A Late Christian Pilgrimage Centre in Nubia: The Evidence of Wall Inscriptions in the Upper Church at Banganarti [Hardcover]

The book is a publication of nearly one thousand wall inscriptionspreserved in the so-called Upper Church at Banganarti (Sudanese Nubia),discovered by a Polish expedition between 2001 and 2006. In overwhelmingmajority, the inscriptions are mementos left by people who visited thiscult place to pay homage to its patron, Archangel Raphael, and to ask himor God through his intermediary for various benefactions. Written ineither Greek or Old Nubian, and frequently displaying a sophisticatedgraphic and literary form, they cast an interesting light on differentaspects of social, cultural, and religious life of the Christian NubianKingdom of Makuria towards the end of its existence (twelfth-fourteenthcenturies). The catalogue of inscriptions is complemented by a studyaddressing general questions provoked by the texts. The book is richlyillustrated with plans, photographs and drawings.