DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.26282#0147
Pachoras: The Cathedrals of Aetios, Paulos and Petros
1982; Godlewski 1995). When he died, he was
buried together with the Arab and Coptic versions
of his testimonial letter, in the northern entrance
to the crypt of the Cathedral at Qasr Ibrim
(Plumley 1975: 3). Some very important changes
must have obviously taken place at Pachoras to
justify such a decision.
The bishop Timotheos was a priest of the
church of the Virgin Mary at Pachoras and, to
believe the Coptic testimonial, was called on to be
the superior of the monastery and bishop of the
eparchy. The letter was addressed to the
inhabitants of Pachoras and all of Nubia.
Revisions were made in the Arab text, which
was addressed to the residents of Abachiras and
Ibrim with the latter apparently being added at
the last minute above the name of Abachiras,
perhaps when the patriarchate in Cairo was
advised of developments in Nubia. We can only
surmise what was the actual, direct cause of the
changes in the Arabic text. In all probability, it
was related to the conflict between the Bedouin
tribes of Bani Jaad and Akarima and the Nubians,
which heated up after the abandonment of
Dongola in the 1360s and the withdrawal of the
royal court, ridden with internal strife, to North
Nubia (OSN 698-703). The situation had to be
sufficiently unstable and dangerous for Egypt, if
the Sultan A1 Ashraf Shabaan decided to inter-
vene, sending troops in aid of the Nubian king
residing at Qasr Ibrim at a moment when the
Nubians were already besieged by the Bedouins at
Daw. Mameluke help was sufficiently effective to
recover control of the situation and to overcome
the Bani Jaad and Akarima soldiers, driving out
the Bedouins to territories lying south of Meinarti
and presumably south of Batn el Hagar. In the
late 1360s, the Nubian kingdom was reduced to
the northern province of Nobadia with the capital
at Daw. The Nubian king resided at Daw, while
the eparch had his residence at Qasr Ibrim.
During a Bedouin raid that reached Daw,
Pachoras was probably besieged and taken, in
consequence of which the settlement was prob-
ably deserted to some extent and went into
decline. The fast accumulation of sand not only
inside the fortifications, as indicated clearly by
the last rebuilding of the cathedral, but also in the
arable fields, must have discouraged the local
inhabitants from returning to their deserted
homes. The Rivergate Church appears to be the
only structure with any trace of use in the end of
the 14th century (Griffith 1926: 78-79; Martens-
Czarnecka 1992; Godlewski 1995.3: 60) when all
Fig. 135. Late Cathedral. Southeastern part of the cathedral during excavation, from the southeast
136
PAM Supplement Series 1
1982; Godlewski 1995). When he died, he was
buried together with the Arab and Coptic versions
of his testimonial letter, in the northern entrance
to the crypt of the Cathedral at Qasr Ibrim
(Plumley 1975: 3). Some very important changes
must have obviously taken place at Pachoras to
justify such a decision.
The bishop Timotheos was a priest of the
church of the Virgin Mary at Pachoras and, to
believe the Coptic testimonial, was called on to be
the superior of the monastery and bishop of the
eparchy. The letter was addressed to the
inhabitants of Pachoras and all of Nubia.
Revisions were made in the Arab text, which
was addressed to the residents of Abachiras and
Ibrim with the latter apparently being added at
the last minute above the name of Abachiras,
perhaps when the patriarchate in Cairo was
advised of developments in Nubia. We can only
surmise what was the actual, direct cause of the
changes in the Arabic text. In all probability, it
was related to the conflict between the Bedouin
tribes of Bani Jaad and Akarima and the Nubians,
which heated up after the abandonment of
Dongola in the 1360s and the withdrawal of the
royal court, ridden with internal strife, to North
Nubia (OSN 698-703). The situation had to be
sufficiently unstable and dangerous for Egypt, if
the Sultan A1 Ashraf Shabaan decided to inter-
vene, sending troops in aid of the Nubian king
residing at Qasr Ibrim at a moment when the
Nubians were already besieged by the Bedouins at
Daw. Mameluke help was sufficiently effective to
recover control of the situation and to overcome
the Bani Jaad and Akarima soldiers, driving out
the Bedouins to territories lying south of Meinarti
and presumably south of Batn el Hagar. In the
late 1360s, the Nubian kingdom was reduced to
the northern province of Nobadia with the capital
at Daw. The Nubian king resided at Daw, while
the eparch had his residence at Qasr Ibrim.
During a Bedouin raid that reached Daw,
Pachoras was probably besieged and taken, in
consequence of which the settlement was prob-
ably deserted to some extent and went into
decline. The fast accumulation of sand not only
inside the fortifications, as indicated clearly by
the last rebuilding of the cathedral, but also in the
arable fields, must have discouraged the local
inhabitants from returning to their deserted
homes. The Rivergate Church appears to be the
only structure with any trace of use in the end of
the 14th century (Griffith 1926: 78-79; Martens-
Czarnecka 1992; Godlewski 1995.3: 60) when all
Fig. 135. Late Cathedral. Southeastern part of the cathedral during excavation, from the southeast
136
PAM Supplement Series 1