Alodia

Alodia
6th century–c. 1500
The approximate extension of Alodia in the 10th century. White beams and question marks symbolize uncertain ownership.
Capital	Soba
Common languages	Nubian Greek (liturgical) Others
Religion	Coptic Orthodox Christianity
Government	Monarchy
Historical era	Middle Ages
• First mentioned	6th century
• Destroyed	c. 1500
Preceded by Succeeded by Kingdom of Kush Funj Sultanate Kingdom of Fazughli Kingdom of al-Abwab
Today part of	Sudan

Alodia, also known as Alwa (Greek: Aρογα, Aroua; Arabic: علوة, 'Alwa), was a medieval Nubian 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.

Founded some time after the fall of the ancient kingdom of Kush in around 350, Alodia is first mentioned in historical records in 569. It converted to Coptic Christianity in 580, the last of the three Nubian kingdoms to convert, the other two being Nobadia and Makuria. It possibly reached its peak during the 9th–12th centuries when it is recorded to have controlled much of central and southern Sudan, exceeding its northern neighbor, Makuria, with which it maintained close dynastic ties, in size, power and economic prosperity. This wide, multicultural empire was ruled by a powerful king and provincial governors appointed by him. The capital Soba, being described as a town of "extensive dwellings and churches full of gold and gardens", prospored as a trading hub with goods arriving from Makuria, the Middle East, western Africa, India and even China. Nubian and Greek literacy flourished.

From the 12th and especially the 13th century Alodia was declining possibly because of invasions from the south, droughts and a shift of trade routes. The 14th century saw the arrival of both the plague and bedouin tribes migrating into the upper Nile valley. By around 1500 Soba had fallen to either Arabs or the Funj, likely marking the end of Alodia, although some Sudanese oral traditions claimed that it survived in the form of the kingdom of Fazughli within the Ethiopian-Sudanese borderlands. After the destruction of Soba the Funj established the sultanate of Sennar, ushering in a period of Islamization and arabization ultimately resulting in the modern day Sudanese Arab identity.

Sources

Column remains of the "Mound C"-church, Soba

Alodia is by far the least studied of the three medieval Nubian kingdoms, hence evidence is very slim. What is known about it comes mostly from a handful of medieval historians from the Arabic world, most importantly al-Yaqubi (9th century), Ibn Hawqal and al-Aswani (both 10th century), who both visited the country in person, and Abu al-Makarim (12th century). The events around the Christianization of the kingdom in the 6th century have been described by the contemporary John of Ephesus, while its fall is addressed in various post-medieval Sudanese sources. Al-Aswani noted that he interacted with a Nubian historian who was "well-acquanted with the country of Alwa", but no medieval Nubian historiographical work has been discovered yet.

While many Alodian sites are known it is only the capital Soba which received extensive excavations. Parts of this site, which is approximately 2,75 km2 in size and is covered with numerous mounds of brick rubble previously belonging to monumental structures, have been unearthed in the early 1950s and again in the 1980s and 1990s. The discoveries include several churches, a palace, cemeteries and numerous small finds.

Geography

The Alodian heartland was the Gezira, a fertile plain bounded by the White and Blue Nile. In contrast to the White Nile Valley the Blue Nile Valley is rich in known Alodian archaeological sites, among them Soba. The extent of the Alodian influence to the south is unclear, although it is likely that it bordered the Ethiopian highlands. The southernmost Alodian sites have been noted in the proximity of Sennar.

To the west of the White Nile Ibn Hawqal differentiated between Al-Jeblien, which was controlled by Makuria and probably corresponded northern Kordofan, and the Alodian-controlled Al-Ahdin, which has been identified with the Nuba Mountains and perhaps extended as far south as Jebel al Liri, near the modern border to South Sudan. Nubian connections with Darfur have been suggested, but evidence is lacking.

The northern region of Alodia probably extended from the confluence of the two Niles downstream to Abu Hamad near Mograt Island. Abu Hamad likely constituted the northern top of the Alodian province known as al-Abwab ("the gates"), although some scholars also suggest a more southern location, near the Atbara. No evidence for a major Alodian settlement has been discovered north of the confluence of the two Niles yet. Instead several forts have been recorded.

Lying between the Nile and the Atbara was the Butana, grassland suited for pastoralism. Along the Atbara and the adjacent Gash Delta (near Kassala) many Christian sites have been noted. The region around the Gash Delta was, according to Ibn Hawqal, governed by a vassal king loyal to Alodia. The accounts of both Ibn Hawqal and al-Aswani suggest that Alodia also controlled the desert along the Red Sea.

History

Origins

The name of Alodia might have been of considerable antiquity, perhaps appearing first as Alut on a Kushite stela from the late 4th century BC and again as Alwa in a list of Kushite towns by Pliny the Elder (1st century AD), said to be located south of Meroe. In a 4th-century Aksumite inscription another town named Alwa is mentioned, albeit this time located near the confluence of the Nile and the Atbara.

Kushite bronze figurine, 1st century BC. The Meroitic inscription on its underside identifies the individual as a Nubian king.

By the 4th century the kingdom of Kush, which used to control much of riverine Sudan, was in decline, and Nubians began to settle in the Nile Valley. The Nubians originally lived west of the Nile but were forced eastwards due to changes in the climate, resulting in conflicts with Kush since at least the 1st century BC. In the mid 4th century the Nubians had occupied most of the area once controlled by Kush, while Kush itself was limited to the northern reaches of the Butana. An Aksumite inscription mentions how the warlike Nubians also threatened the borders of the Aksumite kingdom north of the Tekeze River, resulting in an Aksumite expedition. The inscription describes the Nubian defeat by the Aksumite forces and the subsequent march to the confluence of the Nile and Atbara, where the Aksumites plundered several Kushite towns, one of them the Alwa mentioned above.

Archaeological evidence suggests that the kingdom of Kush ceased to exist still in the middle of the 4th century, albeit it remains unknown whether the Aksumite expeditions played a direct role in its fall. It seems likely that Aksumite presence in the Middle Nile Valley was short lived. Eventually the region saw the development of regional centres whose ruling elites were buried in large tumuli. Such tumuli within what would become Alodia are known from El-Hobagi, Jebel Qisi and maybe Jebel Aulia. The excavated tumuli of El-Hobagi are known to date to the late 4th century and contained an assortment of weaponry in imitation of Kushite royal funerary rituals. Meanwhile, many Kushite sites, including the former capital Meroe, seem to have been largely abandoned. The Kushites themselves were absorbed into the Nubians and their language gave place to Nubian.

How the kingdom of Alodia came into being is unknown. Its formation was, however, completed by the mid 6th century, when it is attested to have existed alongside the two other Nubian kingdoms of Nobadia and Makuria in the north. Soba, which by the 6th century had developed to a major urban center, served as its capital. In 569 the kingdom of Alodia was mentioned for the first time, being described by John of Ephesus as a kingdom on the cusp of Christianization. Independently from John of Ephesus, the kingdom's existence is also verified by a late 6th century Greek document from Byzantine Egypt, describing the sell of an Alodian slave girl.

Christianization and peak

Cross graffito from Musawwarat es-Sufra

The events around the Christianization of Alodia have been described by John of Ephesus in considerable detail. As the southernmost of the three Nubian kingdoms, Alodia was the last to be converted to Christianity. According to John, the Alodian king was aware of the baptism of Nobadia in 543 and eventually asked him to send him a bishop that would baptize his people as well. The request was granted in 580, leading to the baptism of the king, his family and the local nobility. Thus Alodia became a part of the Christian world under the Coptic Patriarchate of Alexandria. After conversion several pagan temples were probably converted into churches, like for example the temple in Musawwarat es-Sufra. The extent and speed with which Christianity spread among the Alodian populace is, however, uncertain. Despite the conversion of the nobility, it is likely that Christianization of the rural population would have been proceeded slowly, or not at all.

Roughly sixty years after the baptizing of the Alodian nobility, between 639 and 641, the Muslim Arabs conquered Egypt from the Byzantine Empire. Makuria, which by this time had been unified with Nobadia, fended off two subsequent Muslim invasions, one in 641/642 and another in 652. In the aftermath, both Makuria and the Arabs agreed to sign the Baqt, a peace treaty that also included a yearly exchange of gifts as well as other socio-economic regulations between Arabs and Nubians. Alodia was mentioned in that treaty, explicitly referred to as not being affected by it. While the Arabs failed to conquer Nubia they began to settle along the western coast of the Red Sea, founding the port towns of Aydhab and Badi in the 7th century and Suakin, first mentioned in the 10th century. From the 9th century they pushed further inland, settling among the Beja throughout the Eastern Desert. Their influence would remain confined to the east of the Nile until the 14th century.

South-up map of Nubia by al-Idrisi (1192 AD). Alodia ("galua") is erroneously depicted as being north of Makuria ("domkola", after Dongola, the Makurian capital).

Based on archaeological evidence it has been suggested that Alodia's capital Soba underwent its peak of development between the 9th to 12th centuries. In the 9th century Alodia was, albeit briefly, described for the first time by the Arab historian al-Yaqubi. In his short account Alodia is said to be the stronger of the two Nubian kingdoms, having a country requiring a three-month journey to cross it. He also recorded that Muslims would occasionally travel to there.

A century later, in the mid 10th century, Alodia was visited by the traveller and historian Ibn Hawqal, resulting in the most comprehensive known account of the kingdom. He described the geography and people of Alodia in considerable detail, giving the impression of a large, polyethnic state. He also noted its prosperity, having an "uninterrupted chain of villages and a continuous strip of cultivated lands". When Ibn Hawqal arrived the ruling king was named Eusebius, who upon his death was succeeded by his nephew Stephanos. Another Alodian king from this period was David, who is known from a Greek tombstone from Soba. His rule was initially dated to 999–1015, but based on palaeographical grounds it is now dated more broadly, to the 9th / 10th centuries.

Ibn Hawqal's report concerning Alodia's geography was largely confirmed by al-Aswani, a Fatimid ambassador sent to Makuria, who would go on to travel to Alodia. Similar to what al-Yaqubi said 100 years before, Alodia was called more powerful than Makuria, being more extensive and having a larger army. The capital Soba was a prosperous town with "fine buildings, and extensive dwellings and churches full of gold and gardens", while also having a large Muslim quarter.

King Mouses Georgios, who probably ruled Makuria and Alodia simultaneously. Faras, late 12th century.

Abu al-Makarim (12th century) was the last historian to refer to Alodia in some detail. Alodia was still testified to be a large, Christian kingdom housing around 400 churches. A particularly large and finely constructed one was said to be located in Soba, called the "Church of Manbali". Two Alodian kings, Basil and Paul, appear in 12th century Arabic letters from Qasr Ibrim.

There is evidence that at certain periods there were close relations between the Alodian and the Makurian royal families, probably with the throne passing between the states after each king. Nubiologist Włodzimierz Godlewski states that it was under the Makurian king Merkurios (early 8th century) when relations between the two kingdoms intensified. In 943 it is written by al Masudi that the Makurian king ruled over Alodia, while Ibn Hawqal wrote that it was the other way around. The 11th century saw the appearance of a new royal crown in Makurian art, which has been suggested to derive from the Alodian court. King Mouses Georgios, who is known to have ruled in Makuria in the second half of the 12th century, most likely ruled both kingdoms via a personal union. Considering that in his royal title ("king of the Arouades and Makuritai") Alodia is mentioned before Makuria he might have initially been an Alodian king.

Decline

Bronze incense burner, bearing a damaged Nubian inscription. Allegedly discovered in Soba.

Archaeological evidence from Soba suggests a decline of the town, and therefore possibly the Alodian kingdom, from the 12th century. By c. 1300 the decline of Alodia had been well advanced. Basically no pottery or glassware, neither native nor imported, postdating the 13th century could be identified at Soba. Two churches were apparently destroyed during the 13th century, although they were later rebuilt. It has been suggested that Alodia was under attack of an African, possibly Nilotic people called Damadim who originated from the border region of modern Sudan and South Sudan, along the Bahr al Ghazal, who, according to Al-Maghrebi, attacked Nubia in the year 1220. Soba may have been conquered at this time, suffering occupation and destruction. In the late 13th century another invasion by an unspecified people from the south occurred. In the same period al-Harrani wrote that Alodia's capital was now called Waylula, described as "very large" and "built on the west bank of the Nile". In the early 14th century al-Dimashqi wrote that the capital was a place named Kusha, located far away from the Nile where water had to be obtained from wells.

Economic factors also seem to have played a part in Alodia's decline. From the 10th to 12th centuries the East African coast saw the rise of new trading cities (like for example Kilwa), which, since they exported similar goods to Nubia, were direct mercantile competitors. A period of severe droughts occurring in Sub-Saharan Africa between 1150 and 1500 would have affected the Nubian economy as well. Archaeobotanical evidence from Soba suggests that the town suffered from overgrazing and overcultivation.

By 1276 al-Abwab, previously described as the northermost Alodian province, was recorded as an independent splinter kingdom ruling over vast territories. The precise circumstances of its secession and relations with Alodia thereafter remain unknown. Based on pottery finds it has been suggested that it continued to thrive until the 15th and perhaps even the 16th century. In 1286 a Mamluke prince sent messengers to several rulers in central Sudan. It is not clear if they were still subject to the king in Soba or if they were independent, implying a fragmentation of Alodia into multiple petty states by the late 13th century. In 1317 a Mamluk expedition pursued Arab brigands as far south as Kassala in Taka (one of the regions which received a Mamluk messenger in 1286), marching through Al-abwab and Makuria on their way back.

Map depicting the migration routes employed by the bedouin tribes to push into Sudan

During the 14th and 15th centuries much of what is now Sudan was eventually overran by bedouin tribes, who perhaps profited from the plague which in the mid 14th century might have ravaged in Nubia and killed many sedentary Nubians, but did not affect the Arabic nomads. The Arabs would have then intermixed with the remaining local population, gradually taking control over land and people, greatly benefiting from their large population in spreading their culture. The first recorded Arab migration to Nubia dates to 1324, but it was the disintegration of Makuria in the late 14th century that caused the "flood gates" to "burst wide open". Many, initially coming from Egypt, followed the course of the Nile until they reached Al Dabbah, where they parted west to migrate along the Wadi Al-Malik to reach Darfur or Kordofan. Alodia, in particular the Butana and the Gezira, was the target of those Arabs who had lived among the Beja in the Eastern Desert for centuries.

Initially, the kingdom was able to enforce authority over some of the newly arrived Arab groups, forcing them to pay tribute, but the situation grew increasingly more precarious the more new bedouins arrived. By the second half of the 15th century the Arabs had settled in the entire central Sudanese Nile valley except for the area around Soba, which was all that was left of Alodia's domain. In 1474 it was recorded that the Arabs founded the town of Arbaji on the Blue Nile, which would quickly develop into an important center of commerce and Islamic learning. In around 1500 it was recorded that the Nubians were in a state of total political fragmentation, with 150 lordships residing on both sides of the Nile. Archaeology attests that Soba was largely ruined at this time.

Fall

Late 15th century illustration of bedouin horseman by Arnold von Harff

It is not clear if the kingdom of Alodia was destroyed by either the Arabs under Abdallah Jammah or the Funj, an African group from the south which was led by their king Amara Dunqas. However, most modern scholars tend to agree with the Arab narrative.

Abdallah Jammah ("Abdallah the gatherer"), the eponymous ancestor of the Sudanese Abdallab tribe, was a Rufa'a Arab who, according to Sudanese traditions, settled in the Nile Valley after coming from the east. He consolidated his power and established his capital at Qerri, just north of the confluence of the two Niles. In the late 15th century he gathered the Arabic tribes to act against the, as it is called, Alodian "tyranny", which has been interpreted as a religious-economic motive, i.e. the Muslim Arabs no longer accepted the rule of, nor taxation by, a Christian ruler. Under his leadership Alodia and its capital Soba were destroyed, resulting in rich booty like a "bejeweled crown" and a "famous necklace of pearls and rubies".

An Abdallab with the typical tribal scarification. The Abdallab trace their origin to Abdallah Jammah, the alleged destroyer of Alodia.

According to another tradition, recorded in old documents from Shendi, Soba was destroyed by Abdallah Jammah in 1509 after already getting attacked in 1474. The idea to unite the Arabs against Alodia is said to have already come to mind to an Emir who lived between 1439 and 1459. For this purposes he migrated from Bara in Kordofan to a mountain near Ed Dueim at the White Nile. Under his grandson, called Emir Humaydan, the White Nile was crossed, where he met with other Arab tribes, and attacked Alodia. The king of Alodia was killed, but the "patriarch", probably the archbishop of Soba, managed to flee. Soon, however, he returned to Soba, a puppet king was crowned and an army of Nubians, Beja and Abyssinians was assembled to fight "for the sake of religion". Meanwhile, the Arab alliance was about to fracture, but Abdallah Jammah reunited them while also allying with the Funj king Amara Dunqas. Together they finally defeated and killed the patriarch, razing Soba afterwards and enslaving its population.

The "Funj chronicle", a history of the Funj Sultanate that was compiled in the 19th century, ascribes the destruction of Alodia to king Amara Dunqas, albeit he was also allied with Abdallah Jammah. This attack is dated to the 9th century after the Hijra (c. 1396–1494). Afterwards Soba is said to have served as the capital of the Funj until the foundation of Sennar in 1504. The "Tabaqat Dayfallah", a history of Sufism in Sudan (c. 1700), briefly mentions that the Funj attacked and defeated the "kingdom of the Nuba" in 1504–1505.

Legacy

Funj manjil ("kinglet") of Fazughli as depicted by Frédéric Cailliaud. On his head he wears a taqiya umm qarnein.

Historian Jay Spaulding proposes that the fall of Soba was not necessarily the end of Alodia. According to the Jewish traveller David Reubeni, who visited the country in 1523, there was still a "kingdom of Soba" on the eastern bank of the Blue Nile, albeit he also explicitly noted that Soba itself was in ruins. This would match with oral traditions from the upper Blue Nile, claiming that Alodia survived Soba's fall and was still existing along the Blue Nile, albeit it gradually retreated to the mountains of Fazughli in the Ethiopian-Sudanese borderlands, forming the kingdom of Fazughli. Recent excavations in western Ethiopia seem to confirm the theory of an Alodian migration. The Funj eventually conquered Fazughli in 1685 and its habitants, known as Hamaj, became a fundamental part of Sennar and eventually even seized power in 1761–1762. As recently as 1930 Hamaj villagers in the southern Gezira would swear by "Soba the home of my grandfathers and grandmothers which can make the stone float and the cotton ball sink.", an oath they did not dare to break.

In 1504–1505 the Funj founded the Funj sultanate, incorporating Abdallah Jammah's domain, which, according to some traditions, happened after a battle where Amara Dunqas defeated Abdallah Jammah. The Funj maintained some medieval Nubian customs like the wearing of crowns with features resembling bovine horns, called taqiya umm qarnein, the shaving of the head of a king upon his coronation, or, according to Jay Spaulding, the custom of raising princes separatedly from their mothers, under strict confinement.

The aftermath of Alodia's fall saw extensive arabization, with the Nubians embracing the tribal system of the Arab migrants. Those living along the Nile between Al Dabbah in the north and the confluence of the two Niles in the south got subsumed into the Ja'alin tribe, while east, west and south of the Ja'alin the country is now dominated by tribes claiming a Juhaynah ancestry. In the area around Soba prevailed the tribal Abdallab identity. The Nubian language remained spoken in central Sudan until the 19th century, when it finally got replaced by Arabic, albeit many words of Nubian origin and Nubian place names as far south as the Blue Nile state were preserved.

The fate of Christianity in the region remains largely unknown. The church institutions would have collapsed together with the fall of the kingdom, resulting in the decline of the Christian faith and the rise of Islam in its stead. Islamized groups from northern Nubia began to proselytize the Gezira and as early as 1523 king Amara Dunqas, who was initially a Pagan or nominal Christian, was recorded to be Muslim. Nevertheless, in the 16th century large portions of the Nubians would still have regarded themselves as Christians. A traveller who visited Nubia around 1500 stated that the Nubians considered themselves Christian but were so lacking in Christian instruction that they had no actual knowledge of the faith. In 1520 Nubian ambassadors reached Ethiopia and petitioned the emperor for priests, claiming that no more priests could reach Nubia because of the wars between Muslims, leading to a decline of Christianity in their land. In the 17th century a church in the Nuba mountains was mentioned by a Sudanese prophecy. As late as the early 1770s there was said to be a Christian princedom in the Ethiopian-Sudanese border area, called Shaira. Certain apotropaic rituals stemming from Christian practices remained in use until well into the 20th century. Such rituals, often including crosses and resembling christenings, have been recorded in the Gezira, Fazughli, Kordofan, the Nuba mountains and even Darfur.

Soba, which remained inhabited until at least the early 17th century, served, among many other ruined Alodian sites, as steady supply of bricks and stones for nearby built Qubba shrines dedicated to Sufi holymen. During the early 19th century many of the remaining bricks in Soba were plundered for the construction of Khartoum, the new capital of the recently colonized Sudan.

Administration

Information on the organization of Alodia is sparse, but it is probable that its organization was similar to that of Makuria. The head of state was the king who, according to al-Aswani, reigned as an absolute monarch and was able to enslave any of his subjects without further reason. The people did not oppose him, but prostrated themselves before him. As in Makuria the succession to the Alodian throne was matrilineal, that is, it was the son of the king's sister and not the king's son who succeeded to the throne. There might be evidence that there existed a mobile royal encampment, although the translation of the original source, Abu al-Makarim, is not certain. Similar mobile courts are known to have existed in the early Funj sultanate, Ethiopia and Darfur.

The kingdom was divided into several provinces under the sovereignty of Soba. It seems that these provinces were governed by delegates of the king: al-Aswani stated that the governor of the northern Al-abwab province was appointed by the king, while similarly was also recorded by Ibn Hawqal for the Gash Delta region, which was ruled by an appointed arabophone. In 1286 Mamluk emissaries were sent to several ruler in central Sudan. It is not clear if those rulers were actually independent, which in the case of the "Sahib" of Al-abwab, who is named first in the list, seems certain, or if they were still subordinated to the king of Alodia. If the latter is the case this would provide an understanding of the territorial organization of the kingdom. Apart of Al-abwab following regions are mentioned: Al-Anag (possibly Fazughli); Ari; Barah; Befal; Danfou; Kedru (possibly after Kadero, a village north of Khartoum); Kersa (the Gezira); and Taka (the region around the Gash Delta).

State and church were closely interwined in Alodia, with the Alodian kings probably serving as its patrons. Coptic documents observed by Johann Michael Vansleb during the later 17th century list the following bishoprics in the Alodian kingdom: Arodias; Borra; Gargara; Martin; Banazi; and Menkesa. Arodias might have referred to the bishopric in Soba. As per al-Aswani the bishops were dependent on the partriarch of Alexandria.

Alodia may have had a standing army in which cavalry probably played an important role in force projection and as a symbol of royal authority deep into the provinces. Due to their speed, horses were also important for communications, providing a rapid courier service from the capital to the provinces. Aside from horses, boats would have also played a central role in the transport infrastructure.

Culture

Languages

Fragmentary marble stone from Soba with a yet undeciphered Nubian inscription.

While Alodia was polyethnic and hence, polylingual, it was essentially a Nubian state whose majority spoke a Nubian language. Based on the limited extant evidence, the Alodian Nubian language appears to have been distinct from the Old Nobiin language of northern Nubia, albeit closely related. This Alodian language, as was the case in Makuria, was written in a variant of the Greek alphabet, although it had five or six additional letters unknown to the Old Nobiin alphabet.

Greek was also employed, being a prestigious sacral language, that does, however, not appear to have actually been spoken. An example of the use of Greek in Alodia is the tombstone of king David from Soba, where it is written with surprisingly accurate grammar. Al-Aswani noted that books were written in Greek, which were then translated into Nubian. The Christian liturgy was also in Greek. Coptic was probably used to communicate with the Patriarch of Alexandria, but Coptic written remains are very sparse.

Apart from Nubian a multitude of languages were spoken throughout the widths of the kingdom. In the Nuba mountains various Kordofanian languages occurred together with Hill Nubian dialects. Upstream the Blue Nile Eastern Sudanic languages like Berta or Gumuz were spoken. In the eastern territories lived the Beja, who spoke their own Cushitic language, Arabs and also the Semitic Tigre.

Church architecture

Suggestive ground plan of the "Mound C" church, Soba.

400 churches have been recorded to have existed throughout the kingdom, but most of them have yet to be located. Only seven could be identified so far, given the simple names of church "A", "B", "C", "E" and the "Mound C" church in Soba as well as the church in Saqadi and the temple-church in Musawwarat as-Sufra. Church "A"-"C" as well as the "Mound C" church were basilicas comparable to even the largest Makurian churches, the Saqadi church was an insertion into a pre-existing structure while church "E" and the church of Musawwarat es-Sufra were "normal" churches. Thus, the known Alodian houses of worship can be categorized into three classes.

Church complex of "Mound B", Soba, including, from up to bottom: "Church A", "Church B" and "Church C".

A capital from the "Mound C" church, Soba.

On "Mound B" in Soba lay the standalone complex of the three churches "A", "B" and "C". Church "A" and "B", both probably built in the mid 9th century, were large buildings, with the first sizing 28 x 24,5 m and the second 27 m x 22,5 m. Church "C" was way smaller and was built after the other two churches, probably after c. 900. The three churches bear many similarities like having a narthex, wide entrances on the main east-west axis, or a pulpit along the north side of the nave. Differences show in the thickness of the bricks used or the fact that church "C" lacks outer aisles. It seems probable that the complex was the ecclesiatical center of Soba, if not the entire kingdom.

Temple-church, Musawwarat es-Sufra.

Church "E", which is located on a natural mount, is 16,4 x 10,6 m in size (and like all red brick structures in Soba heavily robbed). Its outlay is unusual, like for example its L-shaped narthex. The roof was supported by wooden beams resting on stone pedastels. The inside walls used to be covered by painted whitewashed mud, while the external ones were rendered in white lime mortar.

The "Mound C" church, perhaps the oldest of all churches of Soba, was around 13,5 m in length and is the only Alodian church known to have incorporated stone columns. Very little remains of it and its walls, probably made of red bricks, have completely disappeared. Five capitals have been noted, belonging to a style that appeared in Nubia on the turn of the 8th century.

The unearthing of the Saqadi church in 1913.

The church of Musawwarat es-Sufra, called "Temple III A", was initially a pagan temple but was converted into a church, probably soon after the royal conversion in 580. It was rectangular and slightly skewed, being 8,63–8,87 x 7,41–7,67 m in size. It was divided into one large and three small rooms. The roof, of an indeterminate shape, was supported by wooden beams. Despite originally being a Kushite temple it still bears similarities to purpose built churches, for example having an entrance on both the north and south side.

The southernmost known Nubian church was in Saqadi, a red brick building inserted into a pre-existing building of unknown nature. It had a nave, in which two L-shaped walls projected, and at least two aisles with rectangular brick piers between, as well as a range of possibly three rooms across the western end, which is a typically Nubian arrangement.

Nubian church architecture was greatly influenced by that of Egypt, Syria and Armenia. The constellation of the "Mound B" complex might reflect Byzantine influences. The relations between the church architecture of Makuria and Alodia remain uncertain. What seems clear is that Alodian churches lacked eastern entrances and tribunes, features characteristic for churches in northern Nubia. Furthermore, Alodian churches utilized more wood. Similarities with medieval Ethiopian church artchitecture are even harder to find, with only few details matching.

Pottery

In medieval Nubia pottery and its decoration was appreciated as an art form. Until the 7th century the most common pottery type found at Soba was the so-called "Red Ware". These wheel-made hemispherical bowls were made of red or orange slip and were painted with separated motifs such as boxes with inner cross-hatchings, stylized floral motifs or crosses. The outlines were drawn in black while the fillings were white. In their design, they are a direct continuation of Meroitic styles, with possible influences from Aksumite Ethiopia. Due to their relative rarity it has been suggested that they were imported, although they bear similarities to the pottery type, known as "Soba Ware", that succeeded them.

"Soba Ware" was a type of wheel-made pottery with a distinctive decoration very different from the rest of Nubia. The shape of the pottery was diverse, as was the repertoire of painted decoration. One of the most distinctive features was the usage of faces as painted decoration. They were simplified, if not geometric in form and with big round eyes. This style is foreign to Makuria and Egypt, but bears a resemblance to paintings and manuscripts from Ethiopia. It is possible that the potters copied these motifs from local church murals. Also unique was the application of animal-shaped bosses (protomes). Glazed vessels were also produced, copying Persian aquamaniles without reaching their quality. Beginning in the 9th century, "Soba Ware" was increasingly replaced by fine ware imported from Makuria.

Economy

Agriculture

Sorghum was the staple food of medieval Nubia.

Alodia was located in the savannah belt, giving it an economic advantage over its northern neighbour Makuria. According to al-Aswani the "provisions of the country of Alwa and their king" came from Kersa, which has been identified with the Gezira. Unlike north of the confluence of the two Niles, where agriculture was limited to farms along the Nile watered by devices like the shadoof or the more sophisticated sakia, the farmers of the Gezira profited from sufficient rainfall to make rainfall cultivation the economic mainstay. Archaeological records have provided insight into the types of food grown and consumed in Alodia. At Soba, the primary cereal was sorghum, although barley and millet were also known to be consumed. Al-Aswani noted that sorghum was used to make beer, and also stated that vineyards were quite rare in Alodia compared to Makuria, although grapes are attested archaeologically. According to al-Idrisi, onions, horseradish, cucumbers, watermelons and rapeseed were also cultivated, but none were found at Soba. Instead, figs, acacia fruits, dom palm fruits and dates could be identied.

Sedentary farmers formed one part of Alodia's agriculture, the other consisted of nomads practicing animal husbandry. The relationship between these two groups was symbotic, resulting in an exchange of goods. Al-Aswani wrote that beef was plentiful in Alodia, which he attributed to the bountiful grazing land. Archaeological evidence from Soba attests the relevance cattle had there, as most animal bones are attributed to that species, followed by those of sheep and goats. Chicken was probably also bred at Soba, although the available material, probably due to the fragile nature of bird bones, is very limited. No remains of pigs have been identified. Camel remains have been noted, but none bore signs of butchery. Fishing and hunting were only minor contributions to the overall diet of Soba.

Trade

Trade was an important source of income for Alodia. Soba served as a trading hub with north-south and east-west trade routes, with goods arriving in the kingdom from Makuria, the Middle East, western Africa, India and China. Trade with Makuria probably ran through the Bayuda desert, following Wadi Abu Dom or Wadi Muqaddam, while another route went from near Abu Hamad to Korosko in Lower Nubia. A route going east originated around Berber near the confluence of the Nile and the Atbara and terminated in Badi, Sawakin and Dahlak. A route heading west is mentioned by the merchant Benjamin of Tudela, going from Alodia to Zuwila in Fezzan. Archaeological evidence for trade with Ethiopia is virtually absent, although trading relations are suggested by other evidence. Trading with the outside world functioned predominantly via Arab merchants. Muslim merchants were recorded to have roamed Nubia, with some living in a district in Soba.

Exports from Alodia likely included raw materials such as gold, ivory, salt and other tropical products as well as hides. A Nubian export of slaves is also commonly assumed and archaeologist William Y. Adams even postulated that Alodia was a specialized slave-trading state that exploited the pagan populations to the west and south, but evidence for a regulated slave trade is in fact very limited and it is only from the 16th century, after the fall of the Christian kingdoms, when such evidence starts to appear. According to an oral tradition Arab merchants came to Alodia to sell silk and textiles, receiving beads, elephant tooth and leather in return. At Soba silk and flax have been found, both probably originating from Egypt. Most of the glass found there was also imported. Benjamin of Tudela claimed that merchants travelling from Alodia to Zuwila carried hides, wheat, fruits, legumes and salt, while carrying gold and precious stones on their return.

King list

Name	Date of rule	Comment
Giorgios	?	Recorded on an inscription from Soba.
David	9th or 10th century	Recorded on his tombstone from Soba. Initially thought to have ruled from 999–1015, but now proposed to have lived in the 9th / 10th centuries.
Eusebios	ca. 938–955	Mentioned by Ibn Hawqal.
Stephanos	ca. 955	Mentioned by Ibn Hawqal.
Mouses Georgios	c. 1155–1190	Joint ruler of Makuria and Alodia. Recorded on letters from Qasr Ibrim and a graffito from Faras.
?Basil	12th century	Recorded on an Arabic letter from Qasr Ibrim.
?Paul	12th century	Recorded on an Arabic letter from Qasr Ibrim.

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