Christian Nubia - after the Nubian Campaign
Wlodzimierz Godlewski
Early Period (6th - mid 9th century)
Early Period - phase I (6th - mid 7th century) - Nobadia
The Classical Period 9th - 11th Centuries
The Late Period in Nubian Art - from the middle of 13th to the end of 14th Centuries
Painting. Mid 14th Century and Later
The extent and importance of the archaeological discoveries in Nubian territory in the first half of the 60s and the unusual interest of the mass media in the project led to the creation of a completely new discipline in the sciences: Nubiology. It was very clearly distinguished from Egyptological studies in general, certainly with meaningful aid from the Society for Nubian Studies which was founded in Warsaw in 1972. For Christian Nubian the most spectacular discovery were the wall paintings in the Cathedral at Faras, uncovered by a Polish mission headed by K. Michafowski. The paintings from Faras and records concerning the Pachoras bishopric became in the 60s the most fascinating new material, literally putting Christian Nubia on the map of the Byzantine oikumene. It seemed then that Nubia would become a permanent element of the work carried out in research centers devoted to Byzantine studies and more generally Early Christian studies. This failed to occur, possibly because of the methodological obscurity of publications concerning Christian Nubia. At the same time it has to be said that the discoveries made during the Nubian campaign are a milestone in studies on the Christian period in Nubia.
Excavations in the 60s were regularly published in the form of preliminary reports: from the area of Egypt in Fouilles en Nubie, from Sudan in Kush, and also in many periodicals published by institutions carrying out the research, e.g. JEA, JARCE, BIFAO. Today the absence of final reports of the excavations at major northern Nubian sites: Gebel Adda, Qasr Ibrim, Faras, constitutes a considerable encumbrance.
Scholars directing the research during the Nubian campaign managed to review comprehensively the knowledge about the land and to create important compendia. W. Y. Adams drew an archaeological vista of Christian Nubian civilization in part of his book Nubia. Corridor to Africa, 1977, 431-591. S. Jakobielski took advantage of the available epigraphic and archaeological data to write A History of the Bishopric at Pachoras, 1972. Religious architecture was summed up in W.Y. Adams, Architectural Evolution of the Nubian Church, JARCE 4, 1965, 87-139. The paintings from Faras Cathedral published by K. Michafowski in Faras. Die Kathedrale aus dem Wustensand, 1967, served to create the foundation of future studies on the chronology of Nubian painting. Knowledge of iconography in Nubian painting was developed extensively by P. van Moorsel in his study of the frescoes from the Central Church at Abdallah Nirqi (1975). The role of Nubian painting and its importance for Christian iconography was discussed broadly by K. Weitzmann, Some remarks on the sources of the fresco paintings of the Cathedral in Faras, KuGN, 1970, 325-346. An innovative approach to the study of pottery was presented by W.Y. Adams in his extensive analysis of Nubian pottery of the Christian period: Ceramic Industries in medieval Nubia, 1986. It should be emphasized that some of the studies referred to material from later excavations as well as the data collected in the Nubian campaign. This is especially true of W.Y. Adams work. In studies of Christian Nubia in the 70s and 80s two clear tendencies appeared. One concentrated on developing ideas resulting from the Nubian campaign investigations the other focused on reviewing our knowledge based on an analysis of data from new research. I will devote more attention to the latter tendency later on in this paper.
The period of intensive excavations carried out in Nubia by national and international expeditions ended in 1964, although this is hardly a formal closing date, since UNESCOsponsored missions continue working in Nubia, completing the survey of the Batn el Hagar region in cooperation with the Sudan Antiquities Service and excavating selected sites. The international missions slowly withdraw from the area and only a few take up research in Sudan territory south of the Dal cataract. The completion of the Assuan Dam and filling of the Nubian reservoir excluded a vast area of northern Nubia from fieldwork. In Egypt the only accessible site was Qasr Ibrim, in Sudan the rocky plateau of Batn el Hagar and the area south of Dal cataract.
The Archaeological Survey from Gemai to Dal started in 1964/65, following a reconaissance season, and was lead by A.J. Mills and H.A. Nordstrom (Kush 13, Kush 14 and 15). Over 50% of the identified and explored sites belonged to the Christian period and covered cemeteries, settlements and religious architecture. Only summary reports appeared, failing even to cover the full period of the survey, and some of the finds can be viewed today in the National Museum in Khartum. Seemingly the most interesting discovery were the carved wooden plaques from Attiri with representations of Christ, saint and apocalyptical beings in the form of chenubs.ln the 1964/65 season fieldwork was carried out on the eastern bank of the river in the vicinity of Gasmai-Nag Sigaga (15 km) by a Finnish expedition headed by G. Donner. The most interesting discovery is the blockhouse from the Late Period on the island of Ushinarti.
In the 1970/71 season a Franco-Sudanese mission directed by A. Vila opened work in the region south of Dal cataract. By 1975 the mission had surveyed the area up to the island of Nilwatti south of Say. The survey covered all the archaeological sites in the area, and 50°r6 of the identified sites belonged to the Nobadian and Christian periods. A. Vila went on to excavate several hundred tombs from the Group X and Christian periods at Missiminia near Abri (Vila 1984).
The Batn el Hagar area constituted the focus of research of a number of other expeditions in the second half of the 60s. In 1966-1969 an American-Swiss Mission headed by Ch. Maystre explored Kageras, Ukma and Sonki South, concentrating on religious buildings (Maystre, KGN, 181-208). In 1967-1969 an Italian mission of S. Donadoni uncovered the small church of Sonqi Tino with its excellent Classical period paintings and a complex of tombs around the building (Donadoni, KGN, 209-218). The German expedition of E. Dinkier explored the Sunnarti and Tangur islands on the Nile and Kulb in the years 1967-1969, uncovering a number of churches and buildings of the Late Period (Dinkier, KGN, 259-279). In 1969 W.Y. Adams worked with an expedition from the University of Kentucky at Kulubnarti uncovering the kashefs castle and a church with late paintings (Adams, KGN, 141-154). Between 1954 and 1972 on the island of Sai a French mission headed by J. Vercoutter uncovered many Christian structures even while concentrating on earlier periods. The mission identified 5 churches, discovered many stone architectural elements, inscriptions and pottery.
Notwithstanding, the main sites of the Christian period to continue being explored following the Nubian Campaign were Qasr Ibrim investigated by the British EES mission and Dongola were work was carried out by a Polish mission. Research at Qasr Ibrim made available an extremely rich set of documents and literary texts in Greek, Coptic and Old Nubian, of which only a part has been published so far. The texts are clearly of immense importance for understanding the processes of forming Nobadian statehood as well as the history of the Qasr Ibrim bishopric and the history of Nubian literature. Many of the documents from the Late Period provide a completely new look at the history and economy of Nubia in medieval times. At the same time the research at Qasr Ibrim is of importance for studies of civil architecture, especially of the 6th century and the Late Period, owing to the wholistic approach to the clearing of the urban complex of the fortress. The results of investigations concerning the Cathedral are also important as are numerous small finds of architectural elements, pottery and the plastic arts which help trace the development of Nubian art.
The research at Dongola is of fundamental importance to understanding the development of religious architecture of Nubia. Dongola's importance as the center of Nubian art became clear with the discovery of such buildings as the Church of Granite Columns, Mausoleum, Church of Stone Pavement, Cruciform Church and Throne Hall of the Nubian kings. Also civil architecture and paintings uncovered in House A and currently in the mausoleum of the abbots of the monastery on Kom H confirm Dongola's importance in the development of Nubian culture. Dongola pottery, particularly a production center discovered on the site, are an important supplement to W.Y. Adams study. Of considerable interest are also the Greek texts, particularly funerary stelae of the 8th and 9th century, which permit a revision of knowledge gained so far from Coptic and Greek epigraphic material collected in northern Nubia.
The research carried out at Soba in 1981-1982 by a mission of the British Institute in Eastern Africa in Nairobi are also of fundamental importance as far as understanding the early period in Alodia is concerned, particularly the religious architecture and pottery. The investigations have emphasized the difference of the culture of this southern kingdom and correspond very well with discoveries of tombs and pottery of the Post-Meroitic period.
The civil architecture of the Late Period at Hambukol, especially a palace of the 11th century, was the object of explorations by a Canadian mission from the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto. A mission from the Sudan Antiquities Department at Gebel Ghaddar uncovered a series of Makurian tombs from the period of the kingdom's Christianization. This evidence is extremely important and corresponds to a degree w'sth the oldest atchaeo\ocj~cal layers uncovered so far at Dongola by the Polish mission.
One should also note two surveys which were conducted in Middle Nubia and which covered the Christian period as well. One was the survey in 1984-1986 by a Canadian mission from the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto which covered an area from Saleb South to Khandaq on both sides of the river. The other survey by the University of Khartum was done in 1990-1991 and registered sites, including Christian ones, in the area between Delgo and Kerma.
An important set of documents indispensable in any study of the history of Nubia is G. Vantini's Oriental Sources Concerning Nubia, 1975. This publication of the English translations of mainly Arabic texts gathered in one edition but devoid of a critical commentary is a useful compendium, although intended for the critical student of Nubiology. A sort of aftermath of this study is Vantini's Christianity in Nubia, 1981.The Sudan Texts Bulletin edited by Ali Osman and Robin Thelwall, 1-7, 1979-1985, has turned out to be an important and promising periodical which presents a wide range of Greek, Old Nubian and Arabic texts, all published with care and extensive commentary.
An exceptional achievement is M. Browne's edition of Old Nubian texts known from the publications of F.LLGriffith and E. Zychlarz as well as of newly uncovered texts from Qasr Ibrim, Serra East and Dongola. The study covers literary texts as well as documents. A full publication of the Qasr Ibrim archives will be of considerable importance for further studies of the history of Nubia. One should remember that it is the research on the history of medieval Nubia which has so far been neglected and requires monographic studies which would take better advantage of all the new sources being discovered in Nubia. An important stage of these studies would be a critical edition of a repertory of Greek and Coptic texts.
Research on the religious architecture of Nubia was summed up after the Nubian Campaign in W.Y. Adams' study which systematized in simplified form church designs and attempted to establish the chronology of changes in the religious architecture of Nubia. An important part of the studies is an analysis of the changes in the liturgical equipment used in churches.The discovery of churches in Dongola prompted P. Gartkiewicz to broader studies in an effort to trace the double-track development of Nubian architecture and to emphasize the religious complexes built on a central plan. Gartkiewicz presented in effect an analysis of the development of Nubian church architecture including both the basilican and central-plan structures. He also pointed out the building's which had been of major importance for the development of Nubian architecture and the conservative trends, based mainly on structures in small settlements. The study demonstrated the intricateness of developmental processes in Nubian architecture and their dynamics; it is however chronologically imprecise and lacks a detailed analysis of particular structures.
P. Grossmann, who is concentrating on an extensive monograph study of Egyptian religious architecture, has included Nubia in his research, a little because of the old Egyptological tradition in this respect with strong emphasis being laid on Egyptian influences in Nubian architecture. While one can be sceptic of Nubia being treated as an Egyptian province, one cannot but admire the critical depth of the analyses of particular complexes based on a complete set of sources including iconographic ones. The technological analysis of Nubian architecture based on civil and religious structures is extremely important. However, the chronology of particular structures raises serious doubts being as it is subjected to processes in architecture occurring in Egypt. It should be noted that Nubian architecture developed under the strong influence of the royal court and central authority, both civil and religious. The relations between Nubian and Egyptian architecture are in many cases selfevident, but there can be no doubt that Nubian architecture was shaped by the cultural policies of the royal Nubian court which often had ambitions to follow Byzantine customs and which was far more dependent upon local centers of culture, such as Dongola, Faras, Qasr Ibrim and Gebel Adda, than directly upon Egypt. This is mainly the effect of a separate statehood and Nubia's direct contacts with Palestine and Byzantium. Present knowledge of Nubian religious architecture requires a historical analysis of its development and chronological precision not only of the building of various structures but also of the successive stages in the development of particular buildings. The development of Nubian architecture today can be evaluated from the perspective of structures in the main centers of the land, such as Dongola, Faras and Qasr Ibrim as well as Soba. Unfortunately, the dating of the structures leaves much to be desired. A historical analysis encompassing the form as well as furnishings and technique seems to be methodologically the best way to understanding Nubian architecture and determining its position in the broader territorial context including not only an Egyptian and Palestinian perspective but also the aspirations of the royal court in Nubia.
Studies of Nubian painting have been proceeding under the strong influence of research carried out on the frescoes from Faras Cathedral. The artistic quality of the frescoes and their relatively precise chronology in conjunction with the belief that Faras was a center of Nubian culture long favored this approach. The first chronology of the paintings, presented by K. Michabwski while excavations were still in progress, has been revised over the years by Michafowski himself as well as by M. Martens-Czarnecka. Detailed studies of the drawing and of ornamental designs has helped make the chronology more precise, but the analyses were from the beginning hampered by certain faults resulting from a somewhat imprecise publication of the stages in the development of the Faras cathedral and an excessively historical approach to the phenomena taking place in Faras. Phenomena like the changes in the form of the apse in the Cathedral, the problem of the fire in the building or the alleged abandonment of the cathedral in the late 12th century have been discussed in detail by W. Godlewski in a number of articles. A monograph of the cathedral is clearly the most urgent need at present.
There were also other restrictions which hampered the development of studies on Nubian painting. The most important one was the belief that there were no paintings in early churches; consequently, the history of Nubian painting was frequently begun with the appearance of frescoes in the Faras cathedral in the 8th century. Today, it is clear that murals occurred in churches from the 6th century onward; such early complexes are known from Abu Oda, Naga el Oqba, Wadi es Sebua and Abdallah Nirqi.A separate problem in studies on Nubian painting is their iconographic analysis and the correct understanding of their liturgical meaning. Scholars have undertaken studies of individual subjects such as the decoration of apses, theophanic crosses, representations of Christ and Mother of God, saints and anchorites. It should be emphasized, however, that studies on the iconography of Nubian painting remain in the shadow of other research and iconographic subjects have not entered the repertory of Byzantine and Early Christian art. It seemed that two important features of Nubian painting, i.e., the existence of paintings from the Iconoclastic period and the originality of some of the iconographic motifs, would allow the art to be quickly included in Byzantine studies, but this failed to occur, possibly because of the scholarly weakness of publications of the best paintings from Nubian churches. Of some importance was also the fact that new discoveries did not follow the spectacular finds from Faras and Sonqi Tino until 1976 and 1992-1994 when painted compositions came to light at Dongola.
In studies on Nubian art the plastic arts have not yet found their proper representation. The finds - crosses, metal and wooden pectoral representations, terracotta figurines and ceramic "icons" - are usually noted in excavation reports but fail to be the object of separate studies. The crosses from Faras are an exception in this respect. The wooden reliefs from Attiri, now in the museum in Khartoum, are awaiting publication as well as similar objects from Qasr Ibrim. Even the dating of these objects which were undoubtedly pectoral icons is unclear. They were presumably made in the 11th-12th century in Nubian workshops, rather in Nobadia.
A very interesting set of terracotta figurines, mostly in fragments, comes from the Makurian monasteries of Ghazali and Dongola; they are to be dated to the Late Period (11th12th century). Some pieces of ceramic icons with relief representations of saints on one side and painted decoration on the other have been found in the monastery on Kom H in Dongola in the past season. It would seem that the minor devotional art as well as window grills with figural representations, found at Dongola, are a specific feature of Late Period art.
Pottery is commonly found in greatest abundance. The sites at Soba and Dongola have recently provided interesting new material, in both cases the early pottery from the 6th-7th century being the most interesting. Both sites have also yielded evidence of local workshops producing this pottery. Also new pottery evidence from Qasr [brim has been noted in preliminary reports but it is only of a supplementary nature in respect to W.Y. Adams fundamental study on the subject.
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New excavations and especially the discoveries at Dongola, Soba and Qasr Ibrim have provided scholars with an opportunity to review the current evaluation of Nubian culture and have created new scientific perspectives for scholars of the art and civilization of Nubia. Of equal significance for this process of re-evaluation were the revisions of some of K. Michabwski's conclusions in respect to Faras, especially the Faras cathedral, and the significant progress in the study of Coptic architecture and painting in Egypt.The understanding of developments in Nubian art, dominated after the Nubian Campaign by evidence from Nobadia - the territory of northern Nubia, has also changed. New discoveries at Dongola and Soba have abolished the Nobadia-centric view of Nubian art in favor of more differentiated references. The process is much more obvious in studies of Nubian architecture, especially religious architecture, less evident in painting. Once again the importance of discoveries at Dongola and Soba cannot be understated; they are particularly well discernible in the architecture but also allow for laying down hypotheses in respect to wall painting.The religious architecture discovered at Soba and Dongola has shown how different the process of development was in northern Nubia, presumably because of different outside influences as well as a certain differentiation of local tradition which accompanied the formation of the separate states of Alodia, Makuria and Nobadia, and which occurred in consequence of the breaking the Pan-Meroitic tradition in Nubia as a whole. This differentiation in religious architecture is particularly well visible in the Early Period from the 6th to the 8th century when the three kingdoms existed separately; following their union there is an obvious unification of the monumental architecture in the main centers of the United Kingdom, such as Dongola, Pachoras and Qasr Ibrim, as well as a certain similarity of designs in Dongola and Soba. A comprehensive evaluation of this phenomenon is still difficult to formulate owing to the still modest evidence from Makuria and particularly Alodia, where we are limited to the finds in Soba and where the discovered religious architecture is only from the early period and badly preserved at that. In respect to religious architecture, this differentiation of forms appears to be the result of different ways of christianizing the area and so different sources of inspiration. In Nobadia in the 6th-7th centuries the influences from the Thebaid and the relations with Coptic Egypt seem to dominate. In Dongola the early architecture is clearly inspired by Byzantine models, although at the present stage of research it is difficult to be certain whether the models drew directly from Constantinople or, what is more probable, from Byzantine provinces. This statement is of particular importance for the methodology of further studies for it requires the early period architecture to be analyzed separately in the three kingdoms and dictates the need to take into consideration political and organizational changes taking place in Nubia, particularly the unification of Makuria and Nobadia in the middle of the 7th century and the spreading of Dongolan influence to northern Nubia as best represented by the building of the Cathedral of Paulos in Pachoras in 707.
Early Period (6th - mid 9th century)
The Early Period is obviously to be divided into two phases, before the unification of Makuria and Nobadia and after it. For Alodia there is at present no way of determining the phases of the Early Period and the break-off point in the middle of the 7th century has no significance. All that is possible is the suggestion that in the 7th-8th centuries Dongola could have had a meaningful influence on Alodia as well as Nobadia and consequently the centrally designed church at Soba could be analyzed in the context of similar buildings discovered at Dongola, such as the Church of Granite Columns. Dongola's influence may have been facilitated by the unification of the Christian rite in the three kingdoms after the unification of Makuria and Nobadia, presumably during the region of king Merkurios.
Early Period - phase I (6th - mid 7th century) - Nobadia
The 5th and 6th century saw the establishment of a homogeneous culture closely connected with southern Egypt throughout the territory of Nobadia covering the valley of the Nile south of the first cataract and extending to the vicinity of the third cataract. This culture featured a homogeneous pottery, burial customs and a dynamically developing civil and military architecture (fortifications). Building was based on stone - limestone and granite - and mudbrick and baked brick. The stone workshops demonstrated high proficiency. Faras and Qasr Ibrim were the main centers in this period, but there were many settlements which appear to have been vigorously developing small towns. The acme of Nobadia's development appears to fall at the turn of the 5th century and in the 6th. The Christianization of Nobadia in the 40s of the 6th century brought a further deepening of contacts with the Mediterranean area and resulted in a dynamic development of religious architecture as well as important changes in Nobadian civilization apparent in burial customs (disappearance of furnishing, changed orientation, i.e. E-W with head to west, and new types of tomb monuments). The stone workshops demonstrate continuity; the quality of the products remains unchanged while the decorations and symbols are now Christian.
Religious architecture becomes the most characteristic feature of Nobadian art, having no local models. Contrary to K. Michabwski's suggestions, there was no religious architecture in Nobadia before the state's Christianization. The first churches in Nobadia were presumably erected in the centers of Faras and Qasr [brim, but evidence of this is rather limited. At the turn of the 6th century Faras and its vicinity saw the construction of a number of churches of homogeneous exterior form and almost identical interior design. These churches include the Southern and Northern Churches at Faras, perhaps also the Mud Church there, the River Church at Adindan, churches in Serre East and Serre Garb. All these churches have the bottom parts of the walls constructed of broken stone with brick being used for the upper parts. They follow a basilican plan of elongated dimensions with a broader nave separated from the presbytery by a triumphal arch. The apse with the altar is connected with the side rooms. The western end which is usually tripartite houses the staircase leading to the gallery. The vaults of the nave are supported on massive pillars. Two entrances lead to the church from the north and south and are both located in the western end. Beside these churches and contemporaneously with them, typical columned basilicas were erected: the first cathedral at Faras, the church at Qasr el Wizz and presumably also the Old Church at Qasr Ibrim. Both the foundations at Pachoras had narthexes leading into the church proper with a nave wider than the aisles. The apse with altar was separated from the rest of the church by a triumphal arch. The sacristies were accessible from the side aisles. The entrance to the basilica was on the main axis in the western wall and in the southern and northern walls of the narthex. The First Cathedral at Faras was constructed of dressed blocks of sandstone just as the church at Qasr Ibrim. Basilican churches were undoubtedly the dominant form in Nobadia in the Early Period. Nevertheless, at least two churches, the Rivergate Church at Faras and the church at Naga el Oqba, had central domes supported on four pillars constructed of excellently fitted blocks of stone. The eastern and western ends of the two churches had tripartite divisions typical of the period. Both churches are not dated very well unfortunately.
Also the churches introduced into the Pharaonic temples at Qasr Ibrim, Abu Oda and Wadi es Sebua are not very well dated. Without going into details, we can safely place their construction at the turn of the 6th century. Only the church at Aksha may be a little later. The interiors of these churches differ among themselves, logically resulting from the limitations which the adaptation of Pharaonic temples or their parts imposed.
Architectural elements, which come mainly from Faras and Qasr Ibrim and include columns, capitals, lintels and door jambs as well as friezes, were made in sandstone and demonstrate the skill of the stonecutters. In decoration they indicate a combination of local traditions with new Christian symbols. The architectural decoration demonstrates many similarities in form, composition and style with the architectural decoration made in the Thebaid, especially in the workshops at Luxor, Esna and Philae.
The beginnings of the Makurian state are still insufficiently recorded with our database limited to just a few sites such as Tangasi, Gebel Gaddar and Tabo. The evidence from Dongola which is undoubtedly the fullest is relatively late and comes from the period of the Christianization of the kingdom, the turn of the 5th century at best. The pottery of Dongola from this period shows aesthetic and technical valors, while at the same time being decidedly different in form and style from contemporaneous Nobadian production. This clearly points to a successful local production. Present evidence rather fails to confirm the presence of trade contacts between Nobadia and Makuria at the turn of the 5th century. Pottery from Dongola is rare in the north. New excavations in the area of the 3rd cataract where the probable border between the kingdoms ran should introduce changes into the present recorcl.The early churches of the kingdom, which was also Christianized in the mid 6th century, but at the hands of Byzantine missionaries in all likelihood, are known from the capital, Dongola, alone. In the middle of the 6th century the city was already a large, strongly fortified settlement with compact architecture inside the city walls. For this reason the first religious buildings, Building X and the Old Church, were built north of the town.The three buildings in Dongola which can be connected with the second half of the 6th and early 7th century are differentiated enough to deserve a separate discussion, particularly since each one of them is important for the later development of religious architecture in Dongola.
The Old Church was built of mudbrick on a three-aisled basilican plan; massive pillars separated the nave, twice as wide as the aisles, from the aisles. The eastern part of the building was enlarged and on the south, on either side of the entrance there was an annex housing a staircase on one side and a kind of commemorative chapel on the other. The apse of the church had a synthronon and the altar was situated in the eastern end of the nave and was set apart by a balustrade. The southeastern room served as a baptistery with a deep round baptismal font with two sets of steps from the east and west. The nave was presumably higher than the aisles and the basilica was equipped with galleries.
Building X was built of red brick as a complex erected to commemorate two persons buried in the crypts under the apse. It was a compact rectangular structure with a unique interior plan. A cruciform center was inscribed in the rectangle with an apse at the end of the eastern arm. The eastern part of the building had developed pastophoria consisting of double rooms on either side of the apse connected by a passage behind the apse. In the western end of the structure there was a centrally located vestibule and two large comer rooms with a staircase housed in the northern one of the two. The cruciform interior was separated from the western end by an inner narthex and surrounded by four rooms located in the spaces between the arms of the cross; two long corridors ran the length of the sides of the complex. The height of this well-designed and constructed building is difficult to estimate on the basis of preserved remains, but most probably the central part on the plan of a cross was much higher than the rest of the complex and presumably some galleries must have existed as well.
The Church of the Stone Pavement was built on the site of Building X, taking advantage of the exterior walls and the eastern and western ends. The central part was levelled and the new church built on the plan of a five-aisled basilica with the nave twice as wide as the side aisles. The aisles were divided by rows of columns of well-dressed red granite. The apse was filled with a synthronon and opened through a triumphal arch onto the presbytery in the eastern end of the nave set off with a stone balustrade. On either side of the apse there were developed pastophoria connected by a passage in back of the apse. The southern room served as a baptistery with a deep round baptismal font with a set of steps on the east and another one on the west. The main entrance to the basilica was located on the long axis of the church in the western wall and led to a vestibule located between corner rooms connected by an inner narthex.The Church of the Stone Pavement may have served as an episcopal basilica. Considering the crypts of Building X which were incorporated into the new complex and the new arrangement of the cult of the persons buried in them, it is quite possible that this basilica was indeed the cathedral of Dongola.
An interesting religious complex is the three-aisled basilica discovered in 1992 on kom E near the El Ghaddar village in Dongola. The west entrance to this structure is preceded by a portico. The interior has a typically Nubian plan with a narthex in the west and a tripartite bema in the east. The apse with the synthronon had a room on either side, connected separately by a passage in back of the apse. The southeastern room had a deep baptismal pool with two sets of steps. The presbytery was set off by a stone balustrade in the eastern end of the nave and was preceded on the west by a lectern. The stone pavement of the church was covered with a mosaic of colored pebbles - a unique feature in Nubian church architecture.
The architectural decoration of Dongolan churches is limited to columns and capitals of granite. Sporadically one encounters cancella slabs decorated with reliefs (Church E in Dongola) or fragments of thrones. The capitals belonging to the Church of the Stone Pavement and Church E were carved in an abacus with knobs supported on four comer leaves and Maltese crosses inscribed in a circle in between. It would appear that architectural decoration played a definitely lesser role in Dongolan structures than in Nobadian architecture.