The natural citadel of Qasr Ibrim in Northern Nubia occupied for
thousands of years a strategic position between Egypt and the Middle
Nile region, the present-day Sudan. The rich archaeological and textual
finds from the site document its history from the rule of the 'Black
Pharaohs' of Egypt's 25th dynasty onwards until the Ottoman period.
Briefly occupied by the Romans under Augustus, Qasr Ibrim flourished as
a stronghold of Meroitic culture in the first centuries AD. In Late
Antiquity, it was the political centre of a tiny kingdom, Nobadia,
bordering on the Byzantine empire. Following the Christianization of the
region in the fifth and sixth centuries, it became the see of a bishop,
for whom a magnificent stone-built cathedral was erected. During the
Arab conquest of Egypt, Nubia secured its independence under the kings
of Makouria, who had their capital further south, in Old Dongola. Qasr
Ibrim became the residence of the eparch of Noubadia, an official who
played a pivotal role in the contacts between Christian Nubia and
Islamic Egypt. The capture of the citadel by Shams ad-Dawla, Saladin's
brother, in 1173, was a dramatic event that inaugurated the decline of
the Christian kingdoms of Nubia in the later Middle Ages.
This
volume contains thirteen papers that focus on Qasr Ibrim as a key
witness to cultural interaction between Egypt and the world of the
Mediterranean on the one hand, and Africa, the Sudan and beyond on the
other. Drawing their inspiration from the rich material found on site,
these papers combine text-based and archaeological approaches.
Particular attention is paid, for instance, to pottery and textile
finds, while texts written in Demotic, Meroitic, Greek, Coptic, Old
Nubian and Arabic are presented and discussed. Beyond the mere
presentation of material, the volume addresses more general questions
concerning cultural liminality, the role of indigenous versus foreign
models and centre-periphery relations. Above all, however, it chronicles
a fascinating chapter in the history of North-South contacts.