History

The X-Group

The phase of Kushite history, labeled as Post-Meroitic Nubia, is also widely known for the X-group culture. The X-Group culture is associated with the Nobadian (also known as Nuba or Nobatae) nomadic tribes that settled throughout Lower and Upper Nubia about the third century CE;¹ the Nobadians may have originated from northern areas of the Libyan desert. Archeology in Lower Nubia has uncovered a wealth of structures including tumulus and houses. In Upper and Southern Nubia, on the other hand, little is known of post-Meroitic culture. Only one mud brick temple has been located at Soba East, dating to this period.² However, evidence is strong for the consistency of Meroitic religious tradition and gods, such as the cult of Isis continue.

From the fourth century CE and on, burials on tumuli structures became the norm for elite burials, as adopted by the Kushites and the X-group, together with sacrificed horses and camels.³ The tumuli burial is a tradition that goes back in time as far as the Kerma period. However, the reason for reviving such an abolished tradition remains unknown.

Drawing by Ibrahim Omer. A fourth century CE crown discovered in a tomb of an X-Group King from Ballana.

Click here for larger view. Nubian kingdoms by the first-century B.C.

This era of Nubia witnessed the division of the kingdom into fragmented smaller parts. This is noticeable from the elite burial cemeteries that date back to the period. Such cemeteries are located mainly on three places; the first is at el-Hobagi in southern Nubia, south west of Meroe, the second is at Tanqasi in Upper Nubia near Napata, and the third one is located at an uninhabited area between the towns of Faras and Ballana.

By the sixth century, three Nubian (Noba) kingdoms were already grown in Sudan.⁴ The first one is at Alwa with its capital in Soba, a few kilometers north of Khartoum, the second one, located further north, is the kingdom of Makuria with its capital at Dongola, and the third one, located at Halfa with its capital at Faras in Lower Nubia. In the same century these kingdoms converted to Christianity. The Christian kingdoms lasted for a period of about a thousand years, until finally it came under the Arabic-Muslim rule in the fourteenth century CE.⁵

• ^{1 D. N. Edwards, The Nubian Past: An Archaeology of the Sudan (Routledge, 2004) 195.}
• ^{2 D. A. Welsby, The Kingdom of Kush: The Napatan and Meroitic Empires (Marcus Wiener, 1998) 203.}
• ^{3 See: P. Lenoble, "The Pre-Christian Empire And Kingdoms". Sudan Ancient Treasures: An Exhibition Of Recent Discoveries From The Sudan National Museum, ed. D. A. Welsby, and J. R. Anderson (British Museum P, 2004) 186-92.}
• ^{4 P. L. Shinnie, "Medieval Nubia." 1954. Sudan Antiquities Service (Khartoum, 2008).}
• ^{5 See: Shinnie, note 4 above .}