The Archaeology of Late Antique Sudan: Aesthetics and Identity i ...

Chapter 1

Historical and
Cultural Background

Introduction

My first task is to place the cemeteries of Qustul and Ballana into a broad historical and cultural context. Our knowledge of the situation in Lower Nubia between the fourth and sixth centuries AD is aided by the survival of written records and archaeological evidence, both of which can be mobilised to provide the most rounded picture of the period that is available to us. Together, this evidence provides us with the backdrop for the development of the royal cemeteries. An explanation of the dating of the Qustul and Ballana tombs clarifies the internal chronological structure of the cemeteries and will ultimately enable changes to be placed within a diachronic perspective.

Literary Evidence for the Blemmyes and Nobadae

The first centuries AD in Northeast Africa saw the area divided under the control of two major powers. A powerful, centralised Sudanese state was