In a previous article on the issue I had pointed out that the Sudanese identity has for a long time been a controversial issue among thinkers, scholars, intellectuals as well as the media. It is yet to be settled whether Sudan is an Arab, African or Afro-Arab country.Tracing the ancient history of this area, it had had double belongings – partly to the Middle East and partly to Africa. Part of the interaction with the Middle East was reviewed in the previous article. This article is to complete the picture.
Egypt’s succeeding dynasty failed to reassert control over Cush. In 590 B. C., however, an Egyptian army sacked Napata, compelling the Cushite court to move to a more secure location at Meroe near the sixth cataract. For several centuries thereafter, the Meroitic kingdom developed indpendently of Egypt, which passed successively under Persian, Greek, and, finally, Roman domination. During the height of its power in the second and third centuries B. C., Meroe extended over a region from the third cataract in the north to Soba, near present-day Khartoum, in the south.
The Pharaonic tradition persisted among a line of rulers at Meroe. They developed a strong centralized political system and a Meroitic script. Northern Cush eventually fell into disorder as it came under pressure from the Blemmyes. However, the Nile continued to give the region access to the Mediterranean world. Meroe maintained contact with Arab and Indian regions. The use of Greek in liturgy eventually gave way to the Nubian language which was written using an indigenous alphabet that combined elements of the old Meroitic and coptic scripts. Moreover, early inscriptions have indicated a continuing knowledge of colloquial Greek in Nubia as late as the twelfth century. After the seventh century, Arabic gained importance in the Nubian kingdoms, especially as a medium for commerce.
The Christian Nubian Kingdoms achieved their peak of prosperity and power in the nineth and tenth centuries. However, Mulsim Arab invaders, who conquered Egypt in 640, posed a threat to the Christian Nubian kingdoms. The strucure of pharonic and Nubian extraction of African resources encouraged Arab traders to explore mineral resources and promote distant trade and share in the trade between Asia and Europe. Late prospectors roamed as far south as Fazugli and Hufrat Al-Nihas for gold and copper respectively. Other valued trading items include slaves, ivory, ebony, incense, oils, fany skins and livestock.
The peaceful Arab infiltration into Nubia was helped by the Baqt truce which governed the relations between the two sides for more than 600 years. Consequenlty,the Arabs gained commerical advantages from those peaceful relations. They used the treaty to ensure that travel and trade proceeded unhindered across the frontier. Trade conducted between them included horses, ivory, gold, gum arabic, and cattle along with other commodities.
- (to be continued)
){kind=link}