A Late Christian Pilgrimage Centre in Nubia: The Evidence of Wall Inscriptions in the Upper Church at Banganarti in Bloomington, MN

The book is a publication of nearly one thousand wall inscriptions preserved in the so-called Upper Church at Banganarti (Sudanese Nubia), discovered by a Polish expedition between 2001 and 2006. In overwhelming majority, the inscriptions are mementos left by people who visited this cult place to pay homage to its patron, Archangel Raphael, and to ask him or God through his intermediary for various benefactions. Written in either Greek or Old Nubian, and frequently displaying a sophisticated graphic and literary form, they cast an interesting light on different aspects of social, cultural, and religious life of the Christian Nubian Kingdom of Makuria towards the end of its existence (twelfth-fourteenth centuries). The catalogue of inscriptions is complemented by a study addressing general questions provoked by the texts. The book is richly illustrated with plans, photographs and drawings.