48 THE BEGA, THE BLEMYES 1. 3. xxvii.

was finally established in Nubia in the sixth century it was by way

of Egypt that it came.

XXVIII In all probability it was about the end of the same century,

or early in the seventh, that the faith was received by 'Aloa.

The tow-n of Soba, or 'Aloa, had been a place of importance even

in Meroitic days, for a temple there dates from that period^; and though "Alut" on the stele of Nastasenen refers no doubt to the

district, it is natural to suppose that its capital was the town subse-

quently famous by the same name.

When 'Aloa was converted pagan temples were turned into or

replaced by churches. With Christianity and the importation of

liturgies and holy books came also a more general use of Greek

writing for purposes of rehgion and ceremonial'^, and a line of com- munication was opened for the future between Alexandria and the

villages of the Blue Nile". At the present day there are still visible some traces of an ancient civilization even beyond Soba, such as the

old red-brick buildings, probably remains of churches, near Elti, Kutrang, Kasemba, Bronko and Hassa Haysa^. Their date is not known, but they appear to belong to the same period as the Christian remains found at Soba.

XXIX Further north, as the power of Meroe declined the allegiance

of the petty meks who had once owned its overlordship began to

be drawn to the one side by the magnet of Abyssinia or to the other by that of the rival Nubian kingdom which centred upon Dongola. Whenever we catch a glimpse of these two powers, as, for instance,

^ Budge, H, 304. The name "Soba" suggests "Astasobas," the name by which Strabo denotes the Blue Nile.

^ The same probably does not apply to Abyssinia, where the use of Greek writing was chiefly due to trade influences (see Letronne, Inc. cit.).

' 'Aloa, or S6ba, is mentioned (" 'Aloa") in the treaty of 652 A.D. between the Arabs and the Nubians (see Part II, Chap. 2, v), and by the tenth century it was the most important town in the Sudan south of Dongola (see Ibn Selim's account in Part II, Chap. 2). It remained so for some two or three hundred years and, though with the fall of the Christian kingdom of Dongola and the invasion of the Arabs

its importance no doubt diminished, it apparently revived somewhat at a still later

date, for at the beginning of the sixteenth century it was the capital of the 'Anag or Nuba w^hom the Fung dispossessed (see D 7, i, in Part IV).

* Cp. Crowfoot, loc. cit. p. 8 ; and see note to MS. D 7, l. Alvarez mentions these churches. It is stated locally that the ancient name of Elti was Anti. Anti and Rudis

are said to have been sister and brother, 'Anag by race, who settled one (Rudis) on the east bank on the present site of Bashakira East (or Rodos, Cailiiand's Rodess,

II, 210), and the other (Anti) on the west bank.

Ibn Selfm and el Mas'udi, it is true, speak of the tribes south of Soba in much

the same terms as do the classical geographers, and call them worshippers of the moon, stars, fire, trees and animals, "blacks naked like the Zing," but they clearly

refer to the tribes living inland, away from the river, or else to those who dwelt considerably farther upstream.