Okay, here's another attempt at an AAR, even though the pain of losing my notes for my previous Polish AAR are still fresh in my heart...
Anyways, I have made a bunch of new maps for this, and hopefully they turn out okay. (Well, they better, since I spent forever on them in Photoshop!)
This is an attempt at a Nubian AAR, grand campaign style from 1066 to however modern I can get it. Hopefully, I can avoid being crushed and remember to keep my employees away from my stacks of paper and notes and actually finish this thing... Enjoy!
What Began as a Dream...
A NubiAAR by Crackdtoothgrin
Prologue:
Bordered on the west by the mighty sands of the Sahara Desert, and situated in an arid, cliff-ridden plateau forming the middle-headwaters of the serpentine Nile River, the people of Nubia had no choice but to remain tough to survive. Originating from the ancient peoples migrating north from the “Horn of Africa,” proto-Nubian civilization appeared some four thousand years before the birth of Christ. These peoples, known in antiquity as “A-Group” Nubians, had similarity with pre-dynastic Naqadan Upper Egypt. Gradually, over the next one thousand years, they were gradually replaced by “B-Group” peoples, as the former migrated back to the south, where the land was more fertile, or to the west, as the Sahara had not yet completed its desertification. Sometime around 2100 B.C.E., these “B-Group” peoples were supplanted by yet another alphabetically nomenclatural culture group, the “C-Group” peoples. While historians debate over the exact sequence of events that caused this cultural supplanting, it is widely believed that returning “A-Group” Nubians from the increasingly arid Sahara region caused this change to occur, as Type-A and Type-C Pottery from both cultures maintain unique similarities in the usage of geometric incisions and imitation basketry.
The Nubians were not an isolated people, however, as archaeological evidence shows that Nubia served as a trade corridor for Egypt, where ivory and ebony wood was traded northward from tropical Africa to Old Kingdom Egypt. Circa 2040 B.C.E., the Egyptian Middle Kingdom began peacefully expanding its control southward, trading with the Nubians for gold, incense, ebony, ivory, and exotic animals. While the Egyptian control expanded, it was not violent, and, save for mercantile interaction, little diplomatic action was taken by either side.
As trade through Nubia from tropical Africa increased, so too did the wealth of the Nubian kingdoms. Eventually, the first legitimate kingdom in Nubia, the Kingdom of Kerma (So named for its presumed capital at the ancient city of Kerma.), was established around 1700 B.C.E. The Kings of Kerma were apparently powerful enough to organize labor for mass-construction projects, like massive walls and mud-brick tombs for the kings. The Nubians were also known for their skills in metalworking and pottery, which far surpassed their Egyptian counterparts to the north.
Eventually, the revival of Egyptian power under the New Kingdom from around 1500 forced the cessation of peaceful diplomatic actions between the Egyptians and the Nubians. By 1520 B.C.E., Thutmose I, the Egyptian Pharoah, had destroyed and annexed the Kingdom of Kerma down to the Fourth Cataphract on the Nile River, adding all of Northern Nubia to New Kingdom Egypt. They based themselves at the newly created administrative center of Napata, making the acquisition of Northern Nubia valuable economically, as it was the center of most Near- and Mid-East gold.
Later, the fragmenting Egyptain Kingdom was forced to pull out of Nubia, and the region gave rise to the Kingdom of Kush. The Kushites adopted many of their former master’s practices, such as the building of pyramids, as well as the adoption of the Egyptian religion. The Kushites survived longer than Egypt, even invading Egypt and controlling it (The Kushite Dynasty) in the eighth century B.C.E. for a short time. Shortly after, the kingdom fell prey to ambition, as various entities attempted to control it, fragmenting the region and making it vulnerable to attack. Despite this internal state of weakness, the Kushites were never annexed by the Roman Empire, instead remaining in their homeland in various chiefdoms and city-states until around the third century C.E.
Sometime around 350 C.E., the Ethiopian Kingdom of Aksum invaded Nubia, causing the weak Kushite government to fall apart. In time, three separate kingdoms would form in its place; Nobatia in the north, Makuria in the middle, and Alodia in the south. Church records show that Christianity penetrated the region in the fourth century, when bishop Athansius of Alexandria consecrated a man named Marcus as bishop of Philae in 373 C.E. Later records, written by John of Ephesus, show that a Monophysite Christian priest named Julian converted the nobles of Nobatia in 545 C.E., and those in Alodia in 569 C.E. However, differing records show that Makuria was converted to Roman Catholicism during the same period, and Greek records state that Nubia changed church allegiance from the Greek Orthodox faith to that of the Coptic church around 719 C.E. Casting doubt on the exact nature of Christianity in the region, although it is clear that it was the dominant religion in the area. Eventually, the middle kingdom of Nubia, Makuria, became the dominant power in the region, holding off repeated Arab invasions after the Arabic conquest of Egypt, finally signing peace in the capital of Old Dongola, allowing for relatively peaceful coexistence and trade.
Things continued peacefully, and the world progressed. The wealth and power of the Kingdom of Nubia increased in time, although the loose federation status of the three separate parts of the Kingdom kept the Nubians from uniting into a regional superpower as Arab dominance increased in the former Egyptian Kingdom. Eventually, the stage would be set, as al-Fatimiyyun, or the Fatimid Caliphate, and the Kingdom of Nubia stood precipitously on the edge, cultural and religious tensions rising across their hotly contested borders…
Anyways, I have made a bunch of new maps for this, and hopefully they turn out okay. (Well, they better, since I spent forever on them in Photoshop!)
This is an attempt at a Nubian AAR, grand campaign style from 1066 to however modern I can get it. Hopefully, I can avoid being crushed and remember to keep my employees away from my stacks of paper and notes and actually finish this thing... Enjoy!
What Began as a Dream...
A NubiAAR by Crackdtoothgrin
Prologue:
Bordered on the west by the mighty sands of the Sahara Desert, and situated in an arid, cliff-ridden plateau forming the middle-headwaters of the serpentine Nile River, the people of Nubia had no choice but to remain tough to survive. Originating from the ancient peoples migrating north from the “Horn of Africa,” proto-Nubian civilization appeared some four thousand years before the birth of Christ. These peoples, known in antiquity as “A-Group” Nubians, had similarity with pre-dynastic Naqadan Upper Egypt. Gradually, over the next one thousand years, they were gradually replaced by “B-Group” peoples, as the former migrated back to the south, where the land was more fertile, or to the west, as the Sahara had not yet completed its desertification. Sometime around 2100 B.C.E., these “B-Group” peoples were supplanted by yet another alphabetically nomenclatural culture group, the “C-Group” peoples. While historians debate over the exact sequence of events that caused this cultural supplanting, it is widely believed that returning “A-Group” Nubians from the increasingly arid Sahara region caused this change to occur, as Type-A and Type-C Pottery from both cultures maintain unique similarities in the usage of geometric incisions and imitation basketry.
The temple at Philae
The Nubians were not an isolated people, however, as archaeological evidence shows that Nubia served as a trade corridor for Egypt, where ivory and ebony wood was traded northward from tropical Africa to Old Kingdom Egypt. Circa 2040 B.C.E., the Egyptian Middle Kingdom began peacefully expanding its control southward, trading with the Nubians for gold, incense, ebony, ivory, and exotic animals. While the Egyptian control expanded, it was not violent, and, save for mercantile interaction, little diplomatic action was taken by either side.
As trade through Nubia from tropical Africa increased, so too did the wealth of the Nubian kingdoms. Eventually, the first legitimate kingdom in Nubia, the Kingdom of Kerma (So named for its presumed capital at the ancient city of Kerma.), was established around 1700 B.C.E. The Kings of Kerma were apparently powerful enough to organize labor for mass-construction projects, like massive walls and mud-brick tombs for the kings. The Nubians were also known for their skills in metalworking and pottery, which far surpassed their Egyptian counterparts to the north.
Ruins at Kerma
Eventually, the revival of Egyptian power under the New Kingdom from around 1500 forced the cessation of peaceful diplomatic actions between the Egyptians and the Nubians. By 1520 B.C.E., Thutmose I, the Egyptian Pharoah, had destroyed and annexed the Kingdom of Kerma down to the Fourth Cataphract on the Nile River, adding all of Northern Nubia to New Kingdom Egypt. They based themselves at the newly created administrative center of Napata, making the acquisition of Northern Nubia valuable economically, as it was the center of most Near- and Mid-East gold.
Later, the fragmenting Egyptain Kingdom was forced to pull out of Nubia, and the region gave rise to the Kingdom of Kush. The Kushites adopted many of their former master’s practices, such as the building of pyramids, as well as the adoption of the Egyptian religion. The Kushites survived longer than Egypt, even invading Egypt and controlling it (The Kushite Dynasty) in the eighth century B.C.E. for a short time. Shortly after, the kingdom fell prey to ambition, as various entities attempted to control it, fragmenting the region and making it vulnerable to attack. Despite this internal state of weakness, the Kushites were never annexed by the Roman Empire, instead remaining in their homeland in various chiefdoms and city-states until around the third century C.E.
Sometime around 350 C.E., the Ethiopian Kingdom of Aksum invaded Nubia, causing the weak Kushite government to fall apart. In time, three separate kingdoms would form in its place; Nobatia in the north, Makuria in the middle, and Alodia in the south. Church records show that Christianity penetrated the region in the fourth century, when bishop Athansius of Alexandria consecrated a man named Marcus as bishop of Philae in 373 C.E. Later records, written by John of Ephesus, show that a Monophysite Christian priest named Julian converted the nobles of Nobatia in 545 C.E., and those in Alodia in 569 C.E. However, differing records show that Makuria was converted to Roman Catholicism during the same period, and Greek records state that Nubia changed church allegiance from the Greek Orthodox faith to that of the Coptic church around 719 C.E. Casting doubt on the exact nature of Christianity in the region, although it is clear that it was the dominant religion in the area. Eventually, the middle kingdom of Nubia, Makuria, became the dominant power in the region, holding off repeated Arab invasions after the Arabic conquest of Egypt, finally signing peace in the capital of Old Dongola, allowing for relatively peaceful coexistence and trade.
Things continued peacefully, and the world progressed. The wealth and power of the Kingdom of Nubia increased in time, although the loose federation status of the three separate parts of the Kingdom kept the Nubians from uniting into a regional superpower as Arab dominance increased in the former Egyptian Kingdom. Eventually, the stage would be set, as al-Fatimiyyun, or the Fatimid Caliphate, and the Kingdom of Nubia stood precipitously on the edge, cultural and religious tensions rising across their hotly contested borders…
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