Alodia

Alwa ( Alodia also, Alodien or Aloda ) is the southernmost of the three Christian Nubian kingdoms and consisted of about 500-1500 in the northern Sudan.

The other two kingdoms Nobatia and Makuria are much better known as Nubia is archaeologically well researched and these empires were in constant contact with the Arab neighbors, from their sources is a lot to learn. The area of Alwa, however, is archeologically barely tapped and Arab sources report little of this kingdom. The capital was Soba, one of the few places of Alwa, has been excavated archaeologically at that.

The beginnings of the empire lie completely in the dark, but it was initially pagan and a successor state to the Meroitic Empire. In the 6th century the king of Alwa, such as Byzantine sources report a convert to the Christian faith. According to John of Ephesus, the people of Alwa had learned that the Empire had been Christianized by Nobatia. The King of Alwa sent a letter to the King of Nobatia and asked to baptize his people and teach the Christian doctrine. Then traveled Longinus, who had Christianized the empire of Nobatia, after the capital of Alwa, and baptized there the king and a large part of the people.

From subsequent time only few names of kings or events have survived. After all, the kingdom was in close contact with Makuria and the families of the kings of both kingdoms seem to have been temporarily closely related. There are even indications that both kingdoms have been at least temporarily ruled by one king. As a special form of language Altnubisch is attested.

The end of the empire 's hard to believe. It is believed that it was conquered and Islamized by the evaporation, although this hardly concrete sources are obtained. 1504 should Soba have been conquered by the Fung, excavations have shown that the city was already largely lay in ruins. For the year 1523 the capital Soba is described by the traveler David Reubeni as a city in ruins. For the year 1540 a Nubian delegation is attested to the Ethiopian court, which asked for help in matters of Christian doctrine. This assistance was not granted. Whether this delegation, however, came from Alwa is unknown

The northern border of the empire was probably just south of the 5th cataract of the Nile. The Südausdehnung is unknown. The southern church, which is probably to be expected Alwa, was found in Saqadi, about 50 km west of Sennar. Unlike Makuria the kingdom is likely to have also extends east and west of the Nile, since not only the desert can be found.