The study of a story of an Ethiopian monk from the 16th century gives an overview of the old Dongola

A recent study by researchers, Dr. Dorota Dzierzbicka and Dr. Daria Elagina, has re -examined and translated a rare story of the first hand of an Ethiopian monk of the 16th century by visiting Old Dongola, in Sudan.

The work is published in the journal Azanie: archaeological research in Africa.

The colophon was transcribed and translated for the first time in Latin in the 1930s after being accommodated at the Vatican library for centuries.

However, he did not come to the public before the 1990s, when Ceccarelli-Morolli brought him to the attention of the scholars of Nubian studies, showing that Dongola had already become a community dominated by Muslims in the 16th century.

However, the actual extent of the colophon contained was much greater, but it was only done recently.

This was probably due to the difficulty of accessing and understanding the document, said Dr. Dzierzbicka and Dr. Elagina. “It is not surprising that the importance of the colophon for economic and social history was largely unnoticed so far. The edition of the 1930s and the Latin translation of the Colophon were difficult to access, and the comment was very limited.

“In addition, since the text is in Ethiopic, it has been easily neglected by researchers in Nubian studies, who generally work with sources in Greek, Coptic, old Nubian and Arabic.

“On the other hand, the framework he describes is very far from Ethiopia, placing it outside the scope of the interest of Ethiopian studies. Such a particular source requires an effort of interdisciplinary collaboration to fully assess its value.”

The text follows a series of religious hymns (Malkǝ ‘) to Jesus Christ and the Virgin Mary written by the Ethiopian monk of the 16th century Takla’ Alfā during his stay in Dongola.

In this document, Takla ‘Alfā provides an important context for recent archaeological excavations by the ERC STG “UMMA” project.

“Umma, which means” community “in Arabic, is an acronym of” urban metamorphosis of the community of a medieval African capital “. The project … was led to Dongola in 2018-2024 by a team from the Polish Mediterranean archeology center of the University of Warsaw, led by Artur Obłuski.

“Domestic assemblies are revealing of a rather egalitarian society, an exception being a very large building, the so-called Maison du Mekk, or King, which was clearly inhabited by members of the elite. Things found in silk balls, muskets, coins and other elements of prestige. It is still important, among the discoveries of the UMMA project, letters, documents, documents Amulets written in the Arabs.

“The fact that many of these texts came from the Maison du Mekk links them to the elites, and one of them was even written by a king of Dongola named Qashqash or Queshqush. The presence of Arabic writing, as well as the virtual disappearance of pigs in the archaeological file, are important indications of the transition to Islam, Dr Dzierzbick and Dr. Elagina and Dr. Elagina and Dr. Elabora.

The mention by takla ‘alfā of the merchants of “gelaba” in Dongola. This reference represents the first known use of this term in sources concerning Sudan, repelling the documented presence of this merchant class for more than a century.

According to Dr. Dzierzbicka and Dr. Elagina, Gelaba “is a loan word for Arabic, which means long -distance traders, and it is in fact the first known mention of this term in our sources concerning Sudan. During the later centuries, Gelaba was very often mentioned as caravan operators on a network of roads linking the regions of these modern days, Mention.

Not only does this reveal a significantly earlier emergence of this merchant class than we thought before, but it also provides a context when Dongola has become an important shopping center.

This, in turn, gives an overview of some of the imported products found during archaeological excavations, as explained by Dr. Dzierzbicka and Dr. Elagina, “archaeological discoveries show a stable net of products imported into the city, mainly from Egypt or by Egypt, in particular in the 17th and 18th centuries.

The mention of “takla” alfā de Gélaba and the obvious activity on the long distance path that he wanted to follow from Ethiopia, in Dongola, Egypt and Jerusalem, gives a context to the underside found during the excavations. On

In addition, according to the story of Takla ‘Alfā, all the inhabitants of Dongola have already been Islamized in 1596, much earlier than expected before other learned sources.

The Takla ‘Alfā account offers a rare preview of Dongola from the 16th century and completed recent archaeological excavations. It provides a first -hand account detailing how Dongola was already entirely Muslim at the beginning of the 16th century, as well as a flourishing warehouse.

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