[12] CHAPTER 2 The Nubians the Nuba and the Libyan Element I The way has now been cleared for the discussion of the non-Arab races which the Islamic Arabs found in the Sudan.

II All of these, with the exception of the nomad Bega in the eastern desert, were commonly included by the invaders under the vague denomination of Nuba. This term first occurs in literature in the geography of Eratosthenes, who was born in 276 B.C. He speaks of "the NoOySat." Later the name occurs as NouyQaSe?, or in the Latinized form of Nobatae.

The ultimate derivation of the word is not known, but it appears to be of very ancient origin and may be connected through the Coptic NOTBT (meaning "to plait") with "nebed," the word used in the inscription of Thothmes I (date c. 1540 B.C.) to denote "the plaitedhaired ones," or as it is perhaps with less accuracy translated "the curly-haired ones" whom that monarch overthrew in the neighbourhood of the third cataract: "He hath overthrown the chief of the "Nubians"" ; the Negro [nehesi] is helpless There is not a remnant among the curly-haired, who came to attack him."

I imagine that the Arabs simply adopted the word which they found commonly used in Egypt to denote collectively the races livingsouth of the first cataract. With ethnological differentiation they Ap. Strabo, Bk. xvii, ed. Casaubon, p. 786.

* Breasted, A. R. 11, 71, and Seligman, jfourn. Anthr. Inst. XLiii, 1913, pp. 616, 618. The latter says, "With regard to the word in the inscription of Thothmes I rendered 'the curly-haired,' i.e. as a synonym of 'Negro' {nehesi), written earlier in the inscription... it is necessary to exercise a certain amount of caution, for Miss Murray points out that this word reads Nebed, and is determined by a lock of hair, i.e. 'the curly-haired' stands for 'the «e6eJ-haired.' But 'nebed,' according to Brugsch, does not mean ' curly,' but is the equivalent of the French tresser, natter, entrelacer, and is akin to the Coptic 'Si)T\\'Y! =plectere, intexere." Seligman does not, however, allude to the possibility of any connection between XOTHT and "Nuba." The word "Nuba" is sometimes derived from " nubu," the word used for " gold " in, e.g., the inscription of Amenemhet (Ameni) in the time of the twelfth dynasty (see Breasted, A. R.\, 520). Gold and slaves have been the chief attraction of the Sudan in all ages. (Cp. Budge, I, 534, 541.)

' Elliot Smith says: "We are not justified in calling both the early and the late inhabitants of Nubia 'Nubians'; in fact, it is very doubtful whether we ought to apply the name to the pre-Hellenic population of the Nile valley between Aswan and Meroe" {Arch. Surv. Nub. Bull. 11, Cairo, 1908). R. Lepsius speaks of the probably incorrect extension of the name "Nuba" to all lands out of which slaves were brought to the north {Nubische Grammatik).