Merkurios of Makuria
Encyclopedia
Merkurios was ruler of the Nubia
n kingdom of Makuria
. Authorities believe that during his reign Makuria absorbed the Nubian kingdom of Nobatia
.
According to P.L. Shinnie,1 the first year of Merkurios' reign can be dated by an inscription on the foundation stone in Faras, which was dated to AD 707, and also to Merkurios' eleventh regnal year
. In 710, Merkurios erected an inscription at Taifa, which indicates that his kingdom had united with Nobatia by that date.
John the Deacon
, an Egyptian Christian writing around 768, described Merkurios as the "New Constantine", which Shinnie interprets as evidence that Merkurios played some important role in the Nubian church.
Nubia
Nubia is a region along the Nile river, which is located in northern Sudan and southern Egypt.There were a number of small Nubian kingdoms throughout the Middle Ages, the last of which collapsed in 1504, when Nubia became divided between Egypt and the Sennar sultanate resulting in the Arabization...
n kingdom of Makuria
Makuria
The Kingdom of Makuria was a kingdom located in what is today Northern Sudan and Southern Egypt. It was one of a group of Nubian kingdoms that emerged during the decline of the Aksumite Empire, which it had been part of from approximately 4BC to AD 950...
. Authorities believe that during his reign Makuria absorbed the Nubian kingdom of Nobatia
Nobatia
Nobatia or Nobadia was an ancient African Christian kingdom in Lower Nubia and subsequently a region of the larger Nubian Kingdom of Makuria...
.
According to P.L. Shinnie,1 the first year of Merkurios' reign can be dated by an inscription on the foundation stone in Faras, which was dated to AD 707, and also to Merkurios' eleventh regnal year
Regnal year
A regnal year is a year of the reign of a sovereign, from the Latin regnum meaning kingdom, rule.The oldest dating systems were in regnal years, and considered the date as an ordinal, not a cardinal number. For example, a monarch could have a first year of rule, a second year of rule, a third, and...
. In 710, Merkurios erected an inscription at Taifa, which indicates that his kingdom had united with Nobatia by that date.
John the Deacon
John the Deacon (Egyptian chronicler)
John the Deacon was a Monophysite Egyptian chronicler whose Life of the Patriarch Michael, finished c.768–70, is the most important source for the Christian Nubia in the first half of the eighth century. The later historian Sawirus ibn al-Muqaffaʿ made heavy use of it, and although John is one of...
, an Egyptian Christian writing around 768, described Merkurios as the "New Constantine", which Shinnie interprets as evidence that Merkurios played some important role in the Nubian church.