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SocialclassandlocaltraditioninNubia:theevidencefromarchaeology
M
URAL
D
ECORATION
Inmuraldecorationasinbuildingdesign,there
mayhavebeenadistinctlocalcanoninthemost
northerlypartofNubia.Churchdecorators
everywhereevidentlyenjoyedconsiderablelee-
waybothinthechoiceofdesignsandintheir
placement,buttherewasatleastamoreorless
standardrepertoireonwhichtheydrew.It
includedafigureofeitherChristortheVirgin,
flankedoneithersidebytheApostles;aNativity;
aheadofChristwithinawingedmandorla,with
thesymbolicheadsoftheFourLivingCreatures
projectingatthesides;adepictionofthethree
HebrewyouthsinthefieryfurnaceatBabylon;an
arrayofcavaliersaints;andassorted,mostlyfull-
lengthportraitsofarchangelsandsaints.
However,atleasttwonorthernchurches,
atWadies-Sebua(MonneretdeVillard1935:
84-89,Figs71-73,andPls36-39)andat
el-Oqba,seemtohavedepartedfromthis
tradition.AlthoughtheVirginflankedbyApostles
ispresent,thereisnoNativity,noheadofChrist
withinamandorla,noHebrewsinthefurnace,no
cavaliersaintsandnoprote
´ge
´figures.Outside
thesanctuary,thechurchofel-Oqbainparticular
seemstoexhibitawholerangeofscenesthatare
difficulttointerpret,butareclearlynotfoundin
anychurchfurthersouth(MonneretdeVillard
1935:78-80andPls33-35;Daumas1965:261-
263andPls34-39).Itisnoteworthythatboththe
churchesofel-OqbaandWadies-Sebua,likethe
previouslydiscussedchurchesofType2c,were
foundintheimmediatevicinityofQurta,and
mightreflectthewishesofitsbishop.Whether
theyrepresentamorewidespreadtraditionof
paintinginthenorthisimpossibletodetermine,
sincenootherdecoratedchurcheshavebeen
preservedfromthemostnortherlypartofNubia.
H
OUSING
Localizedtraditionsinhousingcannotberecog-
nizedbeforetheLateandPost-Christianperiods.
Thecastle-housesofthosetimesmaybesaidto
representasomewhatrestrictedtradition,since
theywereprevalentonlyintheSecondCataract
andtheBatnel-Hajjar,althoughoutlyingexamples
werefoundatQasrIbrim,andpossiblyatGebel
Adda,Faras,andSerra.Themostsoutherlycastle-
houses,fromTanjurtoFerka,differedfromthose
furthernorthinthattherewasnoground-floor
entrytoanyoftherooms,whileinthemore
northerlybuildingssomeofthelowerlevelrooms
couldbeenteredfromgroundlevel,andothers
onlyfromabove(Adams1994a:18).
ButitisthekourfasofthePost-Christian
periodthatrepresentthemostdistinctivelocal
traditioninNubianhousing.Thesebuildings,
apparentlyconfinedentirelytotheregion
PAMSupplementSeries2.1
betweenKulubnartiandtheThirdCataract,
consistedofatwo-storeyhousesimilarto
acastle-house;alargeandhigh-walledadjoining
courtyard;andoneormoreloopholedtowers
projectingfromcornersofthecourtyard.Local
traditionoftenascribesthesebuildingstothe
Ottomantax-collectors,orkashefs,buttheir
numberistoogreattomakesuchanidentification
entirelycredible(Vila1979:71-120;Adams
1977:338-339).InhisjourneythroughNubia
in1813Burckhardtencounteredonlyonefamily
ofkashefs(Burckhardt1819:135-137),while
Vilarecorded39separatekourfasinhissurveyof
theregionbetweenDalandNilwatti(Vila1979:
71-120).Myguessisthatthesebuildingswerethe
residencesoflocalwarrior-landlordsratherthan
Ottomanofficials,althoughonekashefdidat
timesmakeuseofakourfaatKulubnarti.
B
URIAL
P
RACTICES
ItisinChristianNubianburialritualthatwe
observethemostclearcutevidencenotmerelyof
regionalbutevenofhighlylocalizedtraditions–
acircumstancecommontomanypartsoftheworld.
Superstructures
NotallChristiangraveshadanymarkingatthe
surface,butthosethatdidsofollowedmarkedly
localizedtradition.Somekindofsmall,rectangu-
larbrick-builtorstone-builtmastabastructure
wastheruleeverywherefromMeinartinorth-
ward,whilegravestothesouthofMeinartiwere
Fig.15.ChristiantombsuperstructuresatMeinarti
(FromAdams2003:Pl.11)
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