Jump to content

Merkurios of Makuria

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by FeanorStar7 (talk | contribs) at 08:59, 11 June 2020 (add sort tag). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Merkurios (reigned 697 - c. 722) was ruler of the Nubian kingdom of Makuria. Authorities believe that during his reign Makuria absorbed the Nubian kingdom of Nobatia.

According to P.L. Shinnie,1 the first year of Merkurios' reign can be dated by an inscription on the foundation stone in Faras, which was dated to AD 707, and also to Merkurios' eleventh regnal year. In 710, Merkurios erected an inscription at Taifa, which indicates that his kingdom had united with Nobatia by that date.

John the Deacon, an Egyptian Christian writing around 768, described Merkurios as the "New Constantine", which Shinnie interprets as evidence that Merkurios played some important role in the Nubian church.

References

  1. P.L. Shinnie, Ancient Nubia (London: Kegan Paul, 1996), pp. 124f. This passage is the basis for the material in this article.
Preceded by
None
 King of Makuria Succeeded by
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Merkurios_of_Makuria&oldid=961956218"