliphate and the Nubian-Christian forces of the kingdom of Makuria in 652. The battle ended Muslim expansion into Nubia, establishing trade and a historic peace between the Muslim world and a Christian nation. As a result, Makuria was able to grow into a regional power that would dominate Nubia for over the next 500 years.
Silko was ruler of the Nubian kingdom of Nobatia. He is known for being the first Nubian king to adopt Christianity