UNESCO Ancient Civilizations of Africa (Editor G. Mokhtar)

Ancient Civilizations of Africa
south. Their mutual relations are not even yet entirely clear, at any rate
in respect of the firstperiod of their independence. ' 7
Until recently the history of Christian Nubia was a part of Egyptology,
ancient history and palaeo-Christianity, and most often of the history of
Coptic Egypt. Ugo Monneret de Villard's standard work 18 contains all
that was known about Christian Nubia in 1938. His four-volume survey
of medieval Nubia 19 provided a wealth of illustrative material when it
appeared, and still helps research workers to study many points of detail.
He deals in his books with the results of archaeological excavation, but
he has meticulously combed Arabic texts, which are still often the only
sources of confirmation about important facts of Nubian history and the
chronology of Nubian kings. Some of the most important of these are the
writings of Al-Yáqübi (874), Al-Mas'udi (956), Ibn Hawqal (c. 960), Selim
al-Aswäni (c. 970), Abu Sâlih (c. 1200), Al-Makïn (1272), Ibn Khaldun
(1342-1406) and, in particular, Maqrizi (1364-1442). 20
Since Monneret de Villard's research, many archaeological discoveries
have been accumulated, particularly through the 'Nubian campaign'
organized under the auspices of Unesco in 1960-5 to explore ground that
was to be flooded by the Nile water above the Sadd al-'Aalï, the High Dam.
In some parts of northern Nubia the slow rise of the water level in the
storage basin has allowed digging to continue until 1971, and at Qasr Ibrim,
which is not flooded, until now.
The results of the research of the last few years have often been exceptionally
valuable and have brought the problems of Christian Nubia
back into the foreground. The firstreports of the diggings were published
in Kush for Sudanese Nubia, and in the Annales du Service des Antiquités
de l'Egypte for Egyptian Nubia. Some reports have appeared in independent
series of publications. 21 New summaries have appeared, and archaeological
research has been transferred south of the threatened area.
A new approach to the problem of Christianity in Nubia appears
particularly in the works of W . Y. Adams (mainly as regards ceramic
classification), 22 B. Trigger, 23 L. P. Kirwan, 24 P. L. Shinnie, 25
17. W . Y. Adams, 1965, p. 170.
18. U. Monneret de Villard, 1938.
19. U. Monneret de Villard, 1935-57.
20. A list of the most important Arab and Christian texts on the history of Christian
Nubia has recently been given by G. Vantini.
21. T. Säve-Söderbergh, 1970; M . Almagro, 1963-5; K. Michalowski, 1965c.
22. W . Y. Adams, 1961, pp. 7-43; 1962a, pp. 62-75; 1962b, pp. 245-88; W . Y. Adams
and H. A. Nordstrom, pp. 1-10; W . Y. Adams, 1964a, pp. 227-47; !96s a > PP- 148-76;
1965b, pp. 87-139; 1966a, pp. 13-30; 1968, pp. 194-215; 1967, pp. n-19; T. Säve-
Söderbergh, 1970, pp. 224, 225, 227, 232, 235; 1972, pp. 11-17.
23. B. G. Trigger, 1965, pp. 347-87.
24. L. P. Kirwan, 1966, pp. 121-8.
25. P. L. Shinnie, 1965, pp. 263-73; 1971a, pp. 42-50.
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