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Home , Alodia, Baqt, Dongola, Faras, Makuria, Nubians

Adam Łajtar, Grzegorz Ochała AChristian in Africa: The Imageof Christian Nubian RulersinInternal and External Sources

1Introduction: Christian and her Inhabitants

The term “Nubia” designates the middle part of the Valley to the south of the First Cataract.Ithas an ethno-linguistic character,asitoriginates from the name of an ethnicgroup which inhabited the land in question since the beginning of the Christian era. Members of this group, who still inhabit some parts of the Middle Nile Valley,call themselves and speak from the Nilo-Sa- haran languagefamily.¹ The Nubians seem to have arrivedinthe Nile Valley around the beginning of Romanrule in ,but we hear about them in the written sources onlyinlate antiquity,when, taking advantage of the fall of the Meroitic kingdom in the mid-fourthcentury,they formed their own kingdoms: Nobadiainthe north,be- tween the First and the Third Nile Cataracts, with FarasorQasr Ibrim as the ; Alwa (sometimes referred to as ) in the south, beyond the Fifth Cataract,with the capital in ; and in between, with as the capital.² At acer- tain moment,probablyinthe first half of the seventh century,the northern kingdom, Nobadia, was incorporatedinto its southern neighbour,Makuria, and ceased to exist as an independent entity.Before this happened, all three kingdoms accepted Chris-

We would like to thankthe organisers of the conference Images of the Good Christian Ruler forin- vitingustoparticipateinthisvolume, even though neitherofustookpartinthe event. Our thanks go also to Giovanni Ruffini who kindly agreedtoimprovethe English of thispaper.Throughoutour text, we use the following abbreviations: DBMNT =Database of Medieval Nubian Texts (http://www. dbmnt.uw.edu.pl); I. Copt. =J.van der Vliet, Catalogue of the Coptic Inscriptions in the NationalMuseum at Khartoum (I. Khartoum Copt.) [= Orientalia Lovaniensia analecta 121], Leuven – Paris – Dudley,MA2003; I. Khartoum Greek =A.Łajtar, Catalogue of the Greek Inscriptions in the Sudan National Museum at Khartoum (I. Khartoum Greek) [= Orientalia Lovaniensia analecta 122], Leuven – Paris – Dudley,MA2003; P. QasrIbrim III =G.M.Browne, TextsfromQasr Ibrim III [= Egypt Exploration Society.TextsfromExcavations 12], London 1991.

 ForNubians and Nubia, with focus on their medievalhistory,see W. Y. Adams, Nubia, Corridor to Africa,Princeton – London 1977, passim,especially433– 546,and D.A. Welsby, TheMedieval King- doms of Nubia. Pagans,Christiansand along the Middle Nile,London 2002.  In fact,the written sources refer onlytothe formation of Nobadia (for which see, most recently, A. Obłuski, The Rise of Nobadia. Social Changes in Northern Nubia in Late Antiquity [= JJP Supplement 3], Warsaw2014). Archaeological evidenceforms the main bodyofevidencefor the formation of the other twokingdoms.

OpenAccess. ©2021 Adam Łajtar,Grzegorz Ochała, published by De Gruyter. This work is licensed under the CreativeCommons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110725612-017 362 Adam Łajtar,Grzegorz Ochała

tianity as the new state religion.³ The process of Christianisation of Nubia is poorly known to us. John of Ephesus, who is our main sourceofinformation, speaksofthree evangelisation missions, which werecarried out mainlywith Egyptian forces and means, though at least partlywith the emperor’sawareness and consent.The first and second missions, which took place in the years 542–545and 569 –575respective- ly,reachedNobadia, while the third one, launched in the 580s, was headed for Alwa. Makuria was most probablyChristianised in aseparate missionary undertaking ap- proximatelyatthe same time as the second mission to Nobadia. The Christianisation of the Nubian kingdoms stronglyimpacted the Middle Nile Valley as the whole re- gion incorporated Eastern ’sculture, includingits patterns of literary and visual culture, organisation of the state, ideologyofpower,and social behaviour. The Nubian Christian kingdoms survivedinthe Middle Nile Valley for almost amil- lennium. Makuria was divided in the fourteenth century into several petty kingdoms, which could have retainedtheirChristian character for acertain period. One of them, situated in the Second Cataract region,survivedasaChristian state until at least the end of the fifteenth century,orevenaslong as the Ottoman conquest of northern Nubia in the 1570s. Alwa ceased to exist in the first half of the sixteenth century under pressurefrom the Muslim Funj people, who weremoving down the . Itscapital, Soba, was captured by the Funj warriorsin1504.

2The Sources

We learn about the history and culture of the Christian Nubian kingdoms from two kinds of sources: internal and external. The internal sources, the amount of which is constantlyincreasing thanks to archaeologicalresearch, includematerial remains of settlements and graves, sacred buildings with their decoration, objects of everydayuse, as well as several thousand texts,both literaryand documentary,in Greek, Sahidic Coptic, Old Nubian, and .⁴ External sources are almostexclu- sively texts,mainlyliterary, composed for the most part in Arabic, and to alesser de- gree in Coptic, Greek, Syriac, and Gәʿәz.⁵ While the latter group are all of Christian provenience, the formeroriginatefrom both Muslim and Christian milieus. The inter-

 Forthe Christianisation of Nubian kingdoms,see S. G. Richter, Studien zurChristianisierung Nu- biens [= Sprachen und Kulturen des christlichen Orients 11], Wiesbaden 2002;J.H.F.Dijkstra, and the End of Ancient Egyptian Religion. ARegional Study of Religious Transformation (298–642 ce) [= Orientalia Lovaniensia analecta 173], Leuven – Paris – Dudley,MA2008, 271–304.  Forthe written heritage of Christian Nubia with respect to the form and contents of texts, see G. Ochała, “Multilingualism in Christian Nubia: Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches”, Dotawo 1 (2016), 1–50.  Those sourceswere collectedand translatedinto English by G. Vantini, Oriental Sources Concerning Nubia,Heidelberg – Warsaw1975; the collection has recentlybeen digitised and published online at . AChristian King in Africa 363

nal sources are of considerablygreater importance than the external ones. They are not onlymorenumerous and more variable, but also more credible as genuine prod- ucts of Christian Nubian culture. The external sources have in turn serious weakness- es in that they onlytransmit the perception of adistant land in the Middle Nile Valley by members of other cultures and hence they are not infrequentlytendentious. The sources at our disposal are, unfortunately, not very eloquent as far as Nubian kingship is concerned. Amongthe internal sources thereisnot even asingle example of ahistoriographic work about the Nubians’ own history and the role of kingsinit; the Nubians most probablydid not know this literarygenre. Likewise, we find no texts in which the ruler’sduties,prerogatives, modi operandi,etc. are clearlydefined and described. What we have are official documents, scarcethough they are, which wereproduced by the royal chancery and reveal kingsinaction in particularmatters. Definitelymore numerous are pieces of information about individual rulers, namely their namesand titles preserved in dating formulae of different types of texts ranging from legal deeds to buildingand commemorative inscriptions. Moreover,weknow a dozen or so full-scale royal portraits painted on walls of cult places.⁶ In several cases, the portraits are supplied with legends identifying the depicted persons. Some examples of informal depictions of rulersalso exist,such as graffiti on walls of buildings and decoration of vessels. In Dongola, the capital of Ma- kuria, the Polish archaeological mission has discovered amassive storied building of residential character,probablyaroyal palace.⁷ Another construction in the samesite, whose essential part is ahypostyle hall located on the first floor,istraditionallyin- terpreted as athrone hall of the Makurian .⁸ The external sources provide much more detailed information about the Nubian rulers, the character of their authority, modi operandi,their actions, individual personality features,etc. However,serious limitations of these sources (see below)must be always kept in mind when ap- proachingChristian Nubian history through them. It should be emphasised here that the majority of accessiblesources is relatively late. Dated between the eleventh and fifteenth centuries, they are formallyoutside of the scope of this volume.We nev- ertheless have decided to use them extensively,because in manyacase these late narrations are clearlybased on much earlier sources;⁹ also, it maybeassumed that the phenomena described in the late period most probablyoriginated in the

 On depictionsofChristian Nubian rulers,see M. Woźniak, Iconographie des souverains et des dig- nitairesdelaNubie chrétienne: les vêtements d’apparat,unpublished PhD dissertation, Université Paris-IV,Paris 2013.  W. Godlewski, Dongola – Ancient Tungul. ArchaeologicalGuide [= PCMA Archaeological Guide 1], Warsaw2013,24–29.  Godlewski (cf. fn. 7) 42– 47.  Thus,for example, Al-Maqrizi, apolymath fromCairo (1364–1442), copied in extenso the descrip- tion of Nubia composed in the tenth century by amerchant and diplomat IbnSelim al-Aswani. ForAl- Aswani and his description of Nubia, see G. Troupeau, “La ‘Description de la Nubie’ d’ al-Uswānī (IVe/ Xe siècle)”, Arabica 1(1954), 276–288; El-Hag H. M. Kheir, “Acontribution to atextual problem: Ibn Sulaym al-Aswāni’s KitābakhbāralNūba wa-l-Maqurrawa-l-Beja wa-l-Nīl”, Arabica 36 (1989), 36–80. 364 Adam Łajtar,Grzegorz Ochała

first millennium. The lion’sshare of the externalsources refers to Makuria from the time after its unification with Nobadia; onlysingle mentions pertain to the still inde- pendent Kingdom of Nobadiaand the Kingdom of Alwa.

3NubianRoyal Houses

Nubian royal history is poorlyknown. We are aware of namesofsome thirty kings along with their approximate dating,¹⁰ but onlyinafew instances are we able to es- tablish, even roughly, the duration of the reigns of particularsovereigns and hence accord them aproper place on the timeline.Itiswell known thatChristian Nubian rulers formeddynasties, which changed over time.Wehear of at least two such changes, in c. 725and in the second half of the eleventh century.The ruling between the eighth and eleventh centuries was characterised by apatrilineal system of succession, whereby the crown was inherited by the firstborn(?) of the current king,which is clearlyvisible in onomastics: for most of their rule, the members of this dynasty bear the names Georgios and Zachariasalternatively.¹¹ During the reign of the other dynasty,from the end of the eleventh century,the matrilineal suc- cession principle was in force: the crown was handed over to the eldest (?) son of the current king’ssister.Somemembers of the matrilineal dynasty attempted to break the tradition by nominating their ownsons or succeeding their . Such at- tempts inevitablylead to internal conflicts, which not infrequentlyended in military interventions from Egypt.This, as aresult, contributed significantlytothe fall of Ma- kuria. When there wasnolegal heir,aking could appoint another candidate of his choice. Such asituation is attested for Zacharias, son of King Merkourios (first half of the eighth century), who, accordingtothe Historyofthe Patriarchs of the Cop- tic Church of Alexandria,desiring apeaceful religious life as amonk (?), abdicated the throne in favour of his kinsman Simon; after Simon’sdeath Merkourios adopted acertain Abraham,comingapparentlyfrom outside the royal , and designated him as anew king.¹² Belongingtothe royal familyseems to have been an important factor governing the choice of asuccessor,not onlybybirth but also by marrying a king’sdaughter.The latter casecould have eventuallyled to achangeofdynasty,as indeedhappened for the Zacharias-Georgios dynasty (first half of the eighth centu- ry): Ioannes, the founder of the dynasty and of Zacharias I, did not belong

 On Nubian kings,see S. Munro-Hay, “Kings and Kingdoms of Ancient Nubia”, Rassegna di Studi Etiopici 29 (1982–1983), 87– 137;G.Ochała, “‘When KingGeorgios Wasthe KingofDotawo’:AnAn- notated List of Christian Nubian Rulers” (in preparation).  ForMakuria under the rule of the “Zacharian” dynasty,see W. Godlewski, “Introduction to the Golden AgeofMakuria (9th–11th Centuries)”, Africana Bulletin 50 (2002),75–98.  Transl. Vantini (cf. fn. 5) 40 –41. AChristian King in Africa 365

to the royal familybut wasthe of one of the royal women.¹³ We come across analogous situations in the terminal period of Makurian history:chieftains of Muslim tribes married of Makurian kingsand thus obtained rights to the throne of Dongola. Women held generallyquite an important position in Christian Nubian hierarchy, and not onlyinthe matrilineal system. From the first half of the tenth century,thus from the time of the patrilineal dynasty,comes the first attesta- tion of the title “queen ”¹⁴ (Gr. μήτηρ βασιλέως,Nub. ⳟⲟⲛⲛⲉⲛ [read /ŋonnen/]), which recurs in sources until the very end of independent Christian Nu- bian statehood.¹⁵ Judging by the protocols of Nubian legal texts, this was an impor- tant office¹⁶ in the kingdom, always being listed in the second or third position after the king.Itwas held, so it seems, by either the current king’smother or his ,the mother of the future king.

4Terminology

Three generic terms for “king” are usedinChristian Nubian texts. Greek sources unanimouslyuse the Greek βασιλεύς (most oftenasanabbreviation ΒΛΣ re- sembling a nomensacrum).¹⁷ Thesamewordmay alsoappear as aGreek loanword in the Coptic linguistic context.Coptic texts,ofcourse, also feature the native Egyp- tian noun ⲣⲣⲟ.InOld Nubian sources, in turn,king is exclusively called by the native Nubian word ⲟⲩⲣⲟⲩ,which derivesfrom the noun ⲟⲩⲣ, “head,” and is probablycog- nate with the Meroitic qore, “king.”¹⁸ In addition,wecome across anumber of non- generic terms.Two ninth-century kings, Zacharias(father)and Georgios (son),are designated αὔγουστος ()and καῖσαρ (Caesar), respectively.The formeris called “Augustus” in the filiation giveninthe epitaph of his son Ioannes(†883),¹⁹ and the latter is called “Caesar” in the epitaph of his official Mariankouda (†

 Maqrizi givesthe name of Zacharias’ father (Vantini [cf. fn. 5] 644) and the Syrian claims that “he was not of royal descent” (Vantinin [cf. fn. 5] 317).  This is Queen Mother Mariam whoaccompanied KingZacharias.She occurs in three texts: aCop- tic legal document from , 925(unpublished [DBMNT 615]), aCoptic foundation inscription from , 930(I. Khartoum Copt. 2[DBMNT 33]), and the beginning of aCoptic documentary text from Qasr Ibrim, 940/1 (unpublished [DBMNT 701]).  Forthe title of “queen mother,” see B. Rostkowska, “The Title and Officeofthe King’sMother in Christian Nubia”, Africana Bulletin 31 (1982),75–78.  We indeed seem to be dealingwith an officehere, not merelyanhonorific title.  For basileus as aroyal and imperial title, see G. Rösch, ΟΝΟΜΑ ΒΑΣΙΛΕΙΑΣ.Studien zum offiziel- len Gebrauch der Kaisertitel in spätantiker und frühbyzantinischerZeit [= BV 10], Vienna 1978,37–39. The title basileus alongwith basiliskos was used alreadybypre-Christian rulers of the Nobades;see T. Hägg, “Titles and Honorific EpithetsinNubian Greek Texts”, SO 45 (1990), 148 – 158.  C. Rilly, Le me´roïtique et sa famille linguistique [= Afrique et language 14], Leuven 2010,136–138.  I. Khartoum Greek 21 (DBMNT 15). 366 Adam Łajtar,Grzegorz Ochała

887);²⁰ both kingsare apparentlydead at the time of the epitaphs’ composition. Ob- viously, the dynasty,which ruled Dongolaatthattime, made use of an antiquated Roman imperial titulature going backtothe second century ce.²¹ This use,however, does not conform with the original Roman model, in which Caesar became Augustus after the death of the latter.Inour case, Georgios, who succeeded Zacharias, retained his title of alower rank until his death. Because the titles Augustus and Caesar went out of use almostcompletelyinthe seventh century in the Eastern , the Nubians must have adopted them before that date, most probablyatthe time of Christianisation of the Nubian kingdoms in the mid-sixth century. The title Caesar is also attested in afourteenth-century Greek inscription left in Deir Anba Hadra(St. Simeon Monastery) near by Joseph, archbishop of Dongola.²² Therein he de- scribes his career at the royal courtinDongola, which stretched over the rule of sev- eral kings. Joseph refers to them with the help of different terms: βασιλεύς, καῖσαρ, σκήπτωρ, ρῆξ, κοίρανος, ἄναξ.Itishard to believethat these terms wereactually used to address the king in fourteenth-century Nubia; they are rather employed here as adisplayofJoseph’serudition and his classicalliterary education. King Moüses Georgios ruling Makuria and Alwa in the second half of the twelfth century bears the title αὐτοκράτωρ τοῦ λαοῦ, “absoluteruler of the people,” in the Greek subscript to his letter to PatriarchMark III (1180 –1209) dated to 1186.²³ As with the use of καῖσαρ and αὔγουστος,weare dealinghere with the adoptionofthe tradi- tional Romanimperial terminology.²⁴ Interestingly,the title is not attested before the second half of the twelfth century in Nubia, although we maysuppose that it came there alreadyinthe mid-sixthcentury. The addition of τοῦ λαοῦ,absentfrom Roman titulature, is equallyinteresting.Itisuncertain what λαός means here exactly. Some suggestions are offered by the context.The title immediatelyfollows alist of nations over which the king claims supremacy preceded by the epithet φοβερότατος πάντων τῶνβαρβάρων, “the most fearful towardsall barbarians.” The nations are thosethat appear in the titulature of the miaphysitePatriarchofAlexandria as his subordi- nates,asgiven in the address of the same letter:Alwans,Makurians,Nobadians, Dal- matai (perhapsinhabitants of Cyrenaica), and Axumites.Thus, we maysurmise that λαός designates all Christians within the confines of the Alexandrian Patriarchateas

 I. Khartoum Greek 18 (DBMNT 12).  Forthe titles augustus and caesar,see Rösch (cf. fn. 17)34–35 and 36–37.  This inscriptionwas published in F. Ll. Griffith, “Christian Documents from Nubia”, Proceedings of the BritishAcademy 14 (1928), 134–145(DBMNT 557). Anew edition is in preparation by A. Łajtar, “The So-called Kudanbes Inscription in Deir Anba Hadra(St.Simeon Monastery) Near Aswan: An At- tempt at aNew Readingand Interpretation” (forthcoming).  Unpublished (DBMNT 610); the publication is in preparation by J. L. Hagen. Foratentative trans- lation, see W. Y. Adams, QaṣrIbrîm. TheLate Mediaeval Period [= Egypt Exploration Society.Excava- tion Memoir 59], London 1994,227–229. The photograph of the Greek subscript can be found in J. M. Plumley, “New Light on the Kingdom of Dotawo”,[in:] Études nubiennes. Colloque de Chantilly,2–6 juillet 1975 [= Bibliothèque d’étude 77], Cairo1978, pl. 56.  Forthe title αὐτοκράτωρ,see Rösch (cf. fn. 17)35–36. AChristian King in Africa 367

opposed to non-Christians. In this way, the Nubian king puts himself in the position of the protector of the Christian populace of north-eastern Africa, aruler comparable to the Byzantine emperor who is considered the protector of the Christian oikoumene. Finally, we need to mention the title δεσπότης,found onlyonce in the titulature of Tokiltoeton, aruler of Nobadia in the mid-sixthcentury.²⁵ Thistitle, aconstant ele- ment of imperial presentation in Greek, especiallyfrom the tetrarchic period on- wards,²⁶ pointstothe ruler’sabsolutepower. Nubian kingswerealso givenvarious epithets. They seem to occur onlyinGreek and Coptictextsofofficial character (legal deeds and foundation inscriptions). The most common among them was φιλόχριστος, “Christ-loving,” attested also in the Coptic version ⲙⲁⲓⲭⲣⲓⲥⲧⲟⲥ.²⁷ Coptictexts also feature the rarer variant ⲙⲁⲓⲛⲟⲩⲧⲉ,the translation of the Greek φιλόθεος, “God-loving,” itself not attested in Nubia.²⁸ The title φιλόχριστος/φιλόθεος emphasises the king’sreligious attitude and his attach- ment to the true faith.²⁹ Asimilar notion is transmittedbythe title ὀρθόδοξος, “or- thodox.”³⁰ To the epithets describing areligious attitude one needs to add also εὐσεβέστατος, “the most pious,” indicating the ruler’spiety perceivedasavirtue.³¹ The epithet θεόστεπτος, “crowned by God,” known also in its Coptic translation (ⲡⲉⲛⲧⲁⲡⲛⲟⲩⲧⲉ ⲥⲧⲉⲫⲁⲛⲟⲩ ⲙⲙⲟϥ), pointstoanother aspect of royal authority,namely

 Attested in an official inscription from Ikhmindi (DBMNT 458); cf. 368 below. Editio princeps: S. Donadoni, “Un’epigrafe greco-nubiana da Ikhmindi”, Parola del passato 14 (1959), 458 – 465(=SEG XVIII 724; SB VIII 10074). The most recent edition of the text: F. W. Deichman, “Die Bauinschrift vonIhmindi”,[in:] F. W. Deichmann, P. Grossmann, Nubische Forschungen [= Archäologische For- schungen 17], Berlin 1988, 81–88. The most recent studyofthe content: J. van der Vliet, “Gleanings from Christian Nubia”, JJP 32 (2002),191–194.  D. Hagedorn and K. A. Worp, “VonKyrios zu Despotes: eine Bemerkung zur Kaisertitulatur im 3./ 4. Jahrhundert”, ZPE 39 (1980), 165–177.  The epithet is attested for the followingkings:Tokiltoeton (DBMNT 458; cf. fn. 25 above), Merkur- ios (Coptic foundation inscriptionofBishopPaulos,Faras, 707; I. Khartoum Copt. 1; DBMNT 32), Chael (twolegal deeds of land sale, northern Nubia, c. 784– 812; unpublished, fragmentary transcript and translation in J. Krall, “Ein neuer nubischer König”, WZKM 14 [1900], 236–240;DBMNT 634 – 635), Ioannes (twodeeds of land sale, northern Nubia, 9th cent.; P. Lond. Copt. 449–450; DBMNT 630 – 631), Moüses Georgios (DBMNT 610; cf. fn. 23 aboveand 368–369below).  It can be found as describing the followingrulers:Kyriakos(deed of land sale, northern Nubia, 8th cent.; CPR IV 28;DBMNT 636), Ioannes (DBMNT 630 – 631; cf. fn. 27 above), Georgios V(fragment of legal document,Qasr Ibrim, 1071/2;J.M.Plumley, “ACoptic Precursor of aMedieval Nubian Pro- tocol”, Sudan Texts Bulletin 3[1981], 5–8; DBMNT 609;the counting of kings is givenafter Ochała[cf. fn. 10]).  Rösch (cf. fn. 17)65.  Found onlyonceininternal sources,referringtoGeorgios I(DBMNT 12; cf. 365above), and once in external literary sources, in the Historyofthe Patriarchs,inconnection with KingKyriakos (transl. Vantini [cf. fn. 5] 44).  Onlykings Tokiltoeton (DBMNT 458; cf. fn. 25 above) and Moüses Georgios (DBMNT 610; cf. fn. 23 aboveand 368–369below)are giventhis epithet.For the title εὐσεβέστατος,see Rösch (cf. fn. 17) 42– 43,esp. fn. 53.The title, especiallywidespread in late-antique imperial titulature, goes back to the title εὐσεβής,which was giventoRoman emperors from the second century ce. 368 Adam Łajtar,Grzegorz Ochała

that this power comesfrom God himself.³² The title, which is very popular in the East- ern Roman empire, especiallyinthe seventh–eighth centuries, is believed to be linked to the coronation of the emperor by the patriarch of Constantinople.One maywonder whether the Nubian use of this term is linked with the same custom, namelythe coronation of the king of Makuria by the of Dongola, the head of the Makurian Church. The titulaturesoftwo Nubian rulers deserve special attention, namely that of kingsTokiltoeton of Nobadia in the mid-sixth century and Moüses Georgios of Maku- ria in the second half of the twelfth century.The formerisknown thanks to an in- scription commemorating the erection of the city walls of Ikhmindi(c. 100 km to the south of the First Cataract).³³ He is called there ἐπιφανέστατος καὶ εὐσεβέστατος ἀγαθὸςδεσπότης καὶ φιλόχριστος βασιλεύς, “the most distinguished and most pious good and Christ-loving king.” In this titulature we have obviouslytwo elements joined together, ἐπιφανέστατοςκαὶεὐσεβέστατος δεσπότης and φιλόχριστος βασι- λεύς.The former,which goes back as far as the tetrarchicimperial titulature,belongs to the sphere of civil authority,³⁴ while the latter,modelled on the titulature of East- ern Romanemperors, points at the religious aspect of power.The element ἀγαθός is, in our opinion,somewhat artificiallyadded and finds no parallel in the Roman world.³⁵ It is, however,present in the titulature of King Moüses Georgios. Thistitula- ture is found in adraft of the letter of the king to PatriarchMark III requesting ordi- nation of acertain Iesou as bishop of aNubian see, found in Qasr Ibrim.³⁶ In it,the king is described by awhole set of epithets including: εὐσεβέστατος, φιλόχριστος, φιλεκκλήσιος, φιλόπτωχος, φιλάνθρωπος, φιλόξενος, ἀγαθός, πρᾶος, εὔσπλαγχνος, μεταδότης, ἀνδράγαθος, τροφεύς, φοβερότατος πάντων τῶνβαρβάρων, “the most pious, Christ-loving,Church-loving,loving the poor,lover of men, lover of strangers, good, mild, kind, generous,one who behaves uprightly, foster-father, the most fear-

 The title is attestedinNubia onlyfor kingMerkurios (Coptic and Greek foundation inscriptions of Bishop Paulos,Faras, 707; Coptic: DBMNT 32;cf. fn. 27 above; Greek: I. Varsovie 101;DBMNT 67). Gen- erallyfor the title θεόστεπτος,see Rösch (cf. fn. 17)66–67,and H. Hunger, Prooimion. Elemente der byzantinischen Kaiseridee in den Arengender Urkunden [= Wiener byzantinische Studien 1], Vienna 1964,56.  See fn. 25 above.  Notethe use of the title ἐπιφανέστατος in the titulatureofPhonen, kingofthe , as pre- served in his own lettertoAburni, kingofthe Nobades (J.Rea, “The Letter of Phonen to Aburni”, ZPE [1979], 147– 162; T. Eide et alii [eds.], Fontes historiae Nubiorum,III: From the First to the Sixth Century AD,Bergen1998, 1158–1165[no. 319]). This text,predating the stela of Tokiltoeton by roughly acen- tury and originatingfromapagan milieu, shows that the process of adoptingimperial titulaturestart- ed wellbeforethe official Christianisation of the Middle Nile Valley.  The epithet ἀγαθός is, however,found in the titulatureofChosroes as presentedinhis letterto Emperor Justinian (Men., ex. gent.1.176,13ff. [de Boor]).  See above, 366 and fn. 23. AChristian King in Africa 369

ful towards all barbarians.”³⁷ The sequence and meaning of these epithets is definite- ly not accidental.³⁸ At the beginning,there is aseries of five compound with the element φιλο-, which are followed by adjectives and of another mor- phology, mostlysimple ones. The whole set is preceded by the in superla- tive, εὐσεβέστατος,obviouslynot an original element of the list.Fromthe point of view of semantics, the list starts with epithetsdescribingthe king’sattitude towards God and His Church (εὐσεβέστατος, φιλόχριστος, φιλεκκλήσιος). Then follows aser- ies of epithetsthatcharacterise his attitude towardsmen. Among them we find terms referringtogeneral moral qualities (ἀγαθός, πρᾶος, εὔσπλαγχνος)aswell as those reflectingthe king’shumanitarianism (φιλόπτωχος, φιλάνθρωπος, φιλόξενος, μετα- δότης, τροφεύς). Thesegroups are similar in their meaning, but while the former de- scribes qualities the latter describes actions. In addition, there are two epithets refer- ring to the king’smanlyvirtues (ἀνδράγαθος, φοβερότατος πάντων τῶνβαρβάρων). The completelist presents the ideal of aMakurian king.Heissimultaneouslyapious Christian, amerciful ruler taking care of all his subjects, especiallythe marginalised ones (the poor,the strangers, etc.), and afearful warrior protecting his realm. Of course, this is an ideal, but we can supposethat Nubian rulersaspired to it and re- alised it to agreater or lesserdegree.

5The Character of NubianKingship and Ways of Executing Power

There exists sufficient evidence of textual and iconographic character to suppose that Christian rulersofMakuria wereperceivedaschosen by God and Hisactors on earth. The very birth of the heir to the throne took place under the divine auspices.

 From among those, only φιλάνθρωπος is attestedasanimperial epithet.The wordisfound to de- scribe rulers alreadyinPtolemaic Egypt and continues to be used until the end of the Byzantine pe- riod. Itsuse, stemmingfromthe classical Greek employment to designate gods’ lovetowards men, served to underline the king’s/emperor’sgod-like(and God-like) character (see Hunger [cf. fn. 32] 143 – 153). Interestingly,inlateByzantine period, φιλανθρωπία came to be used in the sense of ‘Welt- offenheit,Gastfreundlichkeit gegenüber allen Nationen’ (ibid. 148), which indicates that the occur- rence of φιλόξενος immediatelyafter φιλάνθρωπος in the titulature of Moüses Georgios is most prob- ably not accidental.  This must be aliterary creation, the exact sourcesofwhich areunknown,but surelyshould be soughtinthe panegyrical literatureoflateantiquity.Aparallel is provided by the eulogy of Bishop Georgios of Dongola († 1113) preserved in his epitaph in Greek, immured abovehis tomb in amon- astery on the outskirts of the capital of Makuria. Cf. A. Łajtar, “Georgios,Archbishop of Dongola († 1113) and His Epitaph” [in:] T. Derda, J. Urbanik, M. Węcowski (eds.), ΕΥΕΡΓΕΣΙΑΣ ΧΑΡΙΝ.Studies Pre- sented to Benedetto Bravo and Ewa WipszyckabyTheir Disciples [= JJP Supplement 1], Warsaw2002, 167–174, and A. Łajtar and J. van der Vliet, Empowering the Dead in Christian Nubia. TheTexts froma Medieval FuneraryComplex in Dongola [= JJPSupplement 32], Warsaw2017, 18–22 (no. I). We can as- sume the existenceofacommon source for both the eulogy and titulatureofthe king. 370 Adam Łajtar,Grzegorz Ochała

An exceptional painting preserved on awall of aroom in the so-called South-West Annex to the monastery located on the outskirts of Dongola shows the scene of arit- ual dance in front of an icon of the Virgin Mary with the . The participants of the dance, clad in animal skinsand masks, cry out phrases in Old Nubian, written down next to their heads, which makes the whole representation resemble amodern comic book.³⁹ With these exclamations, they ask Mary,the mother of Jesus, to help the queen mother (Old Nubian ⳟⲟⲛⲛⲉⲛ)todeliveraprince (Old Nubian ⲡⲟⲩⲣ).⁴⁰ The parallel Mary – Jesus /queen mother – heir is self-evident here. The heir,just like Jesus, is anticipated as God’sanointed, the saviour of his people. In the previous paragraph, we have seen that the kingsofMakuria bore the title θεόστεπτος/ ⲡⲉⲛⲧⲁⲡⲛⲟⲩⲧⲉ ⲥⲧⲉⲫⲁⲛⲟⲩ ⲙⲙⲟϥ, “crowned by God,” which can pertain to the act of cor- onation by the supreme authority of the Makurian Church, but can also characterise, quite generally, the royal power as comingfrom God.Visible proof of such apercep- tion of the royal authority in Christian Nubia comesfrom paintedrepresentations of rulers in cult places.They are attested for the first time in the tenth centuryand were produced until the end of the tradition of decoratingchurchwalls in the fourteenth century.They show aking standing en face in aceremonial dress holding regalia, whose set and formcan changefrom period to period. Jesus, Mary,oranarchangel stand behind the king holding their hand(s) on the ruler’sshoulder(s). These repre- sentations are traditionallyinterpreted as scenes of protection, although they may also be perceivedasscenes of presentation of the ruler to his subjects.⁴¹ Importantly, these protection/presentation scenes are sometimes placed in church apses,that is in the central point of the liturgical space, in the lower register of decoration, among the apostles and belowChrist bestowingHis blessing.⁴² In this way, the king’ssub-

 M. Martens-Czarnecka, TheWall Paintings from the MonasteryonKom HinDongola [= Nubia III, Dongola 3; PAMMonograph Series 3] Warsaw2011,cat.no. 109 and 233–238.  V. van Gerven Oei, “ADancefor aPrincess:The Legends on aPaintinginRoom 5ofthe Southwest Annex of the Monastery on KomHin Dongola”, JJP 47 (2017), 117–135.  B. Mierzejewska, “Murals in the Chapel, Faras. The Visual Expression of the Ruler’sIdeol- ogyinNubia” [in:] S. Emmel et alii (eds.) Ägyptenund Nubien in spätantikerund christlicher Zeit. Akten des 6. Internationalen Koptologenkongresses,Münster 20.–26.Juli1996, Bd. I: Materielle Kultur, Kunst und religiöses Leben [= Sprachen und Kulturendes christlichen Oriens 6/1], Wiesbaden 1999,285 −296.  Known examples include church BV on the citadel in Dongola: kingunder protection of Archan- gelRaphael among the apostles (unpublished;personal communication of D. Zielińska);Upper Church at Banganarti: kingorkings under protection of Archangel Raphael amongthe apostles pre- served in the decoration of seven chapels (B. Żurawski [in:] B. Żurawski et alii, Kings and Pilgrims.St Raphael Church II at Banganarti, Mid-eleventh to Mid-eighteenth Century [= Nubia V, Banganarti 2], Warsaw2014, 125–168); room 29 of the North-West Annex to the monastery on KomHat Dongola: Kingprotected by Archangel Michael amongthe apostles(Martens-Czarnecka[cf. fn. 39] cat. no. 46); the cathedral at Faras: kingunder protection of Mary among the apostles (the portrait of the kingisasecondary additionhere, the scene originallypresentingMary among the apostles;S. Jakobielski et alii, Pachoras/Faras.The Wall Paintings from the Cathedrals of Aetios,Paulos and Petros [= PAMMonograph Series 4], Warsaw2017, 107–111 [cat.no1]). Generally, on apsidal portraits of Nu- AChristian King in Africa 371

jects taking part in the perceivedtheir sovereign as the one who was blessed by Christ,protected by Mary or Archangels, and was equal to the apostles.According to an isolated narrative in al-Nuwayri’s Nihayat al-arab fi fununal-adab,the subjects of the Makurian king prostrate themselvesbefore him as if he wereagod; although here such abehaviour mayhavebeen connected with an exceptional situation: the legitimisation of the king’srule against an usurpation enforced from outside.⁴³ Some Arabic sources even claim that the Makurian ruler was agod for his subjects. In his Athar al-bilad,the Arab geographer and historian al-Qazwini (died 1274)claims that “they fancy that he never eats, but they bringhim food secretly, and if anyone of his subjects chanced to notice it,they kill him at once. … (They) believethat he has the power of giving death and life, healthorillness.”⁴⁴ Thisnarration, attractive as it mayappear from the point of view of the present study, is definitelyimprobable. Al-Qazwini obviouslycopied the passagefrom Muʿjam al-buldan by Yaqut al-Rumi, traveller and geographer of Greek Christian origin (died1229), who, however,was de- scribing the king of Zaghawa,anomad tribe from western .⁴⁵ Abual-Makarim (died 1208), Coptic author of adescription of churches and monasteries (Tarikh al-Ka- naʾis wa-al-Adyirah), claims in turn that Nubian kingswereatthe sametime priests and wereallowed to “celebrate the liturgy within the sanctuary,aslongasthey reign without killing aman with their own hands.”⁴⁶ Herealso the information seems sus- picious, all the more so since in another place Abual-Makarim repeats it in reference to the king of .⁴⁷ Al-Qazwini, quoted above, characterises the Makurian king as an absoluteruler. Accordingtohim, “his orders are promptlyobeyed by his subjects, he has absolute power so that he can reducetoslavery anyone he wants and can freelydispose of their property.”⁴⁸ Asimilar piece of information is transmitted by al-Aswani (quoted by Maqrizi) in his Al-mawaʿiz wa-l-iʿtibar fi dhikr al-khitat wa-l-athar (henceforth quoted as Al-khitat)inreferencetothe king of Alwa: “Their king can reducetoslav- ery anyofhis subjects he wants whether he be guilty of acrime or not,and they do not oppose him, rather they prostrate themselvesbefore him. They do not revolt against his order,however unjust it maybe; [on the contrary] they call out loudly

bian rulers,see M. Woźniak, “The Chronology of the Eastern Chapels in the Upper Church at Banga- narti. Some Observations on the Genesis of ‘Apse Portraits’ in Nubian Royal Iconography” [in:] A. Łaj- tar,A.Obłuski, and I. Zych (eds.), Aegyptus et Nubia Christiana. TheWłodzimierz Godlewski Jubilee Volume on the Occasion of his 70th Birthday,Warsaw2016,629–646.  See below,374.  Transl. Vantini (cf. fn. 5) 383–384.The information is repeated by al-Bakuwi, Talkhis al-athar wa- ʾajaʾib al-malik al-qahhar,who adds that Nubian rulers claimed descent from Himyarite kings (transl. Vantini [cf. fn. 5] 565).  Transl. Vantini (cf. fn. 5) 344.  Transl. Vantini (cf. fn. 5) 333.  Transl. Vantini (cf. fn. 5) 339.  Transl. Vantini (cf. fn. 5) 383–384. 372 Adam Łajtar,Grzegorz Ochała

‘Maythe king live!And let his order be executed!’”⁴⁹ The information that Nubian kingscould turn their subjects to slavesiscertainlyimprecise, even though it may contain agrain of truth. Anumber of internal sources attest to the existenceofslav- ery in Christian Nubia, and aform of slave trade between Nubia and Egypt is report- ed by external sources.⁵⁰ Although there is no firm evidence, it can be assumedthat the slavescame mostly from raids into neighbouring lands, but at least some of them could have been native Nubians deprivedoftheir freedom for various reasons;⁵¹ it is implausible, however,tothink thatanyone could have been turned into aslave with no reason at all. Afrequentlyquoted opinion in modern Nubian scholarship is thatthe king of Makuria was the owner of all arable land in the country.This belief is rooted in asu- perficialreadingofsome Arabic sources and is definitelyfalse. Numerous deeds of land sale known from Qasr Ibrimand elsewhereshow thatprivatepersons werelegal landowners who could do whatever they pleased with theirpossession.⁵² The Makur- ian Church could alsoown land. Of course, the king had his own privateestates;he also must have had his own private trading affairs too, extendingbeyond the con- fines of his realm. Being neither the absolute lord of life and death of his subjects nor the sole owner of the land and everythinginit, the king of Makuria, however,had all the in- strumentsofpower in his hand. His was first and foremost the legislative power.We hear of one crucial changeoflaw enacted by the king,mentioned by al-Nuwayri in his Nihayat al-arab fi funun al-adab: “ʿAbdalla Barshanbū,when he became king (1317 – A.Ł.&G.O.), altered the laws of the kingdom and showed proud behaviour without precedent among the Nubian kingshis predecessors.Hetreated the natives rudelyand even cruelly, so that all hatedhis rule.”⁵³ While this information is un- doubtedlyanelementofcreating anegative picture of the king,itdoes not alter the fact that such achangewas possible. We come across mentionsinthe sources

 Transl. Vantini (cf. fn. 5) 614.  Neither textual sources nor archaeology confirm the common opinion that Nubia became amajor source of slavesfor the Caliphate; see D. Edwards, “Slavery and Slavinginthe Medieval and Post-Me- dieval Kingdoms of the Middle Nile”, Proceedings of the BritishAcademy 168 (2011), 87– 94.  Maqrizi in Al-khitat puts the matter in the same light: “Under the peacetreaty we have undertaken not to carry out raids intotheir territory,but not to prevent enemies from attackingthem. Whomso- ever their kingreducestoslavery,orthe slaveswhich they make when they raid each other,can be legallybought; but those whom the Muslims reducetoslavery through abduction or by stealing,are illegal business;some Muslims used to have Nubian slave as concubines” (transl. Vantini [cf. fn. 5] 643).  ForNubian land-sale deeds,see. G. R. Ruffini, Medieval Nubia. ASocial and Economic History, Oxford2012, passim,especially22–31;M.Nowak and B. Wojciechowski, “Elements of Legal Practice in Christian Nubia”, JJP 42 (2012), 205–214; and G. R. Ruffini, “Documentary Evidenceand the Pro- duction of Power in Medieval Nubia”, Afriques (online) 7(2016), §§ 14– 19 (http://journals.open edition.org/afriques/1871 [DOI: 10.4000/afriques.1871]).  Transl. Vantini (cf. fn. 5) 485. AChristian King in Africa 373

about royal decrees pertaining to various issues connected with administering the kingdom, such as the movement of people and goods within the country,circulation of Egyptian money,etc.⁵⁴ These ordinances can be of avery detailed character.An Old Nubian proclamation issued by King Moüses Georgios releases achurch of Saint Epimachos from the duty of annual contributions for the bishop of Qasr Ibrim, which seems almost tootrivial for the king to be involved personally.⁵⁵ Second, the king had executive power,which he delegated to his officials; we know them and their hierarchythanks to highlyelaborate protocols of Nubian legal deeds, in particularOld Nubian land-sale contracts discovered at Qasr Ibrim.⁵⁶ Third, although we have no informationabout the Nubian kings’ judicial power,wecan assume thatitalso belonged to their competence.⁵⁷ Last but not least,the king wasthe commander-in-chief of the Makurian army. Arabic sources narratingmilitary encounters between Muslim Egypt and Christian Makuria always show the Makurian armyasheaded by the king himself, as,for instance, during the armed intervention of King Kyriakos in Egypt in the 740s or the attack of King David on Aydhab in the . It is also the king who signs peace treaties and truces with commanders of for- eign (Muslim) armies, as in 652, after ʿAbdullahi ibn AbiSarh’sraid on Dongola, or at the turn of the thirteenth century, during the warsfor the Makurian throne. He is, moreover,responsible for respectingthosedeals, includingthe famous ,a non-aggression and commercial treatyregulating Muslim-Nubian relations since the mid-seventh century.⁵⁸ In this capacity he is addressed in aletter sent in 758 by the governor of Egypt,Musa ibn Kaʿab, who complains about the Makurian’sneg- ligence in fulfilling the baqt’sprovisions.⁵⁹ The king,onbehalf of his people, swears an oath of allegiance to the ,when powerless Makuria becomespolitically dependent on Egypt and rights to the throne are obtained thanks to amilitary inter-

 Reported by al-Aswani quoted by Maqrizi in Khitat (trans.Vantini [cf. fn. 5] 603–604).  P. QI III 31 (QasrIbrim, 1155 [DBMNT 589]). Forroyal decrees in general, see Ruffini (cf. fn. 52) §§ 7–9.  See G. R. Ruffini, TheBishop,the Eparch and the King:Old Nubian Texts from Qasr Ibrim IV [= JJP Supplement 22], Warsaw2014, 33 – 38.  As amatter of fact,wehavenoinformation whatsoever on the Christian Nubian judicial system; none of the attested titles of officials seems to indicatejudiciary functions.  Forthe baqt,see R. Seignobos, L’Égypte et la Nubie àl’époque médiévale. Élaboration et transmis- sion des savoirs historiographiques (641–ca. 1500),unpublishedPhD thesis,Paris IPanthéon-Sor- bonne 2016,chapter2:“L’accord de 31/652 et le baqṭ”.  J. M. Plumley, “An Eighth-Century Arabic Letter to the KingofNubia”, The Journal of Egyptian Ar- chaeology 61 (1975), 241–245; M. Hinds and H. Sakkout, “ALetter fromthe Governor of Egypt to the KingofNubia and MakurraConcerning Egyptian-Nubian Relations in 141/758”,[in:] Wadad al-Qada et alii (eds.), Studia Arabica et Islamica:Festschrift for Ihsan Abbas on His Sixtieth Birthday,Beirut 1981,209–229(reprintedin: M. Hinds, Studies in Early Islamic History,edited by J. Bacharach et alii [= Studies in Late Antiquity and Early 4], Princeton 1996,160 –187). 374 Adam Łajtar,Grzegorz Ochała

vention sent from .⁶⁰ Finally, he represents Makuria in external contacts with both the Muslim and Christian worlds,the latter being most importantlythe Alexan- drian Patriarchate. The Historyofthe Patriarchs relates several cases of the Makurian king asking the patriarch to ordain someone as abishop,⁶¹ the letter of King Moüses Georgios to Patriarch Mark III mentioned abovebeing unique non-literary evidence of this practice.⁶² The king receivedletters and delegations from the patriarch as well.⁶³ We hearalsoofMakurian rulersacting as an intermediary between Alexan- drian patriarchs and Ethiopian kings.⁶⁴ The king of Makuria relied on the stratum of hereditary ,who in Arabic sources are frequentlyreferred to as “.” From among these “princes” the high- est officials of the kingdom were recruited: courtiers,⁶⁵ military commanders,and most probablybishops of the Makurian Church. The political significance of this elite stratum is clearlyvisible in the story of KingSemamun (called Georgios Simon in the internal sources) from the years 1289 –1291. The military inter- vention launched at thattime to place apuppet king on the Makurian throne forced Semamuntoflee Dongola. He hid on an island located fifteen days’ journey from Dongola, having at his side his closest family members,including the queen mother, as well as the “princes” and the bishop of Dongola with his clergy.The “princes,” however,and the clergymen switched sides at some point and abandoned the king,taking the regalia with them.After the Mamluks had crowned the usurper and the Nubians swore loyalty to him, the armymarched off to Egypt.Soon after “Semāmūncame backbynight,called at the door of every personally and asked him to come out.Every prince who came out and sawhim, kissed the ground before him and sworeallegiance. Before sunrise, all the Nubian armyhad joined him. He went with them to the palace of the king,arrestedthe king (the one estab- lished by the Mamluks – A.Ł.&G.O.), sent for RuknaddīnBaybars (the commander

 Forthe oath and its legal and political aspects,see P. M. Holt, “The Coronation Oaths of the Nu- bian Kings”, Sudanic Africa 1(1990), 5–9.  KingAbraham demanded fromPatriarch Michael Ithe depositionofthe bishop of Dongola Kyr- iakos, with whom he was in conflict,and the consecration in his placeofthe royal candidate Ioannes (transl. Vantini [cf. fn. 5] 40 –41); KingBasil requested Patriarch Cyril (1077–1093) to makeason of the previous king, whodied, abishop (Vantini [cf. fn. 5] 217).  See above, 366 and 368–369and fn. 23.  Thus,e.g., in the Historyofthe Patriarchs astoryistold about acertain bishop Merkourios whom Patriarch Christodoulos (1046–1077) sent as his envoytothe kingofMakuria (transl.Vantini [cf. fn. 5] 214). Abual-Makarim claims that “the fathers and patriarchs used to writeletters to the kings of Abys- sinia and Nubia, twiceinthe year” (transl. Vantini [cf. fn. 5] 340).  As,e.g., in the case of KingGeorgios IV,who, accordingtothe Historyofthe Patriarchs,was sup- posed to intervene on behalf of an anonymous Ethiopian ruler askingPatriarch Philotheos (979 – 1003) for anew abun for Ethiopia (transl. Vantini [cf. fn. 5] 205–207). Cf. A. Łajtar and G. Ochała, “An Unexpected Guest in the Church of Sonqi Tino (Notes on Medieval Nubian Toponymy3)”,Dota- wo 4(2017), 264.  It cannot be excluded that both groups – the highest officials and courtiers – areidentical with one another;there is, however,too little data to assert this. AChristian King in Africa 375

of the Egyptian garrison in Dongola – A.Ł.&G.O.)and asked him to go back to his Master to avoid clashes.” The story ends with the description of an extremelycruel death inflicted by Semamun on the usurper.⁶⁶ The “princes” thus, disloyal as they appear from the story,seem to have held areal power to changethe fate of the coun- try and its rulers. Their opinion was important,and the king had to take it into ac- count.InAl-taʾrikh al-kabir al-muqaffa (cited as Al-muqaffa further on) Maqrizi cites al-Aswani’saccount of his own embassy to Georgios, king of Makuria. He was sentbythe governorofEgypt with aletter inviting the king to embrace Islam and solicitingthe payment of the baqt. When al-Aswani arrivedatDongola, the king “summonedthe [chief]men and the bishops of his kingdom as well as ʿAbdalla (al-Aswani – A.Ł.&G.O.) to have adiscussion with ʿAbdalla.”⁶⁷ As another fragment of al-Aswani’saccount shows, the “princes” could disagree with the king and they could express it openly. Al-Aswani mentions that,duringhis stayatDongola, the Sacrifice Feast took place, the most important event in the Islamic liturgical year. The royal entourage “pressed the king to forbid all publicity for that ceremony, but the king would not payheed to their requestand answered: ‘This man has left his homeand family[to go]onauseful mission. Todayisthe greatest feast of their ownreligion: he wants to celebrate it with all possible pomp: youshallnot pre- vent him from enjoying this opportunity.’”⁶⁸ Such adisagreementbetween the king and his retinue could have far-reachingconsequences, as is attested by the account of the events of 1286 transmitted by Ibn ʿAbdal-Zahir in his Tashrif al-ayyam (biog- raphyofsultan Qalawun): the envoys of the sultan wereontheir waybacktoCairo from KingAdur of Abwab, aland located somewhereinthe Fifth Cataract region, when they werecaptured by aking of Dongola, who intended to kill them. He did not do this,however,because “the nobles and his entouragerushed to warnhim: ‘Do youintend to ruin our country and our homes?’” They subsequentlyrebelled against him and “made another king in place of him.”⁶⁹ The accounts of Arab authorsquotedabove, especiallyreminiscences of al-Aswa- ni from his sojourn at Dongola, seem to point to the existenceofacollective body(a council?) assisting the king in investigating various issues and taking decisions. The internal sources contain mentions of “elders” of the king,perhaps chiefs of or houses, which appears to fit such apicture.Atanearlystage of his career,Joseph, the fourteenth-century bishop of Dongola who left his commemorative inscription in Aswan,⁷⁰ was the head of the “elders” of King Ioel. The proclamation of King Moüses Georgios concerning the church of Saint Epimachos⁷¹ alludes to the modus operandi

 The story is related in al-Nuwayri’s Nihayat al-arabfifunun al-adab (transl.Vantini [cf. fn. 5] 480 – 483) and Maqrizi’s Kitab al-suluk li-maʿrifat duwal al-muluk (transl. Vantini [cf. fn. 5] 687–689).  Transl. Vantini (cf. fn. 5) 721.  Transl. Vantini (cf. fn. 5) 722.  Transl. Vantini (cf. fn. 5) 425 – 426.  See above, fn. 22.  See above, 373with fn. 55. 376 Adam Łajtar,Grzegorz Ochała

of this council: in the prolegomena of the document the king writes thathewas ap- proached by the “elders” in this case just afterhesucceeded his David on the throne. The queen mother must have had aparticularresponsibility in advising the king and influencinghis decisions. Atellingexample here is astory that happened in the 1290s and is relatedbyIbn ʿAbdal-Zahir in his Al-altaf (the biographyofsultan Al- Ashraf Khalil). The sultan sent aletter to an unnamed king of Makuria in which he claimed thatthe Makurian hostages held in Cairo, includingthe queen mother and her court,are treated very well and even receive regular pension. In response, the king dispatched his envoys who were supposedtotell the sultan “that (in the court of)the kingsofNubia, it was onlythe women who direct the kings; therefore he asked that his mother be sent backtodirect him – not onlyhis mother but also those who were with her.”⁷² We have alreadyseen King Semamun escapingDongola before the Mamluk armyand taking with him, among others, the queen mother. Queen are the onlypersons except kingsand local bishops to be portrayed in Nubian churches.Inthis context,itisworth mentioning that the queen mother was the second most important personageinthe Kingdom of Kokka, which came to existenceinthe region to the north of the Third Cataract after the fall of Makuria and most probablycopied the latter’sorganisational structure and model of func- tioning.Accordingtooralaccounts concerning the end of its existenceinthe second half of the nineteenth century,the king had dailymeetings with the queen mother, seeking her advice in current matters.⁷³ The attitude of the Nubian king and his modusoperandi was to alarge degree shaped by his Christian viewpointand moderated by the Church acting through her bishops. The kingship of Makuria is consistentlypresented in Arabic sources of Islamic background as an unbroken line of Christian rulers. When the governor of Egypt,Jawhar,proposed to King Georgios through his envoyal-Aswani thathe changehis faith, the king repliedthatJawhar himself should become Christian in- stead.⁷⁴ An anonymous Makurian king (taking the date into account,itshould be Kyriakos), “atall, fine-lookingman,” when accepting the Marwanids escaping Egypt in 750, refused to sit on carpets spread on the ground claiming that “every king must humble himself before the majesty of God who raised him to power.”⁷⁵

 Transl. Vantini (cf. fn. 5) 431.  Forthe Kingdom of Kokka and its administration, see A. Osman, “The Post-Medieval Kingdom of Kokka: AMeans for aBetter Understandingofthe Administration of the Medieval Kingdom of - gola”,[in:] J. M. Plumley (ed.), Nubian Studies:Proceedings of the Symposium for Nubian Studies,Sel- wyn College, Cambridge, 1978,Warminster 1982, 185–197. The author of this article claimed to be a descendant of the kings of Kokka.  As related in Maqrizi’s Al-muqaffa (transl. Vantini [cf. fn. 5] 721).  The story first appears in IbnQutayba al-Dinawari at the end of the ninth century (transl. Vantini [cf. fn. 5] 66) and is subsequentlyrepeated by manyauthors,including IbnWasif, Ibn Iyas, and Al- Qazwini. According to the last one, the kingwas supposed to say “God Almighty bestowed on me the royal power; therefore,itismyduty to correspond with humility” (transl. Vantini [cf. fn. 5] 384). AChristian King in Africa 377

He then accused them of transgressingthe divine lawbyindulging in luxuries and asked them to leave the kingdom after the habitual period of hospitality (three days). Although the king’swords transmittedbythe Arab authors are most probably fake, the story clearlyshows the Christian moralattitude of Nubian kings, or rather the perception thereof outside Nubia. When in 836Prince Georgios was on his wayto to discuss with the chaliph, the supreme authority of the Muslim world, ir- regularities in fulfilling the provisions of the baqt,hewas zealous in exhibiting his Christian faith wherever he came,which was highlyappreciated by members of other Oriental Churches encountered duringthe journey.⁷⁶ Georgios wasaccompanied by as manyasthree bishops, of whom onlyone came back to Makuria, the two other having died of hardships along the way. Let us remember here that abishop (prob- ablythat of Dongola) was among others in King Semamun’sretinue when he was fleeing the capital before the Mamluk intervention, and bishops(note the ), to- gether with the chief men of the kingdom, weresummoned by King Georgios to hear al-Aswani’smessage. Bishops could criticise the king,when provoked by his behav- iour.According to the biographyofPatriarchMichaelI(744–768) in the Historyofthe Patriarchs,the bishop of Dongola Kyriakos, kept warning and instructingKingAbra- ham, who was a “proud and wicked” ruler.This lead to an open conflict,asaresult of which Kyriakos was deposed by the patriarch, who had been threatened by Abra- ham that Makuria would abandonChristianityifMichael supported the bishop.⁷⁷ Kyriakos removed himself to amonastery,wherehelived until avery old age, but as long as he lived(so the Historyofthe Patriarchs), no rain fell upon the royal city of Dongola – aclear sign thatGod had turned away from Abraham. Aking’sfa- vourable attitude was, of course, praised by the Church. The Historyofthe Patriarchs thus praises two Makurian kings: Merkurios and Kyriakos,both in the biographyof Michael Imentioned above. The former is called there a “New Constantine” because “he became by his beautiful conductlike one of the Disciples.”⁷⁸ The meaning of this phrase is obscure. The most common interpretation found in Nubian scholarship is that Merkurios made the Makurian Church subordinatetothe miaphysiteAlexandri- an Patriarchate, which made him resemble the achievements of Constantine for the Church. No source, either internal or external, supports this interpretation, however. The latter king is characterised as an “honest and virtuous man”⁷⁹ and described as “the orthodoxEthiopian king of Makuria,”“the Great King, upon whom the crown

 Our main source hereisMichael the Syrian, whoisquotingthe lost chronicle of the Jacobite pat- riarchDionysiosofTell Mahre, the eyewitness of the events.For Georgios’ journey to Baghdad, see especiallySeignobos (cf. fn. 58) chapter4:“Un princenubien àlacourdes Abbasides:lamission diplomatiquedeGeorgios (836)”.From the earlier scholarship one can cite G. Vantini, “Le roi Kirki àBaghdad”,[in:] E. Dinkler (ed.), Kunst und Geschichte Nubiens in Christlicher Zeit, Recklinghausen 1970,41–48.  Transl. Vantini (cf. fn. 5) 41– 42.  Transl. Vantini (cf. fn. 5) 40.  Transl. Vantini (cf. fn. 5) 43. 378 Adam Łajtar,Grzegorz Ochała

descended from Heaven,” the one who “governedasfar as the southern extremities of the Earth, for he is the Greek king,fourth of the Earth; and none of the otherking- doms stands up against him, but their kingsattend him when he passes through their territory.”⁸⁰ This pompous description is amanifestation of gratitude for Kyria- kos’ military intervention in Egypt in defense of the patriarch, expressed by the lat- ter’ssecretary.Itisatthe sametime an illustration of the atmosphere prevailing in eighth-century Christian communities in the Near East and North-, most clearlyvisible in Coptic and Syriac apocalyptic literature of that date: the Christian Nubian king Kyriakos,victorious in clashes with Islam,isthe fourth and the last world king foretold by the prophets,the saviour of the Christians, whose reign pre- cedes the end of the world.⁸¹

6RoyalOnomastics

Names of Nubian rulersare asourceofinteresting observations concerning the sub- ject of this paper.They can be divided into two groups:Christian names and native Nubian names, whereby the former group is much largerthan the latter.Among Christian names one can distinguish two subcategories: Biblical namesand names of Christian saints. In the formersubcategory,there are namesofpersonages from both Old and New Testament.The repertoire of Old Testament namesincludes the Patriarchs (Abraham, Isaak), the rulers of the United Kingdom of Israel and Judah (Solomon, David), and prophets (Moüses, Ioel). While the namesofAbraham, Isaak, David are quite common in Nubian onomastics in general, Solomon is rare and its choice for amember of the (apossiblefuture king) might have been ideologicallyinspired. The choice of names of New Testament origin (Za- charias, Symeon, Ioannes,Markos,Stephanos) is rather unusual. The two priests, Za- charias (provided the inspiration was indeed the father of John the Baptist) and Sy- meon, as asourceofinspiration maybeespeciallysurprising.This mayperhaps be connected with the putative priestly role of the Nubian king (see above). Among the names of saints, we can distinguish the names of Archangels (Chael [most probablyanabbreviated version of Michael] and Raphael) and the names of (Merkurios,Kyriakos,Georgios, Basil). The occurrenceofthe name Raphael in royal onomastics is surprising.AstudyofNubian naming practices reveals that the Nubians avoidedthe use of the names of Archangels, unlessmodified (e.g., Chael, Michaelinkouda,Raphaelanya, etc.). Perhaps, thus, the royal family was ex- empt from this rule. As for other holyfigures,one observes the presenceoftwo war-

 Transl. Vantini (cf. fn. 5) 44–45.  See L. Greisiger, “Ein nubischer Erlöser-König: Kūš in syrischen Apokalypsen des 7. Jahrhunderts”, [in:] S. G. Vashalomidze and L. Greisiger (eds.), Der Christliche Orient und seine Umwelt. Gesammelte Studien zu Ehren Jürgen Tubachs anläßlich seines 60.Geburtstags [= Studies in Oriental Religions 56], Wiesbaden 2007,189–213. AChristian King in Africa 379

rior saints, Merkurios and Georgios, which maybelinked with military aspects of the kingship. Coincidentally, the name Basil, even though it has asaint as its sourceof inspiration, derives from the root designatingroyalty,and as such is perfect for a king. Royal names of Nubian origin (Eirpanome, Tokiltoeton, Qalidurut,Mashkouda, Kudanbes, Siti, Paper)are difficult to interpret,because the studyofNubian native names is in its beginnings. Apart from the name Mashkouda (lit. ‘servant of the sun’), the etymologyofthese names is unknown. It is worth observing thatepichoric names occur onlyatthe beginning of Christian Nubian statehood (mid-sixth to mid- seventh century) and its end (second half of the thirteenth–fifteenth century). Royal onomastics seems thus to reflect ageneral tendency observable in medieval Nubian culture, wherelocal, perhapsstill pagan, elements are visible in the first century of Christianityand then come to fore again in its last centuries.⁸² In general, Nubian royal onomastics is completelydifferent thanEastern Roman imperial naming practices;thereare no typical imperial names in Nubia, such as Constantine, Theodosius, Justinian, Justin, Anastasius, Tiberius,Leo,Zeno, or even Michael. The onlytwo common elements are Ioannes and Basil, but they are other- wise present in Nubian naming practices as such.

Conclusion

The Christian Nubian king,aspresented in accessiblesources, is atype of absolute . His power is connected with the office rather than the person. It has divine and covers all areas of the kingdom’sfunctioning:legislation, administra- tion, judicial, military,and foreign affairs. At the same time,this power,however ex- tensive,has its limitations. The king must respect the opinion of those who support his rule: the nobles and family members. He is also seriouslyrestricted by local tra- dition reaching back to pre-Christian, African roots.Onthe other hand,the ruler’s behaviour and attitude are shaped by his Christian faith, the keeper of which is the Church, represented by her bishops.

 On the margin of our discussion, it needs to be observed that Arabic names start to appear in royal onomastics in the latest period, which is connected to the progressingArabisation and Islam- isation of the Middle Nile Valley population.