Dotawo
Dotawo was a Nubian , Christian kingdom of the high Middle Ages in what is now southern Egypt and neighboring Sudan .
Dotawo was at the height of the 2nd Nile cataract in the area of the first Christian-Nubian empire Nobatia , which was added to the southern empire of Makuria at the end of the 7th century . Most of the settlements were flooded by Lake Nasser from the mid-1960s . Dotawo is not mentioned in Arabic sources, which are otherwise the most important pieces of information on Nubian history, but this kingdom appears in some contemporary documents and in graffiti . Most of the sources come from Qasr Ibrim , where the empire is first listed in the 12th century.
The capital was probably Jebel Adda , a mountain on the east bank of the Nile, on which the modern Nubian village Abahuda (Abu Hoda) was located. The place probably corresponds to the Daw mentioned in Arabic sources. In fact, large building complexes were found there, possibly even representing the palace of the kings of Dotawo.
The history of Nubia in the High Middle Ages is still uncertain. Old Dunqula was abandoned as the capital of Makuria in 1365-1366 , and it can be assumed that the capital was moved from there to Mount Adda.
It can be seen from many sources that the kingdom of Makuria had various vassal kingdoms under it. Dotawo was apparently one of these. In any case, in the 14th century Makuria seems to have completely collapsed, and the remainder of the state established itself near Mount Adda, or at least Dotawo was the only province that still survived. It was one of the last Christian empires in Nubia. The last known Christian community was in Kulubnarti , a small island in the Nile. In 1518 a "Lord of Nubia" is mentioned as an enemy of the Muslims , possibly referring to the King of Dotawo. Around 1560 Nubia was in Turkish hands until the 3rd cataract , so that Dotawo has apparently been destroyed in the meantime.
See also
literature
- Derek A. Welsby: The Mediaval Kingdoms of Nubia. London 2002; ISBN 0-7141-1947-4 ; Pp. 250-254