page_title: Alodia
section_title: Church architecture
hierarchical_section_title: Alodia / Culture / Church architecture
caption_attribution_description: Wellcome excavations in Sudan. Eastern end of one of the ruins uncovered at Saqadi, 1913 &#91;Jebel Moya&#93; Wellcome Images Keywords: Sudan
context_page_description: Alodia, also known as Alwa, was a medieval Nubian kingdom in what is now central and southern Sudan. Its capital was the city of Soba, located near modern-day Khartoum at the confluence of the Blue and White Nile rivers.
  Founded sometime after the ancient kingdom of Kush fell, in around 350 AD, Alodia is first mentioned in historical records in 569. It was the last of the three Nubian kingdoms to convert to Christianity in 580, following Nobadia and Makuria. It possibly reached its peak during the 9th–12th centuries when records show that it exceeded its northern neighbor, Makuria, with which it maintained close dynastic ties, in size, military power and economic prosperity. Being a large, multicultural state, Alodia was administered by a powerful king and provincial governors appointed by him. The capital Soba, described as a town of "extensive dwellings and churches full of gold and gardens", prospered as a trading hub. Goods arrived from Makuria, the Middle East, western Africa, India and even China. Literacy in both Nubian and Greek flourished.
context_section_description: The existence of 400 churches has been recorded throughout the kingdom; most have yet to be located. Only seven have been identified so far, given the simple names of church "A", "B", "C", "E", the "Mound C" church in Soba, the church in Saqadi and the temple-church in Musawwarat as-Sufra. A hypothetical church was recently discovered in Abu Erteila in the western Butana. Churches "A"–"C" as well as the "Mound C" church were basilicas comparable to the largest Makurian churches. The Saqadi church was an insertion into a pre-existing structure. Church "E" and the church of Musawwarat es-Sufra were "normal" churches. Thus, the known Alodian houses of worship can be categorized into three classes.
  On "Mound B" in Soba lay the standalone complex of the three churches "A", "B" and "C". Churches "A" and "B", both probably built in the mid-9th century, were large buildings, the first measuring 28 m × 24.5 m (92 ft × 80 ft) and the second 27 m × 22.5 m (89 ft × 74 ft). Church "C" was much smaller  and built after the other two churches, probably after c. 900. The three churches had many similarities, including having a narthex, wide entrances on the main east-west axis and a pulpit along the north side of the nave. Differences are evident in the thickness of the bricks used. Church "C" lacked outer aisles. It seems probable that the complex was the ecclesiastical center of Soba, if not the entire kingdom.
  Church "E", on a natural mount, was 16.4 m × 10.6 m (54 ft × 35 ft) in size (and like all red brick structures in Soba heavily robbed). Its layout was unusual, such as its L-shaped narthex. The roof was supported by wooden beams resting on stone pedestals. The internal walls used to be covered by painted whitewashed mud; the external walls were rendered in white lime mortar.
  The "Mound C" church, perhaps the oldest of the churches of Soba, was around 13.5 m (44 ft) in length. It was the only Alodian church known to have incorporated stone columns. Very little remains of it and its walls, probably made of red bricks, have completely disappeared. Five capitals have been noted, belonging to a style that appeared in Nubia at the turn of the 8th century.
  The church of Musawwarat es-Sufra, called "Temple III A", was initially a pagan temple but was converted into a church, probably soon after the royal conversion in 580. It was rectangular and slightly skewed, being 8.6 m–8.8 m × 7.4 m–7.6 m (28 ft–29 ft × 24 ft–25 ft) in size. It was divided into one large and three small rooms. The roof, of an indeterminate shape, was supported by wooden beams. Despite originally being a Kushite temple it still bears similarities to purpose-built churches, for example having an entrance on both the north and south sides.
  The southernmost known Nubian church was in Saqadi, a red brick building inserted into a pre-existing building of unknown nature. It had a nave, where two L-shaped walls projected, and at least two aisles with rectangular brick piers between, as well as a range of possibly three rooms across the western end, which was a typically Nubian arrangement.
  Nubian church architecture was greatly influenced by that of Egypt, Syria and Armenia. The constellation of the "Mound B" complex might reflect Byzantine influences. The relations between the church architecture of Makuria and Alodia remain uncertain. What seems clear is that Alodian churches lacked eastern entrances and tribunes, features characteristic for churches in northern Nubia. Furthermore, Alodian churches used more wood. Similarities with medieval Ethiopian church architecture are harder to find, only a few details matching.
caption: The unearthing of the Saqadi church in 1913
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