Monday, 28 October 2024

Kingdom of the Blemmyes (c.600 BCE - 8th century AD)

The Blemmyes were an ancient people of the Eastern Desert, first mentioned in the 7th century BC and active until the 8th century AD. By the 4th century, they occupied Lower Nubia 🌍, forming a kingdom known from inscriptions in the temple of Isis at Philae. They are often linked to the X-Group culture of Late Antiquity and are considered ancestors of the Beja people, who have lived in the region since the Middle Ages.

Kings:

The Blemmyes kings had the power to levy taxes and grant exemptions as well as authority over the territory. From the historical record, the following Blemmye kings are known:

▪ Tamal (early 4th or 5th century)

▪ Isemne

▪ Degou

▪ Phonen (c. 450)

▪ Pokatimne

▪ Kharakhen

▪ Barakhia

Culture and Architecture

The Blemmyes occupied a considerable region in what is modern day Sudan. There were several important cities such as Faras, Kalabsha, Ballana, and Aniba. All were fortified with walls and towers of a mixture of Egyptian, Hellenic, Roman, and Nubian elements.

Kalabsha would serve as the capital of the Blemmyes. The Blemmyes culture was also influenced by the Meroitic culture, and their religion was centered in the temples of Kalabsha and Philae. The former edifice was a huge local architectural masterpiece, where a solar, lion-like divinity named Mandulis was worshipped. Philae was a place of mass pilgrimage, with temples to Isis, Mandulis, and Anhur. It was where the Roman Emperors Augustusand Trajan made many contributions with new temples, plazas, and monumental works.

Religion

Most of our information on Blemmye religious practices comes from inscriptions in the temples of Philae and Kalabsha, and from Roman and Egyptian accounts of the worship of Isis at Philae. Mandulis was worshipped at Kalabsha. Additional cult societies were dedicated to the gods Abene, Amati, and Khopan. According to Procopius, the Blemmyes also worshipped Osiris and Priapus. Procopius also alleges that the Blemmyes made human sacrifices to the sun.

Letters from Gebelein from the early sixth century suggest that some portion of the Blemmye population had converted to Christianity.

References:

Regula, DeTraci (1995). The mysteries of Isis: her worship and magick(1st ed.). St. Paul, Minn.: Llewellyn. ISBN 1-56718-560-6.

Eide, Tormod; Hägg, Tomas; Pierce, Richard Holton; Török, László, eds. (1998). Fontes Historiae Nubiorum: Textual Sources for the History of the Middle Nile Region between the Eighth Century BC and the Sixth Century AD, vol. III: From the First to the Sixth Century AD. Bergen: University of Bergen. pp. 1132–1138, 1196-1216. ISBN 82-91626-07-3.

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