Nubian History and Culture
Nubian History and Culture The Nubian region lies on the Nile River,
123,000 square kilometers between the city of Aswan in southern Egypt
and Khartoum in central northern Sudan. It was one of the first civilizations
of ancient Africa as the history of Nubia was traced from 2000 BCE onward
to 1504 AD. During Egypt new kingdom period of Egypt (1570 AD – 1070 AD)
Pharaoh Thutmose I invaded the land around 1500 BC.
Nubian History and Culture
Nubia was highly famous for being the home of many powerful kingdoms, most prominent is
the kingdom of Kush which even conquered Egypt in the 8th century BC and
formed the 25th dynasty. In the 4th century AD, the great kingdom of kush
came to an end then Nubia was divided between Egypt and the Senner sultanate
which led to partial Arabization & rapid Islamization in the 16th century
by the Ottoman empire. However, during the 19th century in 1899, the Khedive of Egypt united the entire region.
Both two countries had a very profound relationship during peace and war times.
They both used similar royal symbols based on rock art. There were many cultural
exchanges and cooperation and even marriage between the two. They had a strong
economic relationship through trading in ebony, ivory, leopard skins, and a variety
of resins. The Nubia acted as Egypt’s connection to the riches of east and south of Africa like gold, incense, ebony, copper, ivory, and rare animals.
Nubian Temples Nubian History and Culture
The word Nubia comes from the word “Nub” which means gold for the number
of gold mines in the area, rare stones, and the home to some of the most
beautiful and majestic monuments in Egypt. The Nubia area is highly
famous for containing two of the most famous temples in the history of ancient
Egypt, the Temple of Philae, and Abu Simbel temple. Both the two
temples were rescued by UNESCO in the mid-60s because of the disastrous
consequences of the High Aswan Dam and there are must be visited attractions through Nile cruise between Luxor and Aswan.
Nubian Crafts Nubian History and Culture
The Nubians are known to be a proud, gentle, honest, and enduring people
with their own unique culture and customs. Their houses were known of
containing a backyard and topped with a dome. Their culture contains
different styles of art, stunning drawings, and beautiful decorations,
plus enchanting pottery, mesmerizing handicrafts weaving of baskets, mats from palm fronds, and necklaces.
Nubian Customs and Villages Nubian History and Culture
They have many traditions, dances, and a special set of customs within their
culture especially when the marriage takes place and a newborn “Sebou” is
delivered. They all marry within the same area because of their inclusive nature.
Their villages are quite different from anything in Egypt and divided into three
tribes which are Al-Fadiga: the Arab Al-Orayqat (Originally Bedouin Traders who
Migrated from Hijaz), and Al-Konoz, also known as Al-Matoka
(A Mix of Arab Tribes, the Biggest Being Al-Gohayna Tribe, from the Arabian Peninsula).
Nubian Museum and Symbols Nubian History and Culture
One of the many symbols is the sword of the Nubian culture which represent
bravery and the black cat which represents joy and optimism in contradiction
to the majority of most culture over the world who believes it reflects a bad omen.
The symbol of a cow or an owl represents destruction and bad luck. The UNESCO
built the infamous Nubian Museum in Aswan to bring the Nubian culture back
to life as it constructed based on Nubian architecture and ancient sandstone
and holds about 2,000 artifacts many of them are from ancient Nubian
culture and a lot of colorful exhibits form the Nubian heritage.
