Semamun

Semamun was a Nubian king who ruled the kingdom of Makuria from about 1286 to 1287/1288, from 1288 to 1289, and from 1290 to about 1295 .

Semamun is best known through the Arab historian al-Zahir , who reports that the king of al-Abwab complained about the ruler of Makuria. This gave the Sultan Qalawun in Egypt a good excuse to attack Makuria. Two armies were moving towards Nubia. The king, who was ruling in Alt Dunqula , the capital of Makuria, at that time then ordered the country to be evacuated. Semamun concentrated his own forces near the capital, but was defeated by Izz ad-Din, the emir who led one of the enemy armies. Semamun fled and Izz ed-Din put the son of a sister of Semamun on the throne in Old Dunqula.

When the Egyptian armies withdrew, Semamun came back to Old Dunqula and drove his nephew and ascended the throne again. A new army was then sent to Cairo , which left the city in October 1289. This came back to Old Dunqula, but Semamun fled again to the south, where the Egyptians could not follow. Semamun sought protection in the kingdom of al-Abwab, while his court in Alt Dunqula surrendered and handed over the royal insignia to the Muslims. A new king was crowned in the city and a small garrison was stationed, but as soon as the main Muslim forces were back in Cairo, Semamun appeared in 1290, cruelly executed the shadow king and was able to ascend the throne again. Semamun now wrote a letter to the Sultan and offered him presents. In the meantime, he was dealing with other problems and left Semamun alone. Semamun disappears into the darkness of history. In 1304, Ayay, a new king in Makuria, is attested.

See also

• List of the Nubian kings

literature

• Derek A. Welsby : The Medieval Kingdoms of Nubia. London 2002, ISBN 0-7141-1947-4 , pp. 245-46.