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year: 2020
isbn: 9789042943797
e-isbn: 9789042943803
pages: XVI-619 p. + 143 fig.
A Late Christian Pilgrimage Centre in Nubia
The Evidence of Wall Inscriptions in the Upper Church at Banganarti
Summary:
The book is a publication of nearly one thousand wall inscriptions
preserved in the so-called Upper Church at Banganarti (Sudanese Nubia),
discovered by a Polish expedition between 2001 and 2006. In overwhelming
majority, the inscriptions are mementos left by people who visited this
cult place to pay homage to its patron, Archangel Raphael, and to ask him
or God through his intermediary for various benefactions. Written in
either Greek or Old Nubian, and frequently displaying a sophisticated
graphic and literary form, they cast an interesting light on different
aspects of social, cultural, and religious life of the Christian Nubian
Kingdom of Makuria towards the end of its existence (twelfth-fourteenth
centuries). The catalogue of inscriptions is complemented by a study
addressing general questions provoked by the texts. The book is richly
illustrated with plans, photographs and drawings.