IV. D4. X. NATIVE MANUSCRIPTS OF THE SUDAN 325

and Kordofan, and various other hills. Now the cities and hills of

the Nubians were dense with troops and horsemen, and when their power had become firmly established in the Sudan a great army was assembled, under the leadership of King Tahrak and of Sebakh the

King of Abyssinia, to make war on the kingdom of Egypt; and after

much fighting and great slaughter Egypt was conquered.". . ."Then the Assyrians conquered Egypt as far as the first cataract, that is the Sudan cataract, after ejecting the armies of the Nubians {^j^)^\)

and the Abyssinians.". . .The Egyptians then recovered their power and not only expelled the Abyssinians but overran "the lands of the

Nuba (aj^I) and the Sudan, and set up mighty monuments."

V Subsequently the Romans conquered Egypt and "the land of the Nuba" (ij^l). Then followed a period of dire oppression, and the people were reduced to extremities when the torch of Islam was first lighted.

VI Egypt was conquered in the Khalifate of 'Omar ibn el Khattab by 'Amr ibn el 'Asi, and its people, excepting a few Jews and Copts, were converted.

The armies of the Muhammadans also penetrated "to the furthest limits of the land of the Nuba, to Dabat el Dolib and the hills of the

Nuba," and left garrisons there to keep the peace.

VII "Finally the civil war between the Beni Ommayya and the Beni Hashim broke out in the Hegaz; and when they considered the armies which had settled in the land of the Nuba, they took up their abode there and mingled with the Nubians, and took their women to wife, and intermarried with them, and made the land of the NCba their home, and dwelt in complete concord with the

Nubians : and this is the sole reason of the presence [in the Sudan]

of the AsHRAF and Arabs of the Hegaz ; and in the course of time they multiplied and formed a great proportion of the inhabitants of the

country of the Nuba."

VIII This chapter, the second, is in praise of the Nubian character, its nobility, piety and courage.

IX We are now told that the powder in Egypt passed from hand to hand

until the time of "Toman Bai, the last of the Gerakisa dynasty," when the 'Othmania Turks prepared to invade the country; and a long description is given of the means whereby the Sultan Selim finally over-

came Toman Bai on January 22nd, 1517A.D., and conquered Egypt and founded a dynasty which remained in power for some 139 years.

X Selim gradually extended his conquests up the river till he reached

Haifa, and there "he imposed a tax on the water-wheels and the palms, payable in cash and cloth and produce, and made the seat of

his power the city of Aswan and Ibrim."