Alodia

Alodia (also known as Alwa) was a medieval Nubian kingdom in central Sudan whose core settlement is commonly identified with the archaeological site of Soba near present-day Khartoum. The kingdom was an important regional power in the Nile valley during the early and high medieval periods.

Alodia emerged as a successor-state in the post-Roman period of Nubia and adopted Christianity by the early medieval centuries, maintaining an independent kingdom for several centuries. From around the late medieval period into the early second millennium the kingdom declined due to internal changes and external pressures, and by the 16th century the political centre had been overtaken by the Funj Sultanate and Arabized influences.

The kingdom’s capital and principal site of Soba lie on the east bank of the Blue Nile near modern Khartoum in central Sudan; the region is a broad Nile confluence plain rather than rugged terrain.

• Kingdom identity: Alodia, also called Alwa, was one of the medieval Nubian kingdoms of central Sudan and was Christianised in the early medieval period before later Islamicisation and absorption by emerging states.

What to See#

• Soba (capital site): Remains of the medieval capital settlement thought to be Soba, which includes archaeological ruins of mud-brick structures and pottery evidence of occupation.