Nubian people

Nubians (Nobiin: Nⲟⲃⲓ̄, Arabic: النوبيون) are an ethnic group indigenous to the Nubia region, which stretches from southern Egypt to northern Sudan. They originate from the early inhabitants of the central Nile valley, believed to be one of the earliest cradles of civilization. In the southern valley of Egypt, Nubians differ culturally and ethnically from Egyptians, although they intermarried with them and other ethnic groups, especially Arabs. They speak the Nilo-Saharan Nubian languages as their mother tongue, which are part of the Northern Eastern Sudanic languages, and Arabic as a second language.

Neolithic settlements have been found in the central Nubian region, dating back to 7000 BC, with Wadi Halfa believed to be the oldest settlement in the central Nile valley. Parts of Nubia, particularly Lower Nubia, were at times part of ancient Pharaonic Egypt and at other times a rival state representing parts of Meroë or the Kingdom of Kush. By the Twenty-fifth Dynasty (744 BC–656 BC), all of Egypt was united with Nubia, extending down to what is now Khartoum However, in 656 BC, the native Twenty-sixth Dynasty regained control of Egypt. As warriors, the ancient Nubians were famous for their skill and precision with the bow and arrow. In the Middle Ages, following the collapse of the Kingdom of Kush to the Axumites, and the closure of the last Ancient Egyptian temple by Emperor Justinian I, the Nubians started gradually converting to Christianity and established three kingdoms: Nobatia in the north, Makuria in the center, and Alodia in the south. They then converted to Islam during the Islamization of the Sudan region.