Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean (18.2006(2008))

BANGANARTI

SUDAN

Nubian names (Akshokouda, Marinkouda,
Martyrophorou, Phorou). One name is of
Biblical origin (David), one is most
probably Greek (Adelph{—}) (Adelphios ?,
for an inscription containing this name, see
also below), one Arabic (Ali) (see below),
and one of unknown origin (Promesa). As
for functionaries, we have two clerics of the
Great Jesus Church,5 and another ec-
clesiastic connected with the Great Jesus
Church.6 One man, also an ecclesiastic,
apparently a priest in a Church of Mary,
followed a splendid civil career, which
included the functions of epistolary scribe
(έπιστολογράφος), a court notary (?)
(νοτάριος ζητών), and thegna of the City
( = Dongola). He must have been quite self-
confident for he calls himself a marvel
(θαύμα) and order (τάξις), and boasts that
he wisely exercises power over people. The
word thegna also occurs in another
inscription, but the text is so badly
preserved that the exact meaning of the
word under consideration, either “village
/town official” or “son”, escapes us (see
Lajtar 2006: 94-98). Two of the persons
occurring in the inscriptions were owners of
churches according to a pattern well
attested for Christian Nubia for the period
from the 11th century onwards (Lajtar, van
der Vliet 1998: 35-53).
Let me present in greater detail two of
the inscriptions from the Upper Church
discovered this season. The first is a two-line
inscription incised on the southern face of

the first pillar from the south, 1.65 m above
the floor. It reads: aio<|> | \xi [Fig. 1}. This is
neither in Greek nor in Old Nubian, but
apparently in Arabic. The word Aio<t>
probably transcribes the Arabic diof -
“guests” (plural of def = “guest”), and ali
must be the Arabic personal name Ali. I do
not know why the personal name in
singular is connected with the substantive
in plural. This is perhaps a mistake of the
writer, undoubtedly a Nubian, rooted in his
imperfect knowledge of Arabic. Alter-
natively, one can suppose that the
inscription is incomplete, at least one more
name having been omitted after Ali.
The “guest Ali” mentioned in this
inscription was in all likelihood a Muslim.
This is suggested by his name, the language
of the inscription and, last but not least, the
lack of a cross at the beginning of the text.
This shows that the Christian pilgrimage
center at Banganarti drew visitors from all
of Nubian society, which was being steadily
Islamized at the time that the inscription
was written.
To the right of the inscription, there is
a drawing showing a man clad in a skirt
walking to the right. The arms of the man
are outstretched. He holds a stick in his left
hand and has a bag hanging over his left
forearm. The stick and the bag suggest that
we are dealing with the representation of
a pilgrim. Perhaps this is a representation of
the “guest Ali” who is mentioned in the
inscription. Assuming Bogdan Zurawski is

5 Both of them are presented in the same manner as Ί(ησοΰ)ς μέγ(ας) timik(asoc) κληρικού . The reading of the
abbreviated word timik( ) as τΐΜΐκ(λβοο) is based on other Nubian attestations of this word, especially in the list of
bishops of Faras, which mentions έπίοκ(οπος) Ίώσηφ tihhkasoc; cf. Jakobielski 1972: 194, line [26]. The word
itself, TiMiKAeoo (τίΜίικλβοο), is a source of problems. It is either a toponym, here referring to the place where the
church of Jesus was situated, or an epithet. The first possibility is more probable to my mind. The similarity of the
men's presentation, considered together with the form of the prayers, is yet another proof for the inscriptions on the
supports of the western portico being closely related.
6 The name of his function has not been preserved. There is no way of telling whether the Great Jesus Church in which
he held his function is identical with the church of the two clerics.

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