The Nubia region
A Nubian state has long ceased to exist, but Nubia played an important role in antiquity - various Nubian kingdoms flourished along the central reaches of the Nile, at times the Nubians even ruled parts of Egypt, and they used their own script, derived from the greek and coptic alphabet.
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In ancient times, Nubia was considered to be the interface between the Mediterranean and sub-Saharan Africa, and it still plays this role today.
However, the Nubian culture is seriously threatened.
Nubia's old gods were first replaced by Christianity, then by Islam, the old script was replaced by Arabic, the last Nubian speakers live in two countries: in southern Egypt and northern Sudan, mainly along the Nile.
No governorate in Egypt, no federal state in Sudan has Nubia in its name.
And when Lake Nasser was dammed in the 1960s, much of the Nubian heritage sank into the water.
After all, the most important place of worship, the Temple of Abu Simbel, was demolished and rebuilt 64 meters higher.
Source: WORLD infographic
Most of the world's pyramids are in Sudan
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Has Egypt the most pyramids in the world?
Not correct!
In northern Sudan, in ancient Nubia, there are between 200 and 255 of these objects, depending on the source - and thus almost twice as many as in ancient Egypt.
The Nubians looked at the architectural style of their northern neighbors, but built their pyramids with a steeper angle of inclination.
Large pyramids served as burial sites for Nubian rulers, while higher officials were buried in smaller ones.
Most of the Sudanese pyramids stand in Meroe, the old capital of the kingdom of Kush, many as ruins, some have been rebuilt.
They have been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2011.
The Nubians at Asterix and Obelix
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Asterix and Obelix have visited the Goths and the Swiss, the British and the Spaniards - a separate Asterix volume is dedicated to each of their trips to these peoples.
Unfortunately, the Nubians don't get that prominent, but at least the North African people play a supporting role in two comics.
Namely in “Asterix and Cleopatra” (Volume 2), where the Egyptian ruler visits her palace construction site in a throne litter that is dragged by dark-skinned Nubians - an indication that the ancient Egyptians temporarily abused the Nubians as slaves.
But there were also better times: Nubian kings even sat on the pharaoh's throne themselves, as the 25th dynasty they ruled from around 750 BC.
Large parts of Egypt.
The Nubians who have to drag Cleopatra's throne do not look exactly happy
Source: © 2021 LES EDITIONS ALBERT RENE / GOSCINNY - UDERZO
Volume 37 (“Asterix in Italy”) features Nubians for the second time, this time much more advantageous: In the comic, the princesses Etepetete and Rakete travel from the distant kingdom of Kush to Italy in a cart pulled by zebras to visit a multinational - Participate in car races.
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Kush is the ancient Egyptian word for Nubia.
Not only are the Nubians the only women taking part in the competition, they are also so fast-paced and beautiful that Obelix has a crush on them.
Of course, the Gauls win the race against the Roman favorites, but in the end Asterix generously passed the trophy on to “our friends from the land of Kush”.
So much affection gives hope - for a new Asterix band, which is happy to play mostly in Nubia.
A god with a lion's head
The Nubian lion - with a live weight of up to 250 kilos, the largest subspecies of the big cat - was exterminated in the 18th century.
In ancient times it was still widespread and feared in Nubia.
Why he made a career in the Nubian gods: as the god of war and fertility, Apedemak.
It has a human body, but the head of a lion and sometimes the bottom of a snake.
Reliefs have been preserved on various temple ruins, for example in Naga in what is now Sudan.
This relief of the god of war and fertility, Apedemak, can be seen in Naga in Sudan
Source: De Agostini via Getty Images
Muslims pushed the Christians back
Nubia was shaped by Christianity from ancient times to the Middle Ages.
The country on the Nile was missioned first by emissaries from the Byzantine Empire, later by Egyptian Copts.
Through the Muslim campaigns, Christianity was pushed back for centuries, and by the middle of the 16th century all of Nubia was Islamized.
Hundreds of once magnificent churches and monasteries were destroyed or fell into disrepair.
In the 1960s, Polish archaeologists excavated Faras Cathedral (in the north of what is now Sudan) before the Nasser Reservoir was flooded.
The church from the 9th century was richly decorated with wall paintings, the fresco of St. Anne is now exhibited in the National Museum in Warsaw and adorned a Polish postage stamp in 1971.
In 1971 the fresco of St. Anne was shown on a Polish postage stamp
Source: mauritius images / Myron Standret / Alamy
The Nile Perch is one of the largest fish in Africa
While the European perch rarely weighs more than a kilogram, its relatives in the Nile weigh more than 150 kilograms.
The Nile perch, one of the largest fish species in Africa, is a sought-after food fish that likes to cavort in the depths of Lake Nasser, whose southern, Sudanese part is called Lake Nubia.
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In Egypt and Sudan, thousands live from fishing.
On the Egyptian side, Nile perch boat safaris are also offered for tourists, where one has a hundred pounder on a fish hook.
A man is dragging an 80 kilogram Nile perch on his shoulder
Source: AFP via Getty Images
Nubian language as an advantage in war
900,000 people still speak Nobiin, Kenzi, Dongolawi and Midob, one of the Nubian languages and dialects.
They go back to Old Nubian and are used in Northern Sudan and Southern Egypt - however, Arabic is the official and colloquial language in both countries.
In the 1973 Yom Kippur War, the Egyptian army used Nubian-speaking soldiers as radio operators, who were bugged but not understood by the Israelis.
Quirky, record-breaking, typical: you can find more parts of our regional geography series here.