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Archaeology and settlement in the ThirdCataract region during the Medieval and Post-Medieval periodsAli Osman Mohammed SalihPublished online: 29 Jul 2009.

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Axania X x X I x 2004

Archaeology and settlement in the Third Cataract region daring the Medieval and

Post-Medieval p eriods Ali Osman Mohammed Salih

Abstract

Thispaper concentrates on the archaeology the Third Cataract Region of the Nib Valh essentially the rocky course ofthe river between Tombos in thesouth andkkjbar in the north. The MedievalPeriodin Nubia can be defznedas AD 500-1300, during which time the official religion was Christianity, whilst the Post-MedievalPeriod is AD 1300-1 600, when both Christidnity and Islam werepresent aspopular religions, and there was no longer a centralgovernment in the regon. The history, culture, and archaeology of both period ispresented, including materialdiscovered during the Mahm Survey Project. For the Post-Medieval Period the archaeology andsenlementpattem are related to a modelof Nubian society knownJFom ethno-historicsources, indicating the elements which allowed that society to maintain cohesion in times ofanarcby, viz. the Nubians and the ‘other: togetherness; the organi- sation ofsettlement; and kinship. The use of these principles is tested against the archaeology of the region, in terms ofseveral types of remains. These comprise cemeteries,$r evidence of religions affilia- tions, including Islamisation;$rt$ed houses (Diffis); and the ordinaq, houses and villages. In conclu- sion, the historicalsettlementpattern as reconstructed archaeologically is related to the Nubian classi- fication of the landcape, and the way in which knowledge of this classijication can aid in the interpretation of the archaeology is discussed.

Keywordr: Ni l e V.llty Mabus, Nubian society, Sudan

Introduction

The Third Cataract Region of the Nile is an environmental unit by itself. It is character- ized by many elements, most important among these is the fact that the river here runs in many channels, and between two Cataracts. The course of the river between the two Cataracts is very rocky and rugged, and is in fact part of the cataract system itself. Thus, the Third Cataract region is that part of the Nile that runs between the Cataract of Tombos in the south and the Cataract of Sabu -Kajbar in the north, a distance of about 53 km.

As usual in most parts of the Nile, especially in cataract areas, available agricultural land is restricted to a narrow strip along the banks. However, in contrast with other

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Ali Osman MohammedSalih 35

cataract regions, this strip in the Third Cataract region is rich alluvial land. In the stretch between Nawri and Sabu-Kajbar it has a width of about 3km on the southern bank, and is more than 13 km in length.

The present-day population of the region forms part of the Mahas people who occupy the area betweenTombos in the south and Soleb in the north. Linguistically, they are part of the Mahas Nubian speaking peoples who extend north to the First Cataract. The population includes the Mahas, the Sikkut and the Matukia. All these peoples perceive that they belong more to the people living north of them than those to their south. They, therefore, tend to behave more like their kin in Egypt.

Archaeologically, the Third Cataract region is fairly well known. Of the many travellers passing through the area during the 19‘h century, the accounts of Linant de Bellefonds from 1821-22 (Linant de Bellefonds 1958), Cailliaud (1826-27) and Waddington and Hanbury (1 822) provide particularly useful descriptions of the region together with relatively accurate maps, and their observations on a wide variety of ,ancient sites are invaluable. Moreover, a number of archaeology and geography students from the University of Khartoum have written their 5‘h year (Honours) dissertations on different aspects of the region, starting with my own in 1969. Then the region became the focus of the University of Khartoum Mahas Survey Project phase I, 1990-1 992 (Edwards and Osman 1992, 1994), and phase 11, 1999-2004, this latter phase being largely funded through a grant from the BIM’s Haycock Memorial Fund (Osman and Edwards 2000). As a continuation of the Mahas Survey Project, three Ph.D. and four M.A. theses are under preparation by graduate students at Sudanese and German Universities. Also, three M.A. theses have already been passed.

The region north of the Third Cataract is also moderately known archaeologically. The area as far as Delgo and Jebel Sesse, is incorporated under the University of Khartoum Mahas Survey Project. To the south, the University of Geneva Project to Nubia has been working for the last thirty years. The Mahas Survey involves aspects of archaeology promoted by John Alexander in his work, including aspects of settlement archaeology, and the study of ‘historical archaeology’, through the examination of Post-Medieval and Ottoman Period remains, as well as those of the Medieval, or Christian Period.

Some conceptual considerations

For the period of Nubian culture-history between the arrival of Christian missionaries and the Ottoman conquest and establishment of a Sanjak in the Mahas region in 1584, I will use the term “Medieval” for the period between 500-1300, and the term “Post- Medieval” for the period between 1300-1600. However, if it is necessary to refer to the dominant religion of these periods, then the Medieval period can be called “the Christian Period, while the Post-Medieval period can be called “the Christian-Islamic period”. Islam was known in Nubia during the Medieval period. The Baqt treaty, signed between the Nubians and the Muslims c. 651-2 was, no doubt, an Islamizing agent. However, Christianity was the official religion and the religion of the kings and the state itself.

During the Post-Medieval period there was no central government. The Mamlukes’ interests in Nubia seems to have been served by conquering the Christian king in Dongola and establishing a Muslim as the chief ruler. Also, the break-away kingdom of Dotawo in Lower Nubia might have pleased them, even though it was Christian, because it formed a buffer state between Egypt and the distant, difficult territory beyond theThird Cataract

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36 Archaeology andsettlement in the Third Cataract region during the MedievalandPost-Medievalperioh

region. In fact, the Third Cataract region became a battle-ground between local chiefs and the newly Islamic adventurous princes and others from the region of Dongola. It also witnessed political maneuvering by important religious Sheikhs, such as the sons and disciples of the Yemeni Sheikh Gullam Alla A’yid El-Rikkabi, who are alleged by Mahas Su& informants to have reached Dongola in the 10thcenturyAD, four centuries before the date accepted formerly. This did not lead to a feudal-like rule in Nubia at large, as claimed by Adams (1984: 508-521) but to competitive kinglets, some local, some newcomers, whether Arab Muslims or Turkish Muslims or others. This process is very clearly marked in the Third Cataract region, where we have local kinglets who held strongly to earlier Christian sites and flourished, as is evident from sites such as Aliirki and Nawri, in contrast to Diyab-irki on Simit Island, where the descendants of the Islamic Sheikh-Urru still occupy their mud built defl or ‘fortress-house’ (Mahas Survey Report 2002). Ironically, in Nubia, where arable land is scarce, it was the availability of empty patches ofland, which could be inhabited and invested in, that made this process possible. As a result of the prolonged Mamluke wars against Nubia, population there became scarce; this encouraged the influx of new peoples to the region.

Also, there are no signs that Islam was transplanted in place of Christianity in the Third Cataract region. Rather, it seems that Christianity waned gradually, mainly due to the lack of learned persons such as priests and clergymen. Alvarez’ experience when in attendance on the Ethiopian Emperor is significant in this regard (Shinnie 1951). Archaeologically, the overlap of Christian and Islamic cemeteries is well attested. Also, many Muslims were buried in Christian graves or tombs with Christian-like super- and substructures, possibly built by Christians. We have a typical example of this from Simit Island (Mahas Survey Report 2002). Since there was no central authority during the Post-Medieval period, no official policy of Islamization existed, and it is evident that such policy did not come into force until the Ottoman conquest of Nubia (i.e. Lower and Middle Nubia). Islam then prevailed in theThird Cataract region during this period. Important Sufi Sheikhs entered Lower Nubia while, more significantly, the Mahas region was receiving a good number of such Sheikhs from the south. They came from the Dongola region and then from hrther south after the establishment of the Funj Kingdom in c. 1504. This is well-attested in the archaeology of the region, as discussed below.

The archaeology and settlement of the Medieval period

The history, culture, and archaeology of the Medieval Nubian period are reasonably well-known and documented (Mileham 19 10; Clarke 19 12; Griffith 1909,19 13,1927, 1928; Zyhlarz 1928; Monneret de Villard 1935; Kirwan 1937; Shinnie 1951, 1954, 1963, 1965; Shinnie and Harden 1955; Shinnie and Chittick 1961; Adams 1964,1984, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1994, 1996; Adams and Adams 1998; Musad 1960, 1972; Trigger 1965; Vantini 1970; Osman 1982, 1986; Hashim and Bell 2000; Welsby 2002). As far as archaeology is concerned, its pottery, mud-brick and stone architecture are diagnostic. Also Nubian church architecture and system, its paintings and languages, are world fa- mous. Furthermore, this is a period in which general prosperity led to the appearance of more than a dozen large urban centres and towns as well as some very large villages. Since trade was a major government (Royal) monopoly, a system of large and strong fortifica- tions were built along the banks of the Nile to guard the river trade, as well as a number of caravanserai and customs points.

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Ali Oman MoharnrnedSalih 37

The Third Cataract region is rich in most of these Medieval Nubian archaeological fea- tures. There were, no doubt, major settlements in Barja, Deffin-og, Nawri, and in Defoy and Sese, on the east bank and the west bank respectively. Fageirin-fenti and Kesseinfarki were major religious centres, and there were major river fortifications in Ardwan and Simit. As today, the Mashakaila - Faraig - Jadi - Sabu stretch on the east bank, and the whole of the Turra’a stretch, which includes Kokka, Shada, Sudla and Sessi on the west bank, must have been the region’s grain producers, while the system of small and large islands from Tombus to Sabu formed the defensive shell of the region.

The excavation of some of the main urban centres in the Third Cataract region and some of its major religious sites, beside one or two of the pottery areas identified during the survey, will give more data from which to understand better the culture history of Medieval Nubia. Excavations will also provide more clues to enable us to identify any major or minor cultural differences between our region and regions to the north or south, and whether or not theThird Cataract region was a political and cultural frontier, as suggested by some near-contemporary historical writings and events.

These proposed excavations will enable the search for data on the Nubian philosophy of governance, such as the important decisions on political boundaries of El-Qasr and customs and “national” boundaries at El-Maqas El-A’la; the option between feudal rule or total unification between Nobatia and Makurria; and church-state relationships. These and many other questions were overlooked when very important Medieval urban centres were excavated during the Nubian campaign 1959-1969. Yet, ifwe have in our area of fieldwork an urban centre which produced something as important as the “Nawri Decree” (Osman 1978), there is nothing that will prevent us from considering these questions and seeking data with which to answer them.

Another objective of Medieval Archaeology is to find any traces of the foreign invading armies. Most of these came from Egypt (cf. Welsby, this volume). We know from historical sources of a series of major Mamluke invasions of Nubia. All these allegedly reached Dongola, the capital of the Medieval Christian kingdom. Crossing the long and hostile lands of the First, Second and Third cataracts, these armies must have had periods for rest, for re-equipping and possibly retraining, or for other tactical or strategic reasons, such as administrative reorganization of the Nubian territory already occupied. The Mahas Survey Project located the New Kingdom post and settlement at Tombus in the 1990-9 1 season, and the Ottoman garrison post and settlement on Musul island was found in the 2002 season. These are non-Nubian sites although there are some clear Nubian cultural elements in both cases.

Sites of the Medieval period, such as Jebel Kadda Musa and Jebel Wahaba, may be regarded as non-Nubian settlements (Edwards and Osman 1992). Both sites have what seem like military barracks on top, and large domed tombs with rectangular bases of a type found south of Dongola at the site of Wad Nimieri and southwards to the site of El- Khandag (Crawford 1951). The symmetric nature of these hilltop buildings, so different from Nubian hill-top buildings at Nawri and Aliirki, for example, as well as their geometric layout suggest a non-Nubian style of building/architecture. Concerning the domed tombs associated with these hilltop settlements, they are very different from the known gubbas of the region, which are well known from Mashakaila towards the south end of the Third Cataract region. The finest examples of these gubbas are found on Simit Island; these are related to famous Suf i Sheikhs coming to the region from Dongola (Mahas Survey Report 2002). A likely interpretation of these strangegwbba-like buildings associated

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38 Archaeology andsettkment in the Third Cataract region during the Medievaland Post-Medievalperiodc

with these probable Mamluke sites is that they are either graves of high-ranking soldiers or graves of Uhma accompanying the fighting troops. Such sites demand very careful investigation because they are rare, They are also expected to produce much needed information on the Mamluke’s wars against the Christian kingdom of Dongola, since the knowledge we have about these wars is very scant, and is drawn fiom official documents which tell the story only from the Mamluke side.

The archaeology and settlement of the Post-Medieval Period

Before going into details of the archaeology and settlement of the Post-Medieval period, I would like to discuss some Nubian philosophies and laws which play a vital role in keeping Nubian society from collapse during times of anarchy. Nubia has seen many such times connected with external wars against its authorities that led, in most cases, to the collapse of the central government or power. These “laws” are connected to Nubian preferences regarding the following:

(a,) Nubians and the ‘other’ In present-day Nubia there is a dichotomy within the society which involves the co- existence of Nubian and non-Nubian elements of society. For example, in Mamoun- n-arti, at the northern tip of Arduwan Island, facing Nawri, lived a family of blacksmiths, whose great-grandfather was Mamoun, after whom the island is named. It is to this island that all blacksmiths’ families of today’s Mahas, Dongola and Shaiagia, belong. Their first branch moved to Mashakaila, Simit, Wabiya, and Tangasi. In the last 150 years, they have established centres in Delgo, Kerma El- Nuzil, Kerma El-Balad, Dar El-Awadda and Kariema. These families are now an integral part of the Nubian societal dichotomy of today, i.e. the coexistence between Nubian peasants and non-local blacksmiths and non-local religious men or women. I propose that this model was present from the medieval period. In this model, the blacksmith‘s and the religious man’s services were paid for by bundles of wheat, exactly as any other craftsmen’s or specialist’s wages. Ownership of cultivable or habitable land could only happen by investing in an empty patch. Even then it had to be divided by local peasants in a 2/3rd to 1 /3rd ratio. (That is 1 /3rd for the land, 1 / 3 1 ~ for the services on it, and 1/31d for the irrigation and its device).

Within the workings of this model there is a tendency towards a relationship or even alliance between the local peasants and the blacksmiths on the one hand, and on the other benveen their rulers or officials and the religious men. In most cases, nearly all religious families would marry into peasant families. This internal working ofthe societal model is important because it is what keeps Nubian society coherent and able to face the difficulties that follow the collapse of the central government. Nubian society becomes enclosed in this model and so looses external contacts, and that in turn, reduces the significance of these contacts. Yet, this enclosed nucleus never collapses. O n the contrary, it is strongly resistant to any change to peace and political stability. Thus, this enclosed society revives to form viable local powers and economic prosperity.

This explains for example, how our society emerged from the devastation El- Mahdias’ armies, led by the famous Wad El-Nujimi, left it in just over one hundred years ago (see Edwards and Osman 1994) and Mahas Survey archives).

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Ali Osman MohammedSalib 39

I have mentioned the main human elements of the above model; however, there are other members of Nubian society who deserve to be noted as they perform important roles independently. These include the Bisharien, who always attend the date harvest seasons and greatly contribute to its gathering, and exchange hand-woven camel- and goat-wool house hangers and containers, for dates. Another group are the Arabs, mainly from the Grariesh and Kababiesh tribes, who live on the outskirts of the Nubian villages and use animals for the transportation of heavy loads, especially during date and crop harvests. They also provide the villages with wood, especially during festivals and ceremonies. Another group, ex-slaves, take up agricultural duties in place of Nubian peasants with all the related duties, while the small groups of upper Egyptians who live in Nubia mostly practise fishing. All these groups are important for Nubian society, but they do not play a role in keeping it intact during times of hardship as do the members forming the model mentioned above.

(b.) Togetherness The second social law in Nubia is togetherness. By this I mean the communal way of life which is a major aspect of Nubian society. Personal or individual excellence is not a prominent feature of Nubian life; in most cases it goes unnoticed. This is because the society is structured in a way in which everybody has to excel in his or her job, whatever it is. Also, Fesa (Arabic Nufir), which means ‘communal work‘ is one of the major modes ofwork in Nubia. Crops are sown and harvested byfesa. All ceremonies and festivals, including their costs, are carried through byfesd and related organizations such as f i e ’ , Guberand others (Osman 1978). In short, Nubian society is based on a law of complementary division of labour, which gives it total cohesion and stability.

(c.) Settlement areus Two well-known Nubian curses summarize notions on the best areas for settlements. The first is Hub Ika inera = ‘may the river hinder you‘. Another is: Iron A munjerra Eegu = ‘may you live at the back ofwater rivers, sea’. In both cases, the saying refers to islands. Nubians want to say that their preferred areas for settlement are the banks of the Nile. Only danger or fear would compel them to live on islands, which to most Nubians are confined, cramped and isolated places.

However, the banks of the Nile also have limits. A third curse Iron Nuchil Toura, means ‘may you get lost into the hinterlands’. The curse implies that only insane individuals get themselves into such situations.

The Nubian’s major philosophy of settlement becomes clear. Habitable land is the strip of land along the banks of the Nile within easy reach of everybody. This makes life safer, more communal and amicable. Hence arises the known arrangement comprising G e f land, palms gardens, agricultural plots and villages, permitting quick and easy interaction amongst the inhabitants and also surveillance. This linear arrangement along the Nile banks is also related to kinship. Modern Nubian settlement patterns are discussed below in some detail for the benefit of future archaeological model-building for investigateing Nubian landscapes.

(d.) Kinship Women are at the centre of Nubian kinship and lineage arrangements. The famous Nubian saying ‘Fun-go-Logom Gur Ougo”, which means ‘it is by your mothers that

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40 Archaeology andsettlement in the Third Cataract region during the Medieval andPost-Medievalperio~

the country (Nubia) started’, summarizes this. Also, the most affectionate term in our culture is: h i e n Tod, which means my ‘mothers’ son’. Furthermore, in all Medieval royal documents, Nubian kings introduced themselves through their mothers‘ lineage: ‘I, king David, whose uncle [N. Angi: “mothers‘ brother”] Moses, was the king.

It goes without saying that this position of mothers, and women in general, in the Arabic speaking Central Sudan is a Nubian influence, since we know that Arab culture is paternal, while the Nubian is maternal. This makes me wonder about the alleged Arabicization of the Medieval Nubians through their maternal culture by marriages ofArabs to Nubian girls. This cannot be true. To begin with it is difficult, even today, to find an Arab married to a Nubian girl. To the Nubians, this is a sin of great consequence, which can only be comprehended, ifwe can understand the concept and culture of “Musbuburu’; which is, in general, a series of medications performed on girls and women during circumcision and during pregnancy. Secondly, the strongest bond between Nubian individuals and Nubian groups, is that through mothers.

To summarise, the cohesiveness of Nubian society depends on the mechanism of the four elements discussed above: the Nubians and the ‘other’; togetherness; settlement areas; and matrilineal kinship. These are the “laws” which enable Nubian society to face times of danger and hardship. More importantly, it is through the mechanism of these elements that the Nubians can arrange themselves into local polities semi-independent from each other, but never totally independent, during times of anarchy or the collapse of their central government. These kinglets are not feudal lords, but only local figures in authority who can play the role of leaders better than those around them. They are not hereditary, as the Nubian system of breeding heroes depends on a number of social tests which only suitable individuals can pass. In this sense, the Post-Medieval period was another era with no central government, in which the Nubians needed to rearrange their ways of life, depending on the internal mechanism of their culture. Similarly, it was not a time of imposed Islamization through the mother’s lineage system, but only another period in which they needed to rearrange their alliances and grouping, using their tested historical laws.

Archaeological application of the model

Let us now go back to archaeology to test these hypotheses from our findings in the Third Cataract region. Some new archaeological features appeared after the fall of the Christian kingdoms, but some were present well before that, associated with Muslim communities only. These include: 1) Muslim graves in Christian cemeteries and entire Muslim cemeteries with a diversity of superstructures; 2) Gubbu, Binuyu; 3) Dej% In the Third Cataract region, these form most of the Post-Medieval archaeological sites, beside the continuously inhabited centres, such as Nawri, Aliirki, Melegab, Simit, Jawgul, Sugden, Defoy and other possible centres yet to be identified.

1. Theprocess of cbungefiom Christianity to Islam. This was, by necessity, a very slow one. The possibility of periods of religious confusion and/or defection to earlier religions should not be ruled out. This being the case, the study of Late Medieval and Post- Medieval graves and cemeteries must be given priority within the Post-Medieval archae-

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Ali Osmun MobummedSulih 41

ology of our region. Within the transitional period from Christianity to Islam, there is another transitional stage in the knowledge of Islamic Sbaria’which was very rudimen- tary in the beginning and took some time to improve.

Due to all these factors we have five different types of “Islamic” graves beside the known Islamic grave of today, in the Third Cataract region. Firstly, the vaulted group burial room. One such grave in Simit-Sab was excavated during January 2002. It contained six bodies shrouded in sackcloth and buried with Islamic orientation. The vaulted room was covered with medium-size stone slabs, which were not plastered (Mahas Survey Report 2002). The second type has very large slabs and smaller stone filling in-between the slabs. In all cases these stone slabs are of reddish coloured sandstone. There are many in the cemetery of Mashakaila, as well as outside the cemetery area. We excavated an isolated one within the agricultural land. The body was of a woman about 40 years old. She was buried north-south, head to the south, facing west. A big lump of stone was put on her stomach. Her legs were on a higher level than her upper body. So, a straightforward north-south grave among other Muslim graves produced this strange burial, and associated crude pottery, one type with red splash decoration (Mahas Survey Report 2002).

We have yet to excavate examples of the third, fourth, and fifth types. Two of them have mud brick superstructures: the third type, which comprises a solid building of about three metres high, and the fourth, with a low superstructure in which bricks are arranged to form an elevation of about 30 cm height. Both these types are known from Shaikh Marzug graveyard in Delgo, Hay El-Isbitalia. The fifth type, also present at Shaikh Marzug and at Mashakaila, is flat with standing tombstones. These standing tombstones are also of reddish sandstone, and of medium siza

2. Gubba UndBinaya. These are forms of burial superstructures for religious Sufi Sheikhs. We cannot, at this stage, tell much about their internal chronologies, nor about the philosophy behind them. Yet, through well-studied typologies and a great deal of oral traditions, ethno-histories, place-names, and folklore connected with such sites, collected during the four seasons of field work of our project between 1990 and 2002, we can place them correctly within the general chronology of the cultural development of the region, during the Medieval and succeeding periods. As well, we can identify their occu- pant‘s history including their places of origins, their Sufi afNiations, their teachings, and their intermarriages that gave them the firm position they had in the society of the‘rhird Cataract. However, as far as the scope of the present paper is concerned, we are more interested in their general typology, chronology and place of origin.

There are four types of Gubba and two types of Binaya in the region. The four types of Gubba are: (i) complete capped step; (ii) complete capped conical; (iii) complete open cylindrical; and (iv) first step level, open circular. The size of the types varies from large to medium, but they are all built with mud bricks and all contain burials. In many cases, there are more than one burial in individual Gubbas.

In many cases these Gubbas initiate a new cemetery named after the Sheikh, and, generally, occupy prominent places in graveyards. The complete capped Gubbas are either capped by a rod-like white stone or with flat-layed mud bricks. The rod-like white stone is alleged to bear the name of the Sheikh buried in the Gubba. We have yet to test this assertion.

The two Binaya types are: a low mud brick building, rectangular in shape and with a mibrab at the centre of its eastern wall and another type which is exactly the same as the

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42 Archaeology andsettlement in the Third Cataract region during the Medievaland Post-Medievalperiodc

first, but without a mihrab. The sizes of Binayas vary from medium to small, and each Binaya has more than one burial.

Two aspects of these Gubbas and Binayas emerge strongly from oral traditions and details of Sufi3 affinities. One is that important Sheikhs were Dongolawi rather than Mahasi, and the second is that all prayers (Madeiih: praise) of prophet Mohammed and his descendants, are in Oshkir rather than Nobein. In fact, the strong Oshkir presence in the local Nobein of theThird Cataract region and in the place names and sacred landmarks, such as the “Oai-n-ondi”ofTombus, has been judged to be the influence of these Sheikhs. Likewise, the significant intermarriage between the population of the two areas. However, these aspects appear to be present only in the Third Cataract region and never to the north of it.

We studied the implication of all these aspects in the regional spread of the Gubbas and Binayas with their associated stories. The result was, firstly, that these Sheikhs and their kind of Gubbas and Binayas are distibuted as far as Debbat El-Fugara, the southern limit of the Oshkir-speaking population. Secondly, it emerged that these Sheikhs were the sons and descendants of Sheikh Gullam Alla A’yid El-Rikkabi (see item (d) in the first section of this paper).

These results made it possible for us to sketch the chronology of the Islamization of our region, to help us understand better the cultural and archaeological chronology. In this view, we think that whatever implications the Baqt treaty might have had for this region would have been interrupted by the coming of these Sheikhs around the loth century. It is quite possible that the coming of these Sheikhs preceded the arrival of the Fatimids in Egypt, and therefore the arrival of their envoy, Ibn Salim El-Aswani in Nubia, to spread Shia’ beliefs. It is also possible that the peaceful relationship that prevailed between the Nubian Christian kings and the Fatimid rulers of Egypt was, in part, because of the presence of those Su& Sheikhs as allies of their kings against any Shia’plans for expansion into Nubia.

The next important event in this chronology is the arrival of the Ottomans at the end of the lbth century. These Suna reformists must have interrupted the flourishing periods of the Sufi Sheikhs. The Ottomans introduced a number of great Uhma who taught people the Koran and related knowledge in established Khalwas. It is the influence of the Uhmas and their Khalwas which form the foundations of Islamic teachings in the region today. Simit has the largest and finest Gubbas of the Mahas region. Their owners have lapsed from the memory of people there. Therefore, we have been given different names by different informants as to their occupants. In effect, the only Sufi order known to the people of the Third Cataract region now is the Adarsa and their disciples the Khatmiya. However, attachment to these is weakening due to political interference and the appearance of the political Islam manifested in so many new ways. Even before this, there was growing alienation between the Khatmiya and the peoples of the region due to the absence of Sheikhs able to bring the teaching of the order, especially to the young people, due to lack of contact between the local Sheikhs and the central authority of the order.

So, whether they were the sons or disciples of the Yemeni Sheikh Gullam Alla, or another as yet unknown Sheikh, great Suffi Sheikhs had reached the Third Cataract region apparently as early as the 1 Oth century. They gave the process of the Islamization of the region a new direction, which seems to have played an important role not only in the religious sphere, but also in the civil sphere. Judging from the oral traditions, there is a lot

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to be said about the role of these Sheikhs in the stability of the region during the absence of a central government and during the preceding centuries of wars and strife. We are obliged, therefore, to develop more reliable methods for the dating of Gubbas and Binayas. It is also necessary to search for possible Islamic settlements from the late Classic Christian periods and the early Late Period, which can be excavated and accurately dated.

We know that Ibn Salim Al-Aswani mentions that he visited a very important Nubian town on his way to Dongola in the loth century. He relates that it was called Ostinoon. The present writer identified this as Gebel Wahaba. I was evidently wrong. Gebel Wahaba does not look like a Nubian site, as I previously reasoned. Also, the name Atinon is not a Nubian name. Ibn Salim’s hearing and understanding of the name Sikout, if it was pronounced this way then, was near correct; he wrote it Saugom. So what does Ibn Salim’s Ostinoon stand for, and what was that important town he visited? To judge from archaeology, the most important place from Medieval, Post-Medieval and Ottoman times, was Nawri, and Nawri would be Ibn Salim’s Ostinoon. One of Nawri’s names that comes to mind is ‘>gjnoon” meaning “of the big man”. According to oral information from the late Abdullahi Amien, we can take Nawri as originating in “Ogjnoon” and developing through “Ogjnori” into Nawri. I also propose that “Ostinoon” of Ibn Salim El-Aswani was “Ogjnoon”, and shall stand by this until Nawri has been excavated to test these hypotheses.

3 . Defi. There has been some discussion among Sudanese folklorists, as to the origins of Defi. Ustaz El-Tayeb Mohammed El-Tayeb argues that Defi originated in Arabia. He wrote me an open letter in El-Ayam newspaper entitled: “From El-Tayeb Mohammed El-Tayeb to the sons of land of Defij2-r’: He argued that the Mahas were Arabs by virtue of their Defs . I wrote back in the same paper acknowledging the great resemblance between the Arabian and the Nubian Defis, as far as their functions are concerned, and pointing out the possibility of the diffusion of the idea of Defi to Nubia from Arabia with the Muslims from early in the 1 O* century.

To us, Defi means a large fortified house with towers and an extensive courtyard where a leader of a community lives, and to which all people go for protection during times of danger. Being fortified, Defis have to be well built with high walls and strong doors. It is also allowed to bring animals in to the Defi for protection. A Defi is Islamic. No non-Islamic building would be called Defi. This is true throughout modern Nubia. Buildings similar in nature to Defi but known to have existed before the coming of Islam have different names. A church is “Kisse”, a castle-house is ‘boug’2 a fortified settlement is “Kkbaraba”and antiquities built of stone are “Birba’; while a solid mud or mud brick building is “Defifi’: In recent times, the role of Defi was taken up by a “Doskodb”. Defis are built within the community settlement, and there is a strong implication of a communal ownership of a Defi. That is why most Defis are named after an Mi, while that same I r k can be named after one person. Therefore, no one can stop anybody from entering his community’s Defi, even if he were the community leader himself.

There are four types of Defis in the Third Cataract region dating from about the loth century to the end of the 19‘h century, as classified by their building materials. In chronological order starting from the earliest, these are as follows: (i) stone and mud brick, (ii) stone andjalus, (iii) jalus only, and (iv) plasteredjalus. In some rare cases, as in Mashakaila, some Defis dating from the Ottoman period (1600-1750), are built in a

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44 Archaeology and settlement in the Third Cataract region during the Medieval and Post-Medievalperiod

whitish stone. The only two known are associated with a governor, possibly Gor Hussein, mentioned by Gelabi in 1670-72, and an important Sheikh connected with him called Shda’ Alla, known to have arrived at Nawri around the beginning of the lTh century.

Other rare departures from the above classification are those De8s which have all stone, or all mud brick andJaLas in their structure. In such a case, theJalus would be an addition or a rebuild. One good example of this kind is Habarab Defi. Also, the Ottoman garrison at Geziera Musli (normally Musli) has on its north-western tower lines of red bricks. These seem to have been intentionally introduced to hold two stone plaques, one on the northern face and the other on the western face. The one on the western wall is still there and has a “Blazon”or stamp, which is under study to decide its nature and meaning. The other plaque is alleged to have been taken by some “Bawajat”manyyears ago. It is said that it had an inscription in a language other than Arabic or English (Mahas Survey Report 2002).

The above classification can be easily verified by examining the settlement sequence at the western gebel in Nawri. It starts low down the hill with the remains of a large fortress with four bastions of the Medieval period. Then comes the second phase higher up the hill: a fortress from the later Medieval period. While the first fortress is built of more stones than mud brick, the second one is built mostly of mud brick, with stone used only at the foundation level. Also, towers were introduced during this second phase instead of the bastions of the first phase, which comprise a solid mud brick building faced with stones on the outside. The third phase, high on the gebel, is the Post-Medieval period D#. It is built of stone and mud brick on a flattened area which covers about two thirds of the circumference of the gebel. The fourth phase of building on Gebel Nawri is attached to the outer walls of the first phase fortress. This is the Ottoman phase and is built of stones andJaLus. There is, finally, a fifth phase which covers the post- Ottoman periods of Kokka and recent times until the early seventies of the last century, when the village was abandoned by its last inhabitants (Mahas Survey Report 2002).

The historical Settlement patterns of the Third Cataract region: An ethnohistorical model

I intend, in this section, to make general observations on the changing settlement pat- terns of the Third Cataract region with reference to three different levels, identifiable through history. I shall base these observations on the results of the University of Khar- toum Mahas Survey Project, but I shall also consider the behaviour and practices of the modern inhabitants of the region. I believe the resultant model can be used as an explana- tory basis for understanding the historical settlement patterns, as represented by the ar- chaeological assemblages and/or cultures.

Modern settlementpatterns.There are five levels of settlement patterns in modern Nubia, as follows: (1) Noug = house; (2) Mar = village; (3) Mi = community, (4) Sir AWL = kinship, and ( 5 ) Gar = the country. A typical Third Cataract region house of today has two main parts: the men’s section and the women’s section. The women’s section is the larger part of the house. It contains the middle room (Gascu-n-nuag;), its veranda (esmu), and the storeroom (kobid). These three units form the most important component of the Nubian house because it is where most of the main activities of the family, which need to be carried out under shade or in shelter, take place. It is also where the belongings

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ALi Osman Mohammed Salib 45

of the family are kept. The other part of the women’s section of the house includes a kitchen and its veranda, and an animal enclosure. The courtyard is large and spacious and is used during night time. One modern addition to this section is the Mazyara, the shade for the drinking water jars (Fuke-n-noag). It has taken over some of the functions of the veranda of the middle room, and is a more breezy area in which to spend the very hot afternoons. The men’s section is simple, and is mainly intended for male guests. It is composed of one large room with windows which is described usually as the Diwan. Additionally, there is a small room at the other end of the guests’ courtyard which has no prescribed function as yet, since it is a recent innovation.

Until the end of the 1950s, children of five years of age and above, as well as young adolescent boys, never used their parents’ or any other house. They spent their days in the fields and rested under the palm trees, and spent their nights in the non-cultivated agricultural lands (Bardbid), around the enclosures of their livestock. The houses were composed only of the basic elements described above, and only womenfolk and married men used them. Most houses had no courtyard except a thorn fence, where women and married men spent their nights.

According to elderly inhabitants of region, before the devastating campaign ofWad el-Nujumi, sent by Khalf Abdulla El-Ta’ishi to conquer Egypt for the benefit of the Mahdist cause, the Third Cataract houses were family unit houses. This comprised a series of small rooms attached to each other, with very low openings to be used as entrance and exit doors. Such houses could contain twenty rooms or more, inhabited by branching families descended from the great-grandfather. The house unit would be named after the founder. This is how names like Nasir-n-irki, or Hussein-n-irki, or Abdelgadir-n-irki, originated. Even more ancient regions, which had distinctive names, changed to this family unit arrangement.

If the Irki grows to the limits of the environmental niche it occupies, it expands into an adjacent area. This extension is called a village (Mar). While an I rk is always added to the name of the founder of the family unit, Mar is described by adding to the direction it occupies in relation to the Irki. Therefore, names such as Doro-n-Mar, Tawo-n-mar, Oro-n- mar and Cab-n-mar occur. Doro means upper and south, while taw0 means lower and north, and or0 means west and calo east. In nearly all cases, development ofMars along the Nile was away from the river, beyond the agricultural land; all Irkis were near the Nile immediately after the palm orchard, or within it, and before the start of the agricultural land (sag@. In theThird Cataract region, the early Irkis have been deserted and families have moved to the Mars, which have grown into large villages because they are composed of individual houses of the new type which I have described above as ‘typical’.

An example of an old Mar which grew out of an historical town or village and retained its name, but did not represent an Mi, is the village of Nawri. It is an historical place, and must have been the seat of officials representing the rulers of this region at different historical periods. Hence, it did not become the Irki of any individual. In fact, many of the known characteristics of Irkis (see below) are absent from Nawri. The first new extension of Nawri occupied the foothills of the eastern jebel, since the old village was built on the foothills of the western jebel. These two jebels are the most prominent features of Nawri. The eastern jebel bears a long inscription from the Egyptian king Seti of the 1 gCh Dynasty, while the Terminal Christian period village was built on top of the western jebel. The second extension of Nawri-n-niar occupies the hilly lands to the south of the two jebels, and it has now completely used up all available land. The next extension

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46 Archaeoloa andsettlement in the Third Cataract region during the Medieval and Post-MedievaLperioa2

must either reoccupy the old village site, or replan the individual houses of the second extension as family unit houses, since they are invariably very large.

So, in theThird Cataract region the chronological development of settlement patterns during known history, is as follows: “family unit houses” in an Irki, from which grew “basic unit houses” in Mars; which developed into “typical modern houses” in related communities, i.e. Irkis.

Let us now recapitulate the main characteristics of the three levels of settlement patterns of modern Nubia: I r k , Mar, and Noag. These have not yet been investigated archaeologically in detail, although reasonable archaeological information is available about the preceding historical periods and their settlement patterns. Since the members of the University of Khartoum Mahas Survey Project believe that the modern settlement patterns are a continuation of the preceding patterns, adapted to historical factors, we can use the modern settlement patterns as a model to explain the earlier ones.

1. -Irki - An Irki is always named after its founder, and grows into a family unit community. - An Irki occupies an environmental niche and grows as a complete community, con-

taining all its necessities. It is always a psychological and private setting to which indi- viduals belong with a very high degree of commitment.

- An Irki owns an Eskale (Arabic -Sagia) and sagia land, and all necessary equipment to run an efficient agricultural cycle. It also owns thefarre (A. -Garif) i.e. Seluka-land, and all other lands within its limits.

- If an Irki grows out of its geographical and environmental limits it adopts another nearby niche where a Mar starts. However, Irkis usually accommodate these inhabit- ants for hundreds of years. In my own genealogy, our Irki did so until the time of my direct grandfather, Mohamed Salih (no. 3).

- There are constant relations between neighbouring Irkis. These are manifested in the following: (a.) In all cases, more than one irki uses the same graveyard to bury their dead. When

somebody dies, Kubodars (‘death announcers’) are sent in both directions along the Nile to announce the death, so that community members should attend the burial. Each kobudarwill ride as far as a known limit to complete his duty. These limits are called Sir Awi (kinship) limits, and these form the largest Nubian settlement unit. This is the settlement that became known as Mashaikha (Arabic for ‘chiefdom’) in the modern administrative arrangements.

(b.) Swimming, fishing, and sailing rights are open to all members of a kinship unit.

2. Mar - A Mar is part of an Irki and grows out from it. - A Mar is always composed of basic unit houses which are detached; these are quite

different from the family unit house of the Mi.

3. Noag - A Noagis a single family habitation which, in its basic form, is composed of a middle

- A Noag is a functional and a cultural unit. This is the basic component of the whole of room, plus its veranda and the storeroom.

Nubian Culture.

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Ali Osman Mohammed Salib 47

Therefore, the Nubian settlement pattern develops as follows from the smallest unit to the country level:

Nubian

Noag Mar Irki Sir Awl Gur

English

house village community kinship the country, i.e Nubia

This ascending relationship of settlement patterns is very vivid in the mind of any Nubian to the level of kinship, because it is part of their daily practices. However, Gur is a very vague concept to most Nubians. Many of us also confuse SirAwZas only meaning ‘kin’ and do not remember that it is also a settlement pattern. Therefore, many people think of Irki as meaning ‘home’ in the sense of ‘country’.

Another important observation, is the fact that settlements on islands follow the same pattern as those on the bank of the Nile. Large islands such as Simit and Ardwan have many frkis while small islands are always occupied by one Mi. If and when these Irkis become threatened by any natural occurrences, such as high floods, they are resettled on either bank of the Nile, either temporally or permanently. Such movements disturb the prevailing settlement patterns. However, there are many known cases where such arrangements were made easily. This is so because the communities on an island are part of a kinship group that includes others occupying one or other of the Nile banks. It is a fact that no island forms a kinship group by itself and that no communities from both banks of the Nile combine in one kinship group. Therefore, island communities can form a kinship group with people on either bank of the Nile.

A third important aspect is the perception of the river-bank dweller of others living and/or using the desert away from the Nile. There is nothing in the oral tradition of the inhabitants of the southern, eastern, bank of the Third Cataract region which suggests any knowledge of populations living in the hinterland. In contrast, there are many indications of relationships between the inhabitants of the northern, western, bank and people living in the hinterland. They know of Darfur and of Darb El-Arbaien, (the ‘Forty-days Road‘ to Egypt) and they remember many incidents of contact between both groups.

Finally, settlement patterns of the Third Cataract region during the last 500 years were determined by the environment as is evident from their distribution. However, another important factor of their determination was the economy. This was a basic subsistence economy, because of which there were no market places developed in the region. Trade outlets were through the ‘river trade’ which was an ancient type of trade which continued until the end of the 1950s (Osman 1978). Similarly, urban centres are features of centralized authorities, so there are no urban centres in the region. Only Nawri and Ali Barsi each formed a type of government centre during the Post-Medieval period, under the Mahas Kingdom of Kokka‘ (Edwards and Osman 1992).

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48 Archaeology andsettlement in the Third Cataract region during the Medievaland Post-Medievalperiods

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