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

historian to the Emperor Justinian. Besides the account which Procopius gave of the invitation to the Nobadae to occupy Lower Nubia, he also related details of the religious beliefs of the Blemmyes and Nobadae, particularly the special position of Philae in their religious life. Procopius stated that both groups worshipped the same gods as the Greeks but that they also worshipped Isis and Osiris and had a particular reverence for Priapus. Furthermore, Procopius recorded that the Blemmyes made human sacrifices to the sun, an intriguing point, given the evidence for sacrifice at Qustul and Ballana (Procopius, trans. Dewing 1914, 189).

The historical sources should be viewed with more caution than they perhaps have been previously. In 1965 Adams argued against not only the continued reliance on these sources but also the attempt to identify material culture with either the Blemmyes or the Nobadae as an endeavour that “has simmered for years without leading to any fruitful results” (Adams 1965, 161). Forty years later, his objection is still a pertinent point. The attempt to “prove” the existence and geographical location of either the Blemmyes or the Nobadae via classical sources can be regarded with scepticism, not only because of the lack of firsthand knowledge of many of the writers, but also because it was rare for any of them to have visited the places or peoples that they discussed. The nomenclature of Nobadae and Blemmye that recurs in the sources has caused Nubiologists to endeavour to find these two tribes. Yet, how fruitful is this enquiry? If we could truly pinpoint with certainty the location of either or both of these groups, would this bring us significantly closer to a better understanding of who the X-Group were? Furthermore, the rather generic Blemmyes, Nobadae, and X-Group terms may mask a more complex sociopolitical situation in Nubia at this time.

Settlement Evidence: Construction in Lower Nubia

The lack of settlement evidence—in comparison to the abundance of mortuary evidence during all periods of Nubian ancient history—remains an unfortunate problem in Nubian studies. This dearth restricts the ability of the archaeologist to reconstruct important aspects of subsistence