Kulubnarti

Kulubnarti ("Kulb island") is a 1 mile (1.6 km) long island in northern Sudan. Located on the Nile, around 100 miles (160 km) south of the Egyptian border, it is part of the village of Kulb.

Until the fifteenth century, Kulubnarti was a remote area. It was one of the last known refuges for Christians in Nubia, while Islam spread to the south. It has been inhabited since the time of the Christian kingdom of Makuria, approximately 1100 AD.

Continuously inhabited from the eleventh century to modern times,^[1] it is the only Nubian location which has demonstrated through archaeologically investigation a continuous occupation from the Middle Ages to modern history. Kulubnarti has archaeological and anthropological significance because it has been subjected to one of the only systematic excavations of any site along the southern portion of the Nile.^[2] The primary motivation for excavation at Kulubnarti was to increase awareness and understanding of the cultural transition from Christianity to Islam in ancient Nubia.^[3] Nubia converted to Christianity by the late 6th century and Christianity prevailed as the dominant religion of the region until the 14th century when Moslems gained control of territory south of the 3rd Cataract.^[4] Christianity however, persisted into the 15th century in many regions lying north of the 3rd Cataract, including Kulubnarti.^[4][5] Prior to the archaeological study of Kulubnarti, this cultural transition was almost completely unknown archaeologically and only a few historical references were in existence.