kingdom · Egypt, North Africa and Sudan
Nobadia
Origins
As the Kushite Empire of Meroë collapsed in the 4th century, the Noubades (Nobatae), a people settled in Lower Nubia, formed a kingdom between the First and Third Cataracts. Its early rulers, known archaeologically as the Ballana culture, were buried in great tumuli at Ballana and Qustul with silver crowns, horses and servants.
Rule and society
Nobadia's kings received Roman subsidies to guard the frontier and fought the Blemmyes; King Silko, in a Greek inscription at Kalabsha, boasted of driving them from the Nile valley in the 5th century. The capital was Faras (Pachoras). Around 543 a Miaphysite mission led by the priest Julian, backed by Empress Theodora, converted the court, and churches, Coptic and Greek literacy followed.
Decline and legacy
By around 700 Nobadia was united with Makuria, probably under King Merkurios, but kept its own governor, the eparch of Nobadia. Faras became a great bishopric whose cathedral paintings are now in Warsaw and Khartoum.
Lineage
On the connections map
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- Blemmyes was conquered by Nobadia450 CE – 550 CE
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Cite this page
- APA
- The Epoch Institute. (2026). Nobadia. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/nobadia
- MLA
- “Nobadia.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/nobadia. Accessed .
- Chicago
- The Epoch Institute. “Nobadia.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/nobadia.
- Harvard
- The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Nobadia’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/nobadia (Accessed: ).
Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻