Was King Merkourios (696 - 710), an African ‘New Constantine’, the unifier of the Kingdoms and Churches of Makouria and Nobadia? – A re-examination and alternative suggestions.

Abstract

This article examines the existing sources on King Merkourios and the unification of Nobadia and Makouria with the intension to shed light on the King’s probable contribution to this unification and the fact that he has been called a “New Constantine” by at least one source and by modern scholars. The article highlights the fact that there was no royal fanatical disposition against the Melkite Orthodox Church and that the unification of the two kingdoms was the result of economic, practical, military and political reasons rather than religious ones, which were probably secondary. The examination of sources from Merkourios’s reign, the preMerkourios period and the post-Merkourios epoch leads to new interpretations and suggestions as well as to alternative hypotheses.

Keywords

• Nobadia
• Makouria
• Merkourios
• Melkite Orthodoxy
• Miaphysite Orthodoxy
• exarchos
• eparchos
• Novus Constantinus
• Nubian foundation and key stones
• papyri
• graffiti