Qasr Ibrim

Qasr Ibrim commands the Nile from a fortified height in Lower Nubia. Its walls overlook a river corridor used by successive kingdoms, while its cathedral recalls the centuries when Nubian bishops served a Christian population. Documents preserved here in Nubian, Greek, Arabic and Turkish offer rare glimpses of the lives and rulers of the region.

After the decline of Makuria, Qasr Ibrim remained an important centre of the kingdom of Dotawo; documents from that kingdom survive here as late as 1464. In the sixteenth century the Ottomans refortified the site and installed a garrison, converting part of the cathedral into a mosque. Descendants of the garrison remained until they were expelled in 1811, bringing a long chapter of occupation to an end.