Important dates and events in the history of Medieval Nubia, drawn largely from Vantini’s Oriental Sources Concerning Nubia and Fontes Historiae Nubiorum. Welsby’s work was also of pivotal importance. We may add additional dates for the Funj period and for what can be dated in Ethiopia, Egypt and Darfur.
-c. 739–656 BCE: Kushites rule as 25th dynasty of Egypt
-342 BCE: Nectanebo flees to Nubia after Persian conquest of Egypt
-200s BCE: Nubai lived to west of the Nile in separate kingdoms, not under the Meroites
-285-246 BCE: Reign of Ptolemy II Philadelphus in Egypt, contemporary of Arkamani (Ergamenes in Diodorus Siculus), Kushite king said to have been Hellenized and centered in Meroe
-274 BCE: Aithiopian Expedition of Ptolemy II of Egypt
-205-186 BCE: Revolt in Upper Egypt of Horwennefer and his successor
-25-22 BCE: Meroe and Rome at war, conflict ends with a treaty between Queen Amanirenas and -Roman Empire establishing the border between Roman Egypt and the Kushite state for centuries
-c.61-63: Roman reconnaissance expedition to Meroe sent by Emperor Nero
-80-90: Acts of the Apostles possibly written, including the tale of the Ethiopian eunuch of the Candace of Meroe who became a Christian
-c.200: Pestilence in Nubia prevented entry of Septimus Severus
-c.240 Meroitic rule in Dodecaschoenus around AD 240
-250-253: spread of a pestilence that began in Nubia
-253: Teqorideamani was reigning in Meroe
-Late 200s: According to Procopius ,the Noba lived in the oases to the west of the Nile before entering Lower Nubia
-280: Emperor Marcus Aurelius Probus liberates Coptos and Ptolemais from barbarian servitude to the Blemmyes, bringing some Blemmyes to Rome as captives
-291: Roman source mentions war between Meroe and the Blemmyes
-297: Revolt of Lucius Domitius Domitianus in Egypt
-297/298: Roman victory over Blemmyes and Meroe
-298: Emperor Diocletian cedes territory south of First Cataract
-320s-360: Reign of Ezana of Axum; Aksumite ruler left inscriptions recording battles with the Noba
-336: Eusebius mentions Aithiopians and Blemmyes in Constantinople
-337-338: Flavius Abbineus recorded his interaction with Blemmye federates
-373/374: Blemmyes said to have attacked a monastery in Sinai
-392-394: Blemmyes had occupied the emerald mines in the Eastern Desert near Kalabsha, according to Epiphanius (monk from Palestine)
-395: Aithiopians attack Syene (Aswan)
-400s: Sozomen's Ecclesiastical History includes mention of 4th century saint, Moses the Black
-c.420: Palladius's Lausiac History includes stories of St. Moses the Black
-423: According to Olympiodorus, the Blemmyes occupied five towns in Nile Valley
-c.425-450: Appion, bishop of Syene region, bemoaned to the Roman emperors the attacks by Blemmyes and Anoubades
-c.450: Tantanti, phylarch of the Anouba, received letters in Coptic, one of which suggests he may have been Christian
-451: Council of Chalcedon
-452: Romans retaliate and defeat the Nubians and Blemmyes
-480-490: Latest royal burial of a Nobadian king at Ballana
-Early 500s: King Silko in Nobadia
-c.520: Kaleb of Aksum invades Himyar
-524: Emperor Justin of Rome (Byzantium) proposed to the Aksumite ruler sending Blemmyes and Noubades to assist him against Himyar
-531: Emperor Justinian sought to make the Aithiopians and Homeritae (Himyarites) his allies
-537: Graffito in Greek carved on the wall of the Temple of Isis at Philae by Theodosios, a Nubian (Nouba)
-c. 543: Mission sent by Empress Theodora reached Nobadia
-550s: Longinus appointed first bishop of Nubia
-559: Eirpanome, king of Nobadia (inscription in Coptic commemorated conversion of the Temple at Dendur into a church in this year, or in 574)
-568: Chronicler John of Biclar noted that the Maccurritae became Christians
-573: Arrival of delegation from Makuria in Constantinople with gifts for the emperor, including elephant tusks and a giraffe
-580: Aksumites in the capital of Alwa
-600s: Monastery of Ghazali in Wadi Abu Dom built
-619: Persians invade Egypt
-641/642: Arab invasion of Nubia
-652: According to al-Maqrizi, Nubians raided Upper Egypt and held Aswan and Philae until 652, leading to the baqt; king in Dongola was Qalidurut
-686-689: Patriarch Isaac of Alexandria wrote letters to the rulers of Abyssinia and Nubia to help resolve a dispute between the two
-c.700: King Mercurios of Makuria named the New Constantine in the Annals of the Coptic Patriarchs
-707: Union of Nobadia and Makuria by this year confirmed by epigraphic evidence; construction of cathedral in Faras
-710: King Mercurios mentioned on foundation stone of a church in Taifa
-723-745: Muslim raids on Makuria
-725: Coptic revolt in Egypt
-739: Coptic revolt in Egypt
-748: King Cyriacus of Nubia intervened in Egypt after Patriarch Abba Michael was imprisoned by the emir, invaded Egypt with a huge army demanding the release of the patriarch
-mid-700s: King Cyriacus was “Great King” in Makuria, under whom served 13 kinglets
-c.750: death of Eparch Paulos-Kolla
-750: Coptic revolt in Egypt
-758: Letter in Arabic to king of Makuria (probably Cyriacus) about Makuria’s failure to uphold the baqt
-762-770: Raids by Muslims against Nubia
-798: Death of Petros, eparch of Nobadia
-796: Birth of Sufi saint of Nubian descent, Dhul-Nun al-Misri
-798: Death of Eparch Petros (tombstone at Old Dongola)
-830-849: Joseph's tenure as Patriarch of Alexandria; Joseph said to have appointed bishops in the Five Cities, Tripoli, and Kairouan
-835: Prince Giorgios of Nubia sent by his son, Zachararias I, to Baghdad to negative with the caliph’s court a remittance of the baqt payment (which was now to be paid every three years); Coptic sources indicate that Zacharias had trouble with rebels during this time before sending his son to Baghdad
-835-836: Nubian agent of Makuria who collected taxes on Nubians living in Egypt rebelled against King Giorgios
-c.850: King Johannes said to have reigned from Tilimauara until Philae
-853: Sack of Damietta in Egypt by the Byzantine Empire's navy
-854-855: Beja raid in Upper Egypt; possible around this time that el-Omari fought with the Nubians and Makurian king Giorgios appointed his nephew, Nyuti, to defeat him
-866-902: First metropolitan of see of Faras was Abba Kyros
-c.868-884: Oases route through Sahara to “Sudan” and “Maghrib” discontinued; route through oases west of Nile once prosperous, with “Rum” (Greeks) and Egyptians and Nubians traveling to the west/Northwest and another route to the Fazzan
-883: Death of Eparch Johannes, eparch of Gaderon and son of the king of Makuria, Zacharias (Zacharias given title Augustus)
-900s: Alwa reported to be more powerful and prosperous than Makuria
-903: Ibn al-Faqih mentions route used by traders to travel from Egypt to Ghana, which passed through the Wahat Misr (Oases of Egypt) to Marawa, Maranda, Kawkaw (Gao), and Ghana)
-910-915: Abu Mansur Makin raided Nubia
-c.938-955: reign of Asabiyus (Eusebios), son of Juti, in Alwa
-943: el-Masudi reported that Kubra Ibn Surur, king of Dongola, ruled Alwa while Ibn Hawqal reported that the king of Makuria was king of Alwa
-950: Makurian ruler raided oases in Egypt
-c.955: Ibn Hawqal visited Nubia; Astabanus (Stephanos) son of Giorgios king in Alwa
-956: Makuria raided the Oases and attacked Aswan
-960-966: Nubian vizier Kafur ruled Egypt
-964: Nubian king marched on Aswan
-980-1003: During tenure of Patriarch Philotheus, contacts recorded between Ethiopia and the King of the Nubians (King George of Nubia received a letter from Ethiopian ruler, asking for his aid to receive a metropolitan from the Patriarch of Alexandria)
-985: Ibn Selim traveled through Nubia
-Late 900s-early 1000s: Akhbar al-zaman mentions the kingdom of Zaghawa as vast, large and at war with Nubia
-997: Arabic chronicle mentioned Nubians and Copts among the pilgrims at Santiago de Compostela in Spain
-c.999-1015: reign of David in Alwa
-c.1000-1006: Raphael and David reigned as kings of Makuria and Alwa
-1001: Fatimid Caliphate begins truce for ten years with Byantine Empire
1002: King Raphael said to have introduced novelty of brick domes to the buildings of Dongola
-1004-1033: Patriarch John Abdun of Antioch humbled himself to a Nubian monk, Shishi or Sawsana.
-1006: Abu Rakwa, member of Spanish Umayyads, fled to Nubia but given back by the king of Makuria
-1008: Decree of al-Hakim in Egypt allowing Copts who wish to leave the right to go to Byzantine, Nubian, Abyssinian or other territories
-1036/1037: Death of Bishop Marianos of Pachoras (Faras), buried at Ibrim
-1036-1094: Reign of Fatimid caliph al-Mustansir Billah, the son of a Nubian slave
-1066: Nasir ed-Dawla raided Nubia but was defeated
-1069: Inscription at Debeira mentioned the title “admiral supreme”
-1078-1092: Cyril II Patriarch of Alexandria; during his tenure, king Solomon of Nubia (who had abdicated in favor of his nephew, George, to lead a life of asceticism) dies in Cairo
-1092: Muslim merchant in Soba writes a letter, was there to sell arms to the king of Alodia
-1089: A king Basil attested on the throne of Makuria
-1106: Birth of future Makuria king Giogios
-1107: Nubian raid on Upper Egypt but then a brother of the king rebels
-1113: Death of Giorgios, archbishop of Old Dongola for 50 years
-1130-1158: Reign of Giorgios in Makuria
-1132: Giorgios's reign began
-1155: Royal Proclamation indicates Moses George was on throne
-c.1155-1190: Reign of Moses George, said to have ruled Alwa and Makuria
-1155: King Moses Giorgios, king of Dotawo, was also Eparch of Palagi
-Before 1170: al-Idrisi repeated report from travelers to Kawar that Nubia (Makuria) had attacked town of Samnah, of the Taju kingdom bordering Nubia
-1172: Makuria attacked Aswan and Upper Egypt; Richard of Poitiers recorded that the king of Nubia makes war on pagan neighbors
-1173: Shams ed-Dawla Turanshah, brother of Saladin, takes Qasr Ibrim
-1181-1221: Reign of Lalibela of Zagwe dynasty in Ethiopia
-1182/83: Reynald of Châtillon’s said to have raided Aidhab
-1203/1204: Nubian ruler on pilgrimage to Holy Land visited Constantinople
-1235: Patriarch of Alexandria refused to send bishops to Nubia due to troubled political situation
-1242: Madrasat in Cairo built by Kanem for pilgrims
-1253: Revolt of the Arabs in Upper Egypt
-1270: Beginning of Solomonic Dynasty in Ethiopia
-1272: Makuria raids Red Sea port of Aidhab
-1275: Shekanda, nephew of King David of Nubia, appeals to the Sultan of Egypt for help and replaces David on the throne of Nubia after an invasion from Egypt (after King Dawud had raided area near Aswan)
-1276: Treaty between Mamluks in Egypt and Makuria giving northern part of Maris to Muslim control
-1280: Nubian pilgrims in Holy Land mentioned by Burchard of Mount Sion
-before 1286: Ibn Sa’id al-Maghribi’s Book of Geography, borrowing from lost work, describes Kanem in great detail: King Muhammad, capital of Njimi, old capital was Manan, Kanem ruled over Fezzan, Tajuwa, Kawar, “Zaghawa” east of Manan
-1285/86: Invasion of Nubia from Egypt, ultimately leading to defeat of King Semamun of Nubia and his replacement by a nephew appointed by the invading army from Egypt
-1286: Adur, king of el-Abwab, sent an embassy to the Mamluk sultan
-1289-1290: Muslim invasion of Makuria, king fled Old Dongola (Semamun)
-1291: King Semamun kills king installed by Egypt, restores the baqt agreement with Egypt
-1292: Nubian king gave excuses to sultan of Egypt for nonpayment of baqt
-1298: Sultan al-Malik an-Nāṣir Muḥammad ordered closing of churches in Fustat and Cairo
-1301: Mamluk Sultan passes edict introducing more discrimination against Christians and Jews, extending it as far as Dongola
-1304: Lord of Dongola (King Ayay) brought tribute to the court of the Sultan in Egypt, asks and receives an army to support him in a struggle with unnamed enemies
-1312: Nuba king brings gifts to the court of Mamluk Egypt (1311 king Kerenbes, who was said to have killed his brother?)
-1314 to 1344: Reign of Amda Seyon in Ethiopia
-1316: Dominican mission to "Ethiopia" (Nubia) Sultan of Egypt sends Abdalla Barshanbo (a nephew of King David) with support of an army to become king of Dongola, replacing Kerenbes but Kenz ad-Dawla eventually becomes King
-1317: Throne Hall in Old Dongola converted into a mosque
-1322: Nubian King in an inscription has the title of Caesar
-1323: Kerenbes seizes throne from Kanz ad-Dawla but is eventually defeated by him
-1324: Mansa Musa of Mali goes on pilgrimage
-1326: Ruler of Ethiopia sends a threatening message to Mamluk rulers about their persecution of the Copts
-1327-1339: Benjamin patriarch of Alexandria; Ethiopian Ewostatewos met him in Cairo after traveling through Nubia, where he left a favorable impression on the Nubian king
-1330: Bishop Tavoli appointed to Dongola by the Latins
1331: King Siti attested in Dotawo; Siti's name appeared in an inscription in Kordfan during his reign
-1365: Gebel Adda became capital of Makuria (or Dotawo), no longer Dongola
-1385: El libro del conosçimiento de todos los reinos referred to Genoese merchants traveling to Dongola
-1391-1392: Letter of Sultan Uthman (Bir) b. Idris of Kanem-Borno to Mamluk Sultan Barquq, complaining of depredations of Judham Arabs and asking the Mamluk ruler to free any Kanem-Borno Muslims sold into slavery in Egypt, Syria. Judham Arabs are said to have killed the previous Borno king, Amr the Martyr b. Idris, son of al-Hajj Idris, son of al-Hajj Ibrahim
-1397: Regent of Nubia fled to Egypt, escaping his cousin
-1434-1468: Reign of Zara Yaeqob
-1442: Black slaves in Egypt plot to revolt, appointing their own sultan, vizier, etc. and plundering cereals until put down by the Mamluk government
-1447: Antonio Malfante’s Latin letter mentions "Indian" merchants who were Christian at Tawat
-1480-1483: Felix Fabri met Nubian Christians in Jerusalem during his pilgrimage
-1484: King Joel of Dotawo reigning
-1486: Janim el-Ajrud el-Ainani, Kashif of Manfalut, fled to Nubia
-1517: Ottoman conquest of Egypt
-1518: Emir 'Alī b. 'Umar went out on a raid against the Lord (ṣāḥib) of Nubia
-c.1520-1527: Nubian emissaries visit Ethiopia, asking Lebna Dengel for priests. Nubia reported to be divided into captaincies; possible the emissaries were sent by a queen Gaua, last ruler of Dotawo
-1523: David Reubeni visited Soba, describing it as a place of ruins
-c.1526: According to Leo Africanus, the king of Nubia is always at war, sometimes with the people of Gorhan and sometimes with those to the east of the Nile
-1560s: Ottoman garrison established at Qasr Ibrim
-1607: Deposed Abd al-Qadir II of Sennar fled to Ethiopia, performed obeisance to Susenyos
-c.1611: Wadai state founded by Abd al-Karim
1618-1619: Ethiopian Emperor Susenyos campaigned against Sennar
1637: Gondar established as capita
-1644/5-1681: Reign of Badi II of Sennar (Funj Sultanate)
-Late 1660s: Shaykh Ahmad b. Muhammad al-Yamani, from the Nile Valley, visited Kulumbardo
-1672: Plan to send Catholic mission to Nubia through the Fezzan aborted due to fall of Pasha Osman in Tripoli
-1700-1702: Theodor Krump traveling from Sennar to Egypt with people from Borno and the Fezzan, reports caravans from Darfur, Borno, Fezzan reach Sennar
-1703: Fra Damiano da Rivoli tried to reach Borno from Sennar but didn’t pursue caravan route; a Borno caravan leader in Sennar told him the journey would take 60 days
-1742: Letter by Fr. Giacomo Rzimarz to Cardinal Belluga mentioned Christian in village of Tangos
-1744: Ethiopia-Funj Sultanate War during reign of Badi IV
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