| David | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
.jpg) Wall painting from Dongola possibly depicting king David | |||||
| King of Makuria | |||||
| Reign | 1268 or 1269 – 4 June 1276 | ||||
| Predecessor | Murtashkara | ||||
| Successor | Mashkouda | ||||
| Born | First half of the 13th century | ||||
| Died | After 1284 | ||||
| |||||
| Religion | Coptic Orthodox Christianity | ||||
David II (Old Nubian: ⲇⲁ̄ⲇ, Dād) was king of the Nubian kingdom of Makuria from 1268 or 1269 (667 AH) to 4 June 1276.
David was the son of an unknown father and Taslima, a sister of king Murtashkara.[1] David came to power after deposing Murtashkara and expelling his sons to the Kingdom of al-Abwab in the south. Afterwards he attacked the Red Sea port of Aydhab and the Egyptian border town of Aswan in 1272 and 1275 respectively, ruled by the Mamluk Sultanate of Baybars.[2] The attack on Aswan prompted Baybars to invade Makuria, depose David and install Mashkouda on the throne. As a consequence Makuria would become a Mamluk puppet state plagued by civil wars and Mamluk incursions for decades to come. David and his family were detained in Cairo in June 1276, where he remained captive until his death, presumabely after 1284.[3]
David is known from two legal documents found at Qasr Ibrim. In one of them his throne name appears as George Basil David (Georgiou Basileos Dād).[4]
Wall painting
In 2023, a Christian wall painting was discovered in Dongola, the capital of Makuria.[5] It shows a king bowing to Christ, while to his left stands Archangel Michael. It is accompanied by an Old Nubian inscription that repeatedly mentions king David and his pleas to Christ to protect the city, likely the same David who attacked Aydhab and Aswan.
See also
Citations
- ↑ Seignobos 2023, p. 672.
- ↑ Hamilton, Bernard (27 February 2003). The Christian World of the Middle Ages. The History Press. ISBN 978-0-7524-9476-0.
- ↑ Seignobos 2023, p. 671.
- ↑ Ruffini 2016, p. 670.
- ↑ Eleode, Emi (26 April 2023). "Amid an unfolding civil war, unique Christian wall paintings have been found in hidden chambers of an ancient Sudanese city". The Art Newspaper - International art news and events. Retrieved 23 August 2025.
References
- Ruffini, Giovanni R. (2016). "Dotawo's later dynasties: a speculative history". Aegyptus et Nubia Christiana. The Włodzimierz Godlewski jubilee volume on the occasion of his 70th birthday. pp. 539–552.
- Seignobos, Robin (2018). "Back to the sources: Egyptian-Nubian relations under Baybars (1260-1277) according to the earliest Arabic accounts". In Matthieu Honneger (ed.). Nubian Archaeology in the XXIst century. Proceedings of the Thirteenth International Conference for Nubian Studies, Neuchâtel, 1st-6th september 2014. Peeters Pub. pp. 135–148.
- Seignobos, Robin (2023). "Two Kings for One Throne? A problem of Late Medieval Nubian chronology (ca. 1280–1311)". In Marie Millet; Vincent Rondot (eds.). Kush. Vol. XX. Musée du Louvre. pp. 669–684. ISBN 978-2-72471-049-6.