Historical Dictionary of Ancient and Medieval Nubia

By (author) Richard A. Lobban

Publication date:

09 December 2003

Length of book:

560 pages

Publisher

Scarecrow Press

ISBN-13: 9780810847842

The Historical Dictionary of Ancient and Medieval Nubia covers the period from the Paleolithic, all the periods of ancient Nubia (Predynastic, Kerma, Dynasty XXV, Napatan, Meroitic, Post-Meroitic) and to the end of medieval Christianity in Nubia (Sudan). This resource focuses on Nubian history through a Nubian perspective, rather than on the more common Egypto-centrism perspective, and the coverage is based on the latest and best archaeological and epigraphic evidence.

Newly created maps of the general area and its specific regions and place names and a photospread showing important related features of the region are included. A detailed chronology provides a timeline of historical events, and an introductory narrative shapes the overall history and leads to the main body of the work in the form of a cross-referenced dictionary. The descriptive entries cover the main features of the region in the various periods that are key not only to Nubian events, but also to the important interactions they had with Egypt to the north. Nine appendices and an extensive bibliography conclude this work.

Lobban has been teaching Nubian studies in undergraduate classrooms for thirty years, and this book is a product of his hands-on experiences as well as extensive anthropological fieldwork and travel in Sudanese and Egyptian Nubia.

Part 1 Editor's Forewrod
Part 2 Acknowledgments
Part 3 Preface
Part 4 Spelling and Alphabetical Conventions and Abbreviations
Part 5 Maps
Part 6 Chronology
Part 7 Introduction
Part 8 Illustrations
Part 9 THE DICTIONARY
Part 10 Appendix
Chapter 11 I. Main Language Groups Associated with Ancient Nubia
Chapter 12 II. New Kingdom Viceroys of Nubia
Chapter 13 III. Proposed Reconstruction of Kinship in the 25th Dynasty
Chapter 14 IV. 25th Dynasty Dynamics
Chapter 15 V. Near Eastern Dynasties in the Ninth to Seventh Centuries BCE
Chapter 16 VI. The Salvage of Ancient Nubian Temples in Egypt
Chapter 17 VII. The Salvage of Ancient Nubian Temples in Sudan
Chapter 18 VIII. Implications of the High Dam at Aswan
Chapter 19 IX. Table of Meroitic Hieroglyphs and Cursive
Part 20 Bibliography
Chapter 21 Introduction
Chapter 22 I. General or Survey References
Chapter 23 II. Bibliographies
Chapter 24 III. Prehistoric and Early Neolithic Times
Chapter 25 IV. A-Group, C-Group, and Relations with Dynastic Egypt
Chapter 26 V. Kerma (Yam)
Chapter 27 VI. 25th Dynasty and Early Napatan Times
Chapter 28 VII. Late Napatan and Meroitic Times
Chapter 29 VIII. Greco-Roman Times
Chapter 30 IX. Post-Meroitic Times
Chapter 31 X. Christian and Medieval Nubia
Chapter 32 XI. Early Travelers
Chapter 33 XII. Arabic Sources
Chapter 34 XIII. M.A. Theses, Ph.D. Dissertations, and Related Publications
Chapter 35 XIV. Children's and Specialty Books and Films
Chapter 36 XV. Modern Nubian Salvage and Relocation (Low Dam and High Dam)
Chapter 37 XVI. Museums and Archives
Chapter 38 XVII. Geology of Nubia and Sudan
Chapter 39 XVIII. Language
Chapter 40 XIX. Modern Nubian Region Ethnography
Part 41 About the Author

...one of the dictionary's strengths is the author's insight, present throughout. Entries exhibit a fair amount of interpretation, many with qualifiers such as 'was presumed to be semi-sedentary' or 'may or may not have been the true lineal descendant of', which gives a broader indication of the state of Nubian studies. By such phrasing the reader is made aware of debated issues and in many cases on which side the author stands....Ancient and Medieval Nubia will serve both students and scholars, particularly those who are not Nubian specialists.