Nubia

The name of Nubia belongs to that part of the Nile Valley where the floodplain is narrow and discontinuous, and where the river's six cataracts can be found. In the days of ancient Egypt, Nubia was occupied by the legendary Empire of Kush, which met its end in the fourth century. When Christian missionaries first entered Nubia in the sixth century, they found three kingdoms flourishing in the ruins of Kush: Nobatia, Makuria, and Alodia. These three nations persist to this day.

The region is called the bled es-Sudan, Land of the Blacks, by the Arabs. Geographically, it is divided into Lower Nubia, covering the first two cataracts, and Upper Nubia south of that. Lower Nubia is characterized mostly by desert; there is an almost total absence of rainfall and, apart from a narrow strip alongside the river, it is an extremely hostile environment. Agriculture is possible only through extensive irrigation using mule-driven waterwheels. In contrast, Upper Nubia has significant seasonal rainfall and extensive vegetation. Where a river meets the Nile, the area within the confluence is usually highly productive, and population clusters in these 'islands'. The rich agricultural land of Upper Nubia is buffered from the desert by savannah. In the far south, Upper Nubia blends into the Ethiopian Highlands.

The upper reaches of the Nile River have been occupied since the time of ancient Egypt, although little is known of this time. There were a series of kingdoms, one centered around Ballana (near Pakhoras) and another further upriver at Kerma. These smaller kingdoms were conquered and absorbed into a single state under one emperor, under the name of Kush.

The Empire of Kush

Roman Egypt's southern neighbor, the Empire of Kush was ruled by monarchs called qores, the descendants of a line of Nubian pharaohs of Egypt long after their reign ended in Egypt itself. The Kushite people were descended from Cush son of Ham son of Noah, and Kush gained its independence from Egypt a thousand years before the birth of Christ. The capital of the Kushite Empire was originally Napata, close to the fourth cataract, but Emperor Aspelta moved his palace to Meroë in 591 BC, partly to escape from the controlling influence of the priesthood. The priests were the arbiters of ma'at, a concept of righteousness and order. Ma'at determined the laws of the empire, and through ma'at they elected the king and made him a god. Yet, if the priests decided that the emperor had defied ma'at, they could issue an order that he commit suicide. Such was their power at least through most of the empire's existence — that the emperor would obey.

Despite the move to Meroë, most emperors were still little more than puppets of the priests, who still had custody of the generations of deceased royalty, interred at the necropoli near their stronghold at Napata. Around 300 BC the Emperor Arqamani finally broke free from theocratic dominance and had all the Napatan priests slaughtered. The capital of the empire was formally moved to Meroë, and a new royal cemetery was built to house the royal dead, free from priestly control. Henceforth the emperors ruled in fact, not just in name, but, without a royal priesthood, were no longer accorded the divine status of their forebears.

The Collapse of Kush

Weakened by war with Roman Egypt and Axum, and wracked by internal rebellion, Kush eventually faded into obscurity. The Roman Emperor Diocletian employed a desert people called the Nobatae to defend the southern frontier of his empire against the Blemmyae of the Red Sea hills in 297. The Nobatae settled in the lush riverine valleys of the Nile and established petty kingdoms that treated with Rome.

There was a brief renaissance of Kush in the fifth century when Blemmyae tribesmen captured Meroë and attempted to revive the empire, but this was crushed by the Kingdom of Axum from the south and by the Nobatae in the north. The Nobatae extracted a succession of oaths of submission from the defeated Blemmyae. Eventually, three kingdoms emerged along the Nile: Nobatia in Lower Nubia; and Makuria and Alodia in Upper Nubia. Upper Nubia was conquered by Axum (see Chapter 8: Ethiopia) in the early sixth century, and was its vassal state for nearly a century.

The Conversion of Nubia

In 540, two missions were sent from Constantinople to bring the word of Christ to Nubia: one representing the orthodox or Melkite party under the patronage of Emperor Justinian, the other sent by the Empress Theodora and representing the Monophysite theology, despite it being declared heretical by the Council of Chalcedon some hundred years earlier. Theodora was able to have the Melkites delayed in Egypt, and Julian, the leader of the Monophysite mission, spent two years in Nubia and achieved some success. His successor was Longinus, who did not manage to re-

turn until 567, by which time the Kingdom of Makuria had been converted to orthodoxy. Longinus spent six years in Nobatia, then, following an exile to Arabia due to politics within the Coptic church, he returned to Nobatia in 580 and resolved to bring the Word of Christ to Alodia as well. He was unable to travel directly there from Nobatia due to the hostility of Makuria toward Longinus "the heresiarch.." Instead, he struck out through the eastern desert into the land of the Blemmyae, and after many adventures made it to Alodia where he was met by the king himself. The conversion of Alodia was a total success.

Following their conquest of Egypt, the Umayyads twice tried to annex the Kingdom of Makuria, in 642 and 652. The result of these resounding defeats of the invaders was the negotiation of the Baqt (see insert). This treaty permitted all the Nubian kingdoms to flourish without fear of invasion or forced conversion to Islam, and provided five centuries of accord.

Following the Arab conquest of Egypt, the formerly dominant Melkite Church was considered a puppet of the outgoing Byzantine regime, and the Monophysite Coptic Church was favored by Egypt's new rulers. As a consequence there were no Melkite bishops appointed for Makuria for over a hundred years, a misfortune of which the Monophysite clergy took advantage under King Merkurios of Makuria, who adopted Monophysitism for his kingdom. Merkurios was also responsible for building the mighty city of Dongola that became Makuria's capital, and some called him the "New Constantine." During his reign, Nobatia was suspected of allying with the Muslims of Egypt in order to gain dominance over its Makurian rivals, and Merkurios invaded Nobatia and subjugated the kingdom, a situation that remains unto this day.

Especially profitable relations existed during the Fatimid Caliphate in Egypt (969 – 1171), which relied heavily on the Nubians for economic and military support. Part of this success derived from the discovery of gold in the Red Sea hills, which led to a flourishing of Nubian culture in all three kingdoms, and the establishment of ports to trade the new-found wealth across the sea.

Upon the downfall of the Fatimids in 1171, the new Ayyubid ruler Salah ed-Din immediately sent his brother Shams ed-Dawla Turan Shah to invade Nubia, to cut off any reprisals in support of Fatimid allies. Nobatia in particular suffered massive destruction, and the city of Premnis was occupied for several years. It is reported that an Ayyubid emissary visited Makuria to see if it was worth conquering, but he reported that the land was too poor, and the Ayyubids withdrew from Nubia and have not returned. This emissary was clearly lying, for Makuria was then and still is at the zenith of its prosperity, nevertheless, his word was considered good, and the Arabs soon retreated north.

Peaceful relations and trade were restored with Egypt but trust has been lost. The Baqt is defaulted in more years than it is paid, and demands for arrears for the missed years go unheeded. Meanwhile, the Nobatian populace is being relocated from rural communities into defensible walled towns, particularly on islands in the Nile.

A new threat to the Nubian kingdoms

is the arrival in the area of Bedouin nomads from both Egypt and Arabia. These tribes have been driven out by the Ayyubids, and have traveled south into Upper Nubia. Makuria and Alodia have both lost territory to the nomads, who have established independent warring principalities called meks to the east of the Nile. Nobatia has avoided such depredations thus far due to its desert climate, which makes it undesirable as grazing land.

Nubians are a black-skinned people, with wavy black hair; curly hair is considered to be a sign of slave-stock. They tend to be taller than the average European or Arab. Nubians wear light trousers and loose smock-like garments made of cotton; they often have clothes that are brightly dyed in contrasting colors in geometric shapes that are worn to church or on festival days. Important citizens wear a short tunic stiffened with reeds or ivory so that it flares out sharply at the waist; they may wear several layers of these garments, each of a different length and color. Men and women wear gold and copper jewelry: bangles on the wrist and ankle, and hoops around the neck. Strings of beads made from ostrich eggshell, glass, cowrie shells, and wood are common, as are finger rings carved from stone, sometimes with a decorated bezel. Parasols and walking sticks are common, the latter even among the young and hale. Hair is often arranged into elaborate coiffures in both sexes: plaited into rows of tresses or held into topknots by long-tined ivory combs.

Warriors and the Army

Nubia is famous for its archers; the Arabs know them as "pupil-smiters" and "archers of the eyes" because of their accuracy. Nubian warriors use not only the self bow (which is also used for hunting), but also a complex compound bow with a bone core. Nubians also use expensive iron arrowheads that can punch through thick armor. Melee weapons include spears (both short and long), and short swords. Nubian swords typically have just one sharpened edge. Shields and armor are made of thick oxhide molded and decorated into patterns of raised bosses and ribbed surfaces; most commonly a breastplate and leather skirt suffices, sometimes with vambraces and greaves. Cavalry is an important component of the army, mounted on either lightbodied horses or war camels.

The army is under the command of exarchs, each in control of either a division of the royal guard or a frontier garrison. As well as this permanent army, there is also a levy in times of war. Makuria also maintains a small navy on the Nile under the command of two nauarchs; the navy's prime purpose is water transport of troops and supplies, although they are trained in ship-to-ship combat.

Attitudes toward the Dead

Nubians are deeply superstitious about the dead. They attach no elaborate ceremonies to funerals, although by no means do they skimp on the formal burial according to Church doctrine. Covering the face of the dead with a mask or plate is important, to stop death from infecting those who see the corpse. It is unusual for the family or friends of the deceased to attend a funeral, leaving the process to a priest and hired

A group of robbers (probably of foreign origin) are exploiting the Nubian reluctance to acknowledge the dead by faking their own deaths and then masquerading as their own walking corpses to commit their crimes. No one will report that they were robbed, and no one follows them back to their graveyard haunt. Unfortunately, their activities have attracted the attention of faeries (or demons) who take on the mien of real corpses and copy their crimes. The characters get involved when they become a target of the faeries, and are robbed by someone they know to be dead.

The Baqt was originally negotiated in 652 by the Umayyad governor of Egypt and the king of Makuria after an unsuccessful Muslim invasion of Nubia. The name derives from the Greek pakton ("agreement"), and is a unique bilateral agreement that guaranteed the Nubian kingdoms freedom from further invasions or forced conversion to Islam. In the text of the Baqt, the Egyptians and Nubians promised not to make war on one another, and each guaranteed safe conduct of the other's citizens when traveling. The Nubians were to return any runaway slaves or Egyptian outlaws, and furnish an annual tribute of 365 slaves to the treasury, 40 slaves to the emir of Egypt, 20 slaves to the governor of Aswan, five slaves to the judge of Aswan, and one slave to each of the twelve guarantors of the Baqt. In return, the Egyptians undertook to provide wheat, barley, wine, and fancy cloth.

After its signing, the Egyptians made no attempts to invade Nubia for over 500 years, despite frequent lapses in the tribute of slaves. In 835, the tribute was overdue for fourteen years, and the caliph sent an urgent demand to King Zacharias of Makuria. Zacharias's son George traveled to Baghdad and managed to renegotiate the Baqt, making the quota of slaves payable every three years instead. The advent of Fatimid rule in Egypt once again brought a renewal of demands for arrears in the tribute; this time an Egyptian envoy traveled to Dongola for renegotiation, but once more the Baqt was renewed.

Copies of the Baqt can be found in every city of Nobatia and Makuria; the original 652 and 835 documents are both stored in Dongola Cathedral. Copies of the Baqt that have been signed under relevant authorization from the King of Makuria and the Fatimid governer contain a pawn of Rego vis. The two original documents are sources of Rego vis, but it is infused with the Divine. Furthermore, the vis is only produced in years in which the Egyptians do not attack and the Nubian tribute is not in arrears.

pallbearers. Graves are marked purely to show their location, not to identify the occupant. Nubian houses have no windows from which a burial site can be seen, and graveyards do not have roads or paths near them. This reluctance to catch even a cursory glance of a place of interment extends to the numerous ancient monuments of Kush; those unfortunate enough to live close to a pyramid will not look directly at it if they can avoid doing so.

Alodians take this superstitious dread one stage further. They do not even speak of a deceased individual by name, and prefer not to even refer to their deeds. The kingdom has a mortuary society that deals with all aspects of death on the people's behalf, but this irrevocably renders them social pariahs.

Nubian names are generally simple, consisting of a given name and perhaps a patronymic (e.g. Abraam son of Kosma) or toponymic (e.g. Dawud of Dongola). Women tend to use a marital name (e.g. Eionngoka wife of Abraam).

Nubian Names (Male): Abraam, Adama, Anastasios, Athanasios, Chael, Dauti, Dawud. Douddil, Georgios, Iakobi, Iesou, Ioannes, Ioasse, Kosma, Mashshouda, Merkourios, Orinourla, Petros, Pisroel, Tapara, Tirsakouni

Nubian Names (Female): Anthelia, Anna, Eionngoka, Eirene, Ekkir, Genseoua, Iannia, Maria, Mariham, Mena, Petrosinta, Songoja, Sophora, Theodora

The multisyllabic names of the Kushitic people are rarely heard; most Nubians think they sound ridiculous. However, the higher classes of Meroë still occasionally employ these names, which can be found inscribed on various Kushitic monuments in the Meroitic script.

Meroitic Names (Male): Amanikhabale, Aspelta, Atakhebasken, Malewiebamani, Piye, Senkamanisken, Shabaka, Taharqa, Tanwetamai

Meroitic Names (Female): Amanitore, Aqaluqa, Gerarheni, Henuttakhebit, Kasaqa, Pebatjma, Qalhata, Shanakdakhete, Tabiry, Yuterow

A crazed old man has been making clay amulets with the chi-pi-theta cryptogram for many years. He sells them to passers-by, and uses the money to buy used swords from soldiers. He has gathered over six hundred of these swords, each one attached to the outside wall of his house, which has become a local landmark. One day, the characters notice all the swords have gone. If they track down the old man, they will find him hiding swords all over the city, muttering in Aramaic. He thinks that once he has placed all 689 swords in precise locations, he will summon Michael, archangel of the sword, who will cast out all evil from the city. Will his summoning work? Will it actually summon an archangel? Will Michael abide by the same definition of evil as mankind? After all, Sodom and Gomorrah were the last cities he cleansed…

Nubia is overwhelmingly Christian; in fact it is illegal for a subject of either the Makurian or Alodian crown to convert to or profess any other faith.

Christianity

The original evangelism of Nubia was undertaken by rival missionaries; as a result, Nobatia and Alodia were principally Monophysite Christians and Makuria was mostly Melkite. As the power of the Byzantine Melkite Church declined in Egypt, the Monophysite Church became dominant in Nubia, and Makuria was converted.

The Nubian Church is integrated with the Monophysite Coptic Church under the Patriarch of Alexandria. All new bishops are appointed from Alexandria, and many are Egyptians. Unlike the rest of the Coptic Church the Nubian Church uses Greek rather than Coptic as its liturgical language.

Stories involving slaves can be difficult for a troupe, with modern-day attitudes clashing with medieval values. These same tensions are present in Nubia itself, which is a slave-taking nation but believes owning a slave to be abhorrent. Addressing the hypocrisy of the Nubian slave trade through slave, slave-owning, or slave-taking characters can be rewarding if addressed with due care to modern sensibilities.

A Slave Character and His Owner

Players may wish to take on the challenge of playing a slave. This usually means playing a Mythic Aithiops (see later). This is a viable option if the character's owner is another player character or the covenant as a whole: whereas being a slave is an atrocious existence where life and death is dependent on the whim of another, most slave characters owned by another player character have an atypical master who abjures the lash and most severe punitive measures for whatever reason, and cannot or will not sell the player character to another. The character instead may have a lax or permissive master who allows the character a greater freedom than a slave is normally permitted.

Reasons of this sort of relationship include:

• The owner may have inherited the slave from a relative and cannot free him without causing insult;
• The slave might be the latest in a long line of loyal house slaves;
• The slave might have a vital skill that he uses on his master's behalf for more lenient treatment;
• The slave may have sold himself into slavery (or been sold by his parents) in order to avert some terrible fate.
• These characters should take the Favored Slave Flaw.

An Enslaved Character

Players wishing to run stories involving their character's status as a slave should design him or her with the Chattel Slave Flaw. As a Major Story Flaw, this is not suitable for grog characters; individuals with this Flaw take center stage in stories to do with the circumstances of their slavery, and that is not a role given to grogs.

Some examples of how being a slave could generate stories include:

• You have escaped from your owner and are trying to avoid recapture, or find a way home;
• Your family were captured at the same time and you are trying to find them;
• Your master has died, and no one knows about it yet;
• You are involved in criminal activities unbeknownst to your master;
• Your master is a criminal and he forces you to assist him;
• You are a favored slave who attracts the jealousy of your fellows;
• Your master's enemies are trying to get at him through you.

A Free Aithiopian Character

Not all Mythic Aithiopians are slaves, but their appearance immediately sets them apart from the rest of the populace. Free Aithiopians should take either the Outsider or Outcast Social Status Flaw in any saga set outside of the Slavelands. Outcast is suitable for a character who has adopted local customs but is still clearly exotic; whereas Outsider is appropriate for characters who overtly keep to their traditional tribal ways - for example, a character newly arrived from further south. The physical appearance of an Aithiopian character automatically marks him as a slave in any Arab nation, especially Egypt, but without an accompanying Story Flaw this misunderstanding can usually be sorted out.

A free Aithiopian character may have a Story Flaw related to his presence in Nubia. Dependents or a True Love might have been sold into slavery and he is striving to retrieve them. A character with Close Family Ties could strive to keep his clan from the hands of slavers. The character may be a former slave, and now has his previous owner as an Enemy; or he may be conducting a Feud with the slaver who captured him in the first place.

A Slave Owner Character

Unlike European slave owners (such as in the Rhine Tribunal), in Egypt and Nubia it is not necessary for owners of slaves to have a Virtue to represent this; anyone may have a number of slaves suitable to their wealth and status. A Christian slave owner in a Christian kingdom has a Local Reputation at a score of 1, representing the social disapproval that this practice engenders.

A Slaver Character

Characters who are slavers should take the Merchant Social Status Virtue if they are mostly involved in the transport of slaves, or the Mercenary Captain Social Status Virtue if they are captors. Either type of character is likely to be Well-Traveled. Being a slaver lends itself to stories of exploration in an exotic and hostile land, although the ethical dimension of the slave trade should not be glossed over.

A character may be sufficiently opposed to the slave trade to attempt to stop it. Such a character is likely to have the Driven Personality Flaw if he is determined to follow this ambitious course, and appropriate social influence (perhaps through the Temporal Influence or Social Contacts Virtues) would prove very useful. The character could well have the Enemies Flaw to represent the activities of those who oppose him.

To be successful in abolishing slavery, the Baqt would have to be re-negotiated or abandoned altogether. This may be an achievable goal or a hopeless dream, depending on the demands of the saga. Petitioning the Nubian Church to speak out against slavery would be an excellent start in a campaign; and the quid pro quo demanded by the bishops could be the source of many stories.

Note that these Flaws are different from those in Guardians of the Forests (page 102), reflecting a different cultural attitude toward slaves.

Minor Social Status Flaw

You are a slave who has a privileged existence compared to most of your kind. As a possession of your master, you are beholden to his or her will completely, and are only likely to earn your freedom through some exceptional act of service, if ever. Disobedience, on the other hand, can earn you severe punishment. You have no belongings of consequence, except that which is given to you by your master. You probably will never need to worry about where your next meal is coming from, and will be housed in decent accommodation, although this in no way compensates for your status.

Chattel Slave

Major Story and Social Status Flaw You are a slave, and as such have the effects of the Minor Social Status Flaw above; however, you have no special status among your caste and this will be the cause of stories. You should decide upon the source of your tension with your owner when you take this Flaw. Examples are given in a nearby insert. You must also explain how you are able to have regular contact with the other player characters. A likely explanation for this is that you are on loan from your master who is a friend of the other characters, but other explanations may result from the relationship between yourself and your master. Note that this Flaw is suitable for escaped slaves who are being actively pursued; those who have truly escaped their master's influence should be treated like free Aithiopians (and probably have the Outcast Flaw instead).

There are seven episcopal sees in the combined Kingdom of Makuria and Nobatia (at Kalabsha, Premnis, Pakhoras, Sai, Dongola, Shanqir, and Kallama), and another six in Alodia (at Soba, Meroë, Kabushia, Kawa, Sennar, Goz Regeb). The church hierarchy is complex, with many layers and title including bishops (papas), great priests (sorto daoul), priests (sorto), archimandrites, archdeacons, epideacons, deacons, liturgists, and elders (gort). The basic rank is the priest or presbyteros, assigned to a single church. A typical Nubian church is a rectangular building with a flat roof supported by timbers; larger churches may be cruciform or bear one or more domes atop its roof.

Monasticism is a minor part of the Nubian Coptic Church. Most monasteries were founded and are currently populated by Egyptians. There are also unofficial monastic communities called lawra, which have no official recognition.

The archangel Michael is extremely popular throughout the Nubian Church, and figures prominently in invocations, inscriptions, and dedications. A cryptogram of the Greek letters chi-pi-theta is common, based on numerology: this cryptogram represents 689, the numerical equivalent of Michael's name in Greek.

Islam

Under the Baqt, freedom of Nubia from conversion to Islam was guaranteed. With the coming of the Ayyubids, the Baqt has less force, and the city of Pakhoras (see later) now has a mosque, principally for use by Egyptian traders. The Bedouin tribes who threaten the eastern borders, plus the settled Banu al-Kanz (see later) are Muslim; there is also an enclave of Arabs in the city of Soba. Should these populations continue to grow, Islam may become a real presence in Nubia.

Paganism

The ancient Kushitic religion still persists in isolated pockets of Nubia, although paganism is not tolerated by the Nubian Church. The Kushites believed that before creation, the world was covered in water. Then a mound of earth rose out of the water, on top of which Atum the first god was born. From this vantage point — Dju Wa'ab in Makuria (see later) — Atum created the world.

Atum is depicted as an old man, sometimes with a ram's head. The pantheon included many Egyptian gods, but also some uniquely Kushitic ones. Anhur and Menhit were deities of war that Egypt adopted from Kush. Anhur was depicted as a bearded man wearing a kilt and a headdress with four feathers; his weapon was the spear. He was patron of soldiers and the army, and mock battles were held in his honor. Menhit, whose name means 'she who massacres', rained fiery arrows on her enemies. She was depicted with the head of a lioness. Mandulis was the god of the sun, and wore an elaborate headdress of ram's horns, cobras, and plumes surmounted by sun discs. Sometimes he has the body of a hawk with a human head. Dedun was the god of incense, and by association, the god of prosperity and wealth. He was the guardian of the royal dead, and the especial patron of the Kushitic priesthood. Apedemak was perhaps the most important god as the patron of royalty, and of Meroë in particular. He was depicted as a man with four arms and three lion-heads, or occasionally with just a single leonine head, or as a lion killing serpents (an allegory for the triumph of Arqamani over the Napatan priesthood). As well as possessing the regality, strength, and courage of the lion, he also represented truth, light, and fertility. His wife was Amesemi, goddess of protection and the moon.

The Nubian kingdoms grow several crops of sorghum, millet, barley, and dates each year. In Nobatia, most suitable agricultural land is close to the river and requires heavy irrigation; further south, the river valley is more lush and water is less limited. Other crops include lentils, olives, sesame, vines, bananas, wheat, and cotton. As well as being made into a type of bread, sorghum is also used to make mizr, a beer that forms an important part of the diet; dates are also fermented to make an alcoholic drink, and vines yield grapes for wine. Nubians employ an oxen-driven wa-

ter wheel to increase yield due to better irrigation. Sheep, goats, cattle, and pigs are all raised as livestock; of these, pigs provide the bulk of the meat.

Most of the population lives in houses made of sun-dried bricks. Important industries include pottery (particularly in Pakhoras) and weaving (particularly in Dongola). Smaller local industries include leatherworking, metalworking, and the production of palm fiber products such as baskets and mats. Gold is mined in the Red Sea Hills, and emeralds are found in the same location. Cotton provides fiber for textiles, wool comes mainly from camels and goats; both are dyed a wide range of colors — Nubians cultivate indigo and are capable of providing light-fast blues which are the envy of northern nations.

Exports from the Nubian Kingdoms include glass, ivory, ostrich feathers, cattle, emeralds, gold, and (most importantly) slaves. Imports from Egypt include wheat, linen, and wine. There is also trade with the Ethiopians to the south and east.

Also styled "The Lord of the Mountain," the eparch of Nobatia has supplanted its king. He is appointed directly by the King of Makuria and has judicial and financial control of the territory. He also can found churches and celebrate Mass. Each eparch is anointed the king of Dotawo, a vassal kingdom of Makuria centered at Ado; this appointment serves to support the eparch financially. A key role of the eparch is to conduct relations with Muslim Egypt, and goods destined for the king of Makuria are delivered into the hands of the eparch. The eparch is responsible for delivering the slave tribute of the Baqt to Egyptian authorities, or, as has been more common in recent years, making excuses for its failure to arrive.

The emblem of the eparch's office is a distinctive double-horned headdress worn at all formal occasions; his agents throughout the kingdom bear this symbol embossed on an iron badge.

Transport

The suitability of the Nile for transport of goods and people varies along its length. While downstream travel is always possible by boat, upstream movement is more limited. Boats under sail cannot travel upstream between Dongola to Abu Hamad, where the north-east course of the river is directly against the prevailing south-westerly wind. The cataracts are passable under sail only during high water. Owing to these problems, land transport by camel and donkey is an important alternative.

The Slave Trade

The principle export of all the Nubian kingdoms is slaves. The source of their slaves is a vast expanse of pasture land to the south and west of Alodia, where there are plenty of peaceful pastoralist societies with no central organization. This region is called the Slavelands by Nubians. The slavers trek many hundreds of miles to procure slaves and their cattle, and then transport them north to Egypt. Details of these populations can be found later in this chapter.

Some might find it unusual that the Christian kingdoms of Nubia promote the taking and trading of slaves, all the while abhorring the practice of keeping slaves themselves. Most of the bishops consider slavery to be unbecoming of Christians, but they do not exert their substantial political power to put an end to it. The reasons are many and varied, but the strongest argument is the Baqt. This treaty — unique among Christian relations with Islam — has protected Nubia from invasion and forced conversion, while the Christian kingdoms of North Africa, Sicily, and Iberia have succumbed. Since the invasion of 1172, this argument in favor of slavery has become weaker, but it is still the dominant one. However, this argument conveniently forgets that the Baqt quota constitutes only a third of the total number of slaves passing through Nubia each year; the rest have nothing to do with peace and everything to do with profit. Promoters of slavery are fond of highlighting the savagery of the captives: some, they say, are barely better than animals, lacking language or any sense of morals. A less racist but equally condescending argument is that slavery actually offers them a better life than living in constant fear for one's life from the wild beasts and cannibalistic humans that haunt the Slavelands.

The frequent defaulting on the Baqt by Makuria and Alodia is used to deflect arguments on the immorality of slavery. However, failure to pay the Baqt only rarely has anything to do with the conscience of the kings and their councilors. Most often it is down to the refusal of the governments to pay the exorbitant prices demanded by the slavers, and a lack of political will to attempt to regulate the trade. There are few opportunities to undercut the slavers, who have centuries of experience of the Slavelands, its perils and its geography. Occasionally it is a genuine dearth of slaves that leads to a default; famine and disease both haunt the Slavelands. More rarely, an entire expedition is lost, never to be seen again

Governmental support of the slave trade has little impact on the average Nubian. Owning slaves is legal but not acceptable in any of the Nubian kingdoms. The slavers are rarely even seen (with or without their commodity), since slaves are transported past all major cities on the Nile by using the Darb al-Arba'in, a road stretching from the Slavelands to the remote trading town of Uri, and on to the slave markets in Egypt. It is easy for the Nubians to pretend that the slave trade does not exist at all.