Nubian traditions
Old Nubian Traditions
The Nubians have traditionally lived on the banks of the Nile in southern Egypt and northern Sudan. They continue cultural practices that originated with their ancestors over 5,000 years ago in the age of the ancient Nubian kingdom. Nubian life revolves around the Nile River. The Nile provides water for drinking, washing, and agriculture; in appreciation for the benefits of the Nile. the entire village gathers by the river during ceremonies such as birth, weddings, circumcisions, and harvest festivals. The Nubians are believed to be the first human race on earth, and the ancient Egyptians adopted most of their customs and traditions. To the Greeks, they were known as Nubia as the land of Punts, i.e. the land of gods.
A Nubian has always been renowned for his honesty. He is an artist by nature, and his lucky number was always seven. He holds the nine as a sacred object and wishes to stay on the Nile bank throughout his life.
A Nubian often prefers to marry one of his or her cousins. A Nubian wedding ceremony often lasts for 40 days and involves a long series of rituals. According to traditions, the groom has to present several gifts, particularly garments for the bride, her mother, and sisters. These presents are boarded on a camel and adorned with decorations such as colorful silk fabrics and jewelry. During the wedding ceremony, the groom is well-dressed and holds a sword and a whip.
The social status of a Nubian is judged by his wealth of land and waterwheels, as well as his noble descent.
Performance of prayers, for a Nubian, is evidence of his vividness and an object of pride to his tribe. A Nubian who doesn’t perform his prayers is punishable by public disdain and banishment away from the tribe.
A Nubian woman normally bears loads of jewelry all over her body. Around the neck, she carries two lines of necklaces, topped by two lines of jewelry bearing the Divine Name of Allah. On the forehead is a piece of jewelry showing a Quranic verse, with a large pair of earrings dangling from the top part of both ears, a second pair from the lower part, and a third in between. The ankle is adorned with a silver anklet, and her fingers with silver rings. A Nubian woman adorns herself also with tattoos, normally shaped like a mole on the cheek, a crescent on the forehead or a line drawn from the lip down to the chin or by coloring the nether lip. The Nubian woman is known for her remarkable use of henna and perfumes.
When a boy reached eleven years of age, his relatives selected a girl for him as a suitable future wife. She was normally a cousin or near relative and she would be unofficially reserved for him. The couple grew up knowing they would be bound in marriage in the future when they had grown up and were ready (normally at the age of twenty-one for the boy and at eighteen for the girl). The father, the mother, or whoever was the head of the family approached the girl's relatives and officially engaged her in marriage to his son. The betrothal was done quietly, without a celebration or any advance payment or present. The occasion was restricted to the engagement and the wedding date fixing. After the engagement, the girl would confine herself strictly to her house and was not allowed to show herself in the street.
The birth ceremony ( sebu) for the baby took place three,five,or seven days after birth. Every day until the (sebu) anything that was used for the mother or the baby was kept aside in a big dish to the right of the mother, including food given to the mother, perfume. henna, kohl used for the baby's eyes the string used in knotting the baby's navel, and a cup of water and sugar from which the baby drink.
As in most parts of the Nuba, mourning continued for three days. Men usually sat in a big shed of wooden logs and wheat-stalk mast built especially for the occasion, which they called hair, while women sit either on the terrace in front of the house or inside the rooms. On the third day, a charitable offering, in the form of food or new cloth, was distributed to the poor. This ended the period of mourning. As in all other parts of the Nuba, the relatives and friends of the bereaved contributed to the occasion, either by small cash payments or presents of sugar and coffee. In addition, every family head in the village contributed towards the feeding of guests by bringing his food tray at meal times.
For centuries, the Nubians often held lengthy religious and agricultural ceremonies. However, since relocation, the ceremonies have been shortened and are now limited to the villages. During these ceremonies, the Nubians express themselves through singing, dancing, and beating drums.The Nubians had proudly kept their heritage alive through oral tradition bequeathing each new generation with stories of gold, gods and glory.Some of Nubians traditions have disappeared as result there is no river Nile in modern Nuba because most of the Nubian traditions revolved around the river Nile in birth, marriage and even in death but Some of the old Nubian traditions are still remaining in the modern Nubian life.
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