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Encyclopédie des historiographies : Afriques, Amériques, Asies

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Nathalie Kouamé
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Éric P. Meyer
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Anne Viguier

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Sources of the Medieval History of Bishoprics in Nubia

Sources de l’histoire médiévale des diocèses nubiens

Alexandros Tsakos

Résumé

Cette notice simple décrit les huit catégories différentes de sources qui nous informent sur l’histoire des évêchés nubiens de l’époque médiévale à partir de 133 textes qui sont rassemblés dans la Database of Medieval Nubian Texts

Texte intégral

1Despite the lack of internal historiographic sources concerning medieval Nubia – with the exception of the post‑medieval chronicle of the Funj sultans – the history of some of the secular and religious Nubian institutions can be partially reconstructed on the basis of various types of epigraphic evidence as well as texts on several manuscripts. A privileged case study is the history of the bishoprics of medieval Nubia. For an overview of all the 133 texts published to date relating to Bishops from Nubia, see the Database of Medieval Nubian Texts (DBMNT: http://www.dbmnt.uw.edu.pl).

2Below is a concise presentation of the most important items for the history of the Nubian bishoprics:

  • There are lists of the bishoprics of medieval Nubia known since the 17th century through the work of Johann Michael Vansleb (1677). These lists have been refined by recent discoveries in Coptic and Arabic manuscripts from Egypt by Robin Seignobos (2015). Although these lists allow the identifications of centers of authority all along the Nile valley from Ethiopia to the Delta, they do not really organize historic knowledge in chronological order. They show, nevertheless, the degree of dependence of the Nubian Church on the Coptic Patriarchate of Alexandria.
  • The latter is also exemplified in the 14th century scrolls of Bishop Timotheos1, two Testimonial Letters in Bohairic Coptic and Arabic legitimizing the appointment of Timotheos as Bishop of Qasr Ibrim (one of the two most important cities of Lower Nubia) by the Alexandrian Patriarch Gabriel iv (1370‑8 CE). A special role as witnesses of the process play the bishops of Qus, Qift, Athribis and Ashmunein, probably reflecting the regional ecclesiastical network to which the late medieval Nubian Church belonged.
  • In legal documents of the Makuritan state (Makuria was the best‑known kingdom of Christian Nubia, and its capital was Old Dongola. It annexed Nobadia after the 7th century), the validity of the documents is guaranteed among other things by the listing of officers of the Makuritan church and state, among whom the names of Bishops are often given (In Old Nubian: DBMNT # 559, 582, 583, 584, 585, 586, 587, 588, 589, 591, 637, 638, 640, 641, 642, 643, 644, 700, 1000, 1001, 1025, 1026, and 2823; in Greek and Old Nubian: 581, 999, and 2827; in Greek and Coptic: 615, 630, 631, 634, and 635; in Coptic, 636, 701, and 1745). In such lists, the historiographic interest lies on the one hand with the appearance of the Bishops’ names in relation with other offices, thus reflecting the state’s and church’s hierarchy at a given time, which is often known either from direct dates in the documents or from indirect references to people already dated from other sources; and on the other hand, with the understanding of the Bishop’s role in the Makuritan state at the same given moment of medieval Nubian history.
  • Another very interesting category of documents casting light on the role of Bishops in the Makuritan society is that of letters sent by, received by, exchanged between, or referring to Bishops of the Nubian Church (In Greek and Old Nubian: DBMNT #1022, 1037, 1041, 2830, 2832, and 2846; in Coptic: 1726, 1727; in Old Nubian 2817; in Old Nubian and Arabic 2829; in Greek and Coptic: 610). Their topics range from ecclesiastic affairs to financial transactions passing from the casual flattery. An interesting example is a letter (DBMNT #610) in which King Moise Georgios requests Mark iii, patriarch of Alexandria between 1131 and 1167, for the ordination of one Iesou to the dignity of bishop.
  • Most of the textual evidence from medieval Nubia consists of funerary stelae (979 out of 2942 entries in the DBMNT), and among those 34 are stelae of Bishops: Twelve are from Faras (7 in Greek, 4 in Coptic, and 1 in Greek and Coptic); nine are from Qasr Ibrim (5 in Greek, 1 in Coptic, 1 in Greek and Coptic and 2 in Greek and Old Nubian); eight are from Sai (5 in Coptic, 1 in Greek and 2 in Greek and Coptic); two are from Old Dongola (1 in Greek and 1 in Greek and Coptic); one from Komangana (in Greek and Old Nubian); one from Debeira West (in Greek and Coptic); and one from Ghazali (in Greek). A scrutinization of the mainly formulaic texts reveals interesting linguistic and ideological overlaps that can be translated in terms of both horizontal (synchronic) and vertical (diachronic-historical) associations.
  • Wall inscriptions constitute another very important body of evidence (868 out of 2942). Twenty‑nine texts mention a bishop, and in four more there is reference to an archbishop (In Greek: DBMNT #557; In Greek and Old Nubian: 1341 and 2229; in Old Nubian: 1559). One of the latter (DBMNT #557) is particularly interesting because it was found in the monastery of St. Symeon at Aswan, where, though in Egyptian territory, the Nubian presence was important and even a King Zacharias was commemorated (In Coptic: DBMNT #565). From the rest, we can assume that the archbishop was linked to the royal capital of Old Dongola, perhaps also to Lower Nubia. The role of the archbishop in Christian Nubia is an intriguing case study, since he might have been appointed by the Makuritan church and state rather than the Coptic Patriarchate, as was the case for the bishops.
  • The most important text for our topic was discovered in the cathedral of Faras (perhaps the capital of Nobadia, the northernmost kingdom of medieval Nubia) beside a mural representation of Jesus in the baptismal apse of the church (DBMNT #97). This text was a list of bishops of the see of Pachoras (Coptic name for Faras) written in black ink by several scribes. This list contains all bishops from Faras between the 7th and 12th centuries2. Each entry consists of a name and the years of office. Until the time of Bishop Kyros at the beginning of the 10th century, all entries were written by the same person, as at that moment the Cathedral walls were replastered and the list was copied in one instance by the same scribe. Subsequent entries are written by different scribes. This consistence illustrates that the Nubians were aware of the significance of record keeping and allows for identifying in such a list their attempt to create a common historical background for their religious community.
  • Finally, among the 79 ostraca recorded in the DBMNT, only one mentions a bishop (DBMNT #2258). It was discovered at Qasr Ibrim and it witnesses a Bishop Longinus, who has been tentatively identified with the first bishop of the Nubian Church, the second missionary from Byzantium in the 6th century. The rest of the text is, however, incomprehensible and the object may therefore be considered as a forgery.

3To conclude, it is worth mentioning that in modern Nubian communities, just like in various other African contexts, historical narratives remain oral and historiography, in the etymological sense of the word relating to script, is confined to lists and indirect evidence, as it seems to have been the case in medieval Nubia too.

Bibliographie

Books

Jakobielski Stefan, 1972, A History of the Bishopric of Pachoras on the Basis of Coptic Inscriptions [= Faras iii], P.W.N., Warsaw.

Plumley John Martin, 1975, The Scrolls of Bishop Timotheos. Two Documents from Medieval Nubia [= Egypt Exploration Society. Texts from Excavations 1], Egypt Exploration Society, London. [9780856980442]

Vansleb J.M., 1677, Histoire de l’Église de l’Alexandrie, Paris.

Contribution to books

Seignobos Robin, 2015, « Les évêchés nubiens: nouveaux témoignages. La source de la liste de Vansleb et deux autres textes méconnus », in Łajtar A, Ochała G. & van der Vliet J. (eds.), Nubian Voices ii: New Texts and Studies on Christian Nubian Culture [= The Journal of Juristic Papyrology Supplement Series 27], Warsaw, p. 151‑229, figs. 1‑3.

Web resources

Database of Medieval Nubian Texts (DBMNT: http://www.dbmnt.uw.edu.pl).

Notes

1 Plumley, 1975.

2 Jakobielski, 1972.

Auteur

Bergen University, Norway

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