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WilliamY.Adams
conditionswereevenmorechaotic,someofthem
weretodevelopintotruewarlords.
Insum,Ithinkwegetapictureofamore
fluid,andevenamoredemocraticsocietyin
medievalNubiathanwastrueearlier.Thesocial
gapsbetweentheclasseswerelessened,andthe
factthatmostcivilandecclesiasticalofficeswere
appointivesuggestsalsothatagooddealofsocial
mobilitymayhavebeenpossible.
Theproliferationofbureaucratictitles(cf.
Adams1996:246-248)isoneofthemost
distinctivefeaturesofmedievalNubiansociety,
contrastingasitdoeswithbothearlierandlater
periods.Tosomeextentitalmostsurelybespeaks
ahigherlevelofliteracythanwastrueinother
eras–acircumstancethatissuggestedalsobythe
factthatfourdifferentwrittenlanguageswerein
use.ItseemstoothatthemedievalNubians,like
theEnglishgentry,wereobsessedwithtitles,yet
archaeologydoesnotsuggestthatthetitles
conveyedanyspecialmaterialbenefit,atleastas
farashousingandburialwereconcerned.
I
SLAMIC
N
UBIA
Islamis,inprinciple,anevenmoredemocratizing
religionthanChristianity,sinceitdoesnotallow
evenfor“renderinguntoCaesar”.Notwithstan-
ding,“Caesar”wasverymuchinevidencein
IslamicNubia,inthepersonoftheOttomantax-
collector(kashef)inthenorthandtheFunjSultan
inthesouth.Intheareabetweenthem,the
rapaciousmeksoftheAbdallab,theShaiqiya,and
halfadozenothergroupsweresomany“little
Caesars”.Undertheirrule,themassofthe
populationwasincontestablyverypoor,duein
parttoadeclineintradeandinparttothe
exactionsofthesesameautocrats.Thedemocra-
tizingofsocietyprobablyowedatleastasmuchto
thatcircumstanceasitdidtoIslamicscripture.
IntheareaoftheDarel-Mahaswenevertheless
haveevidenceofaclassofwarriorgentry,suchas
isattestednowhereelseinOttomanNubia.These
werethedwellersinthekourfas,thedistinctive
fortifiedmanorhousesofwhichoverfortyhave
beenrecordedbetweenKulubnartiandtheThird
Cataract[Fig.13].Theexistenceofthesestrong-
menisnotreportedinwrittenhistories,butthey
arewellrememberedinlocaltradition(Vila1979:
71-120;Adams1977:338-339).
Archaeologicalevidenceforpost-Christian
Nubiaisotherwisescanty.Onlytwopost-
Christiansitesofanyconsequencehavethusfar
beenexcavated,atKulubnartiandatQasrIbrim,
andthelatterisatypicalbecauseitwasthe
residenceofanOttomangarrisonforcemain-
tainedbyasubsidyfromCairo.AtKulubnarti,we
canrecognizeonlythesamedivisionbetween
asinglecastle-dwellingmagnateandanimpover-
ishedandpoorlyhousedpeasantrythathad
alreadyemergedinLateChristiantimes.Where
Fig.13.KourfaatAmaraEast(FromVila1979:Fig.26)
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