‫مملكة المقرةوحضارتها‬ ‫رؤية من واقع المعطيات الاثاريةالجديدة‬

Abstract

When The Meroitic Kingdom collapsed in the mid- fourth century, new forces emerged in Nubia. These forces were the Blemmeys ,Nubadians ,and Nuba, whose emergence was one of the reasons behind the disintegration of Meroe. These groups formed the so called Post-Meroitic Culture which reflected some of the Meroitic features after the demise of Meroe, and formed the core of the emergence of the later Christian three Nubian Kingdoms. Makuria was one of these prominent kingdoms enclosing various patterns of monumental sites, settlements, mounds and cemeteries which were identified as Christian sites within the geographical extension of Makouria. Through the identification of the geographical and linguistic borders of these kingdoms, the wide expansion which made the United Kingdom a great empire significantly influencing the developments of events in the contemporary East. The several urban and administrative centres of Makuria played a major role in the history of the kingdom as can be demonstrated by the lack of urban settlements remains in Old Dongola which was a political and religious centre. Despite this lack of settlements, Old Dongola advocated the cohesive existence of Christianity and Islam as reflected by settlements in the whole area. Thus, the above-mentioned centres were important for the capital – Old Dongola. They were by no means marginal sites but they rather played a big role in securing trade routes of the kingdom especially on the western bank of the Nile which was a wide and open area of resources for the commercial economy of the kingdom in Kordufan and Darfur. They were also the direct supervisors of the agricultural and industrial economical areas. Hence the importance and significance of these sites in understanding the political, economic, social, and religious reality of the area is apparent. In addition, these sites contributed to the recognition of the features and characteristics of Christian settlements in term of their determinants, components, and types as the local environment played a major role in the cultural compositions of these communities.