Churches and church architecture

Following the introduction of Christianity to Nubia many of the country's pagan temples were promptly converted to churches. Before long, however, separately designed church buildings began to make their appearance, and their number steadily increased. By Classic Christian times every village of any size had at least one church; many had two, three, or even more churches. There is no obvious relationship between the size of a settlement and the number of its churches; this remains something of a mystery.

Within the territory of Nobadia, which has been surveyed nearly from end to end, no fewer than 148 ruined church buildings have been identified, and most have been excavated by archaeologists. Thus far only 23 churches have been identified within the territory of Makouria and 8 in the territory of Alodia, but this only reflects the limited extent of archaeological survey in those regions.

The basic plan of the Nubian church was that common to all east Christian churches: a tripartite division involving a central nave and flanking aisles, a sanctuary usually apsidal in shape at the east end, and flanking sacristies on either side of the sanctuary. Except in the rarest cases the exterior plan was a simple rectangle, without projecting porches of towers. Cathedrals had two rather than one aisle on either side of the nave. Distinctly Nubian features, not found in other churches, involved entryways in the north and south walls rather than at the west end, and a narrow passage behind the sanctuary, connecting the two sacristies. This latter feature made its appearance in Classic Christian times, and disappeared again in Late Christian times. Late Christian churches usually had a square or rectangular sanctuary rather than an apse.