NUBIANS (BIBLICALS)

Nubians are an African people living in today's southern Egypt and Sudan. The first Nubian settlements in the Neolithic age are attested as early as around 7000 BC. It is also worth adding that the ancient area of Nubia, as well as the Nubians themselves, entered into intense interactions with the Egyptian state and civilization. Of course, these interactions also took place on the military level. As Nubian warriors were famous in antiquity as great archers, they were often hired as mercenary soldiers for the service of the Egyptian pharaohs. Suffice it to say that in ancient times Nubia was called in Egypt the "Land of the Arch" (Egypt: Ta-Seti). The first Nubian soldiers in Egyptian service are certified in sources dated around 2400 BC, and they remained in it - one way or another - until the 8th century BC! It is worth adding that Nubian warriors are certified not only in written texts, but also in numerous sculptures, figurines and other artifacts of Egyptian culture. It can be assumed that during the Old Kingdom (around 2700 - around 2200 BC), the Nubians, of course, used mainly a bow, and perhaps they had daggers as an additional weapon. Rather, they did not have any protective armament in the form of a shield or a helmet.