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

Nobatae appear to have joined forces in their attacks on Egypt. Appion, Bishop of Syene, appealed to Theodosius II for protection against them (FHN 1998, 1139–1140). This is the first time that the Nobadae are mentioned in this area by a contemporary source (Updegraff 1978, 110). The Abbot Shenute (c. AD 383–451) also complained about an extended six-month attack by the Blemmyes and Nobatae on the town of Sohag (Vantini 1970, 51). Writing in the late fourth century, Epiphanius mentioned that the Blemmyes held territory, as well as emerald mines, around Kalabsha. A further group, the Anouba, are recorded in the late- fourth-century Historia Monarchum, which placed them to the east and west of Aswan (Rose 1992, 19). It was under Maximinus that decisive action against Blemmyan and Nobatae raids was taken, the result of which was a peace treaty sealed at Philae in AD 453. The terms of the treaty forced the Blemmyes and Nobatae to release Roman prisoners, return animals that had been captured, and pay compensation “for those which had been eaten” (Blockley, trans. of Priscus 1983, 323). Furthermore, the Nubians were required to hand over royal children to the Romans as hostages. In return, the Blemmyes and Nobatae were to be permitted continued access to the Philae temples and the statue of Isis. This concession to the Nubian tribes is significant, given the closure of pagan temples from AD 389, following the declaration of Christianity as the official religion of the empire in AD 312. The treaty of AD 453, however, did not hold, and on the death of Maximinus, the hostages were rescued and raiding commenced once more. The final recorded raid into Egypt was a joint attack by both groups on Ombos, in response to the final closure of the Philae temples by Justinian between AD 535 and AD 538 (Blockley, trans. of Priscus 1983).

As Updegraff has noted, given this picture of Blemmyan and, increasingly, Nobadae hostility, and the dangerous nature of life in southern Egypt and Lower Nubia at this time, it is ever more remarkable that the historian Olympiodorus of Thebes met, and took with the Blemmyes, a journey of more than five days to Talmis in around AD 423 (Updegraff 1978, 111–112). Olympiodorus was one of the few classical writers to have actually travelled into Nubia, to the area around the First Cataract.