The Blemmyes (Ancient Greek: Βλέμμυες or Βλέμυες, Blémues [blé.my.es], Latin: Blemmyae) were an Eastern Desert people who appeared in written sources from the 7th century BC until the 8th century AD.[1] By the late 4th century, they had occupied Lower Nubia and established a kingdom. From inscriptions in the temple of Isis at Philae, a considerable amount is known about the structure of the Blemmyan state.[2]
The Blemmyes are usually identified as one of the components of the archaeological X-Group culture that flourished in Late Antiquity.[1] Their identification with the Beja people who have inhabited the same region since the Middle Ages is generally accepted.[3][4]
- ^ a b Christides, Vassilios (1980). "Ethnic Movements in Southern Egypt and Northern Sudan: Blemmyes-Beja in Late Antique and Early Arab Egypt until 707 A. D.". Listy filologické. 103 (3): 129–143. JSTOR 23464092.
- ^ Welsby, Derek (2002), The Medieval Kingdoms of Nubia: Pagans, Christians and Muslims Along the Middle Nile, British Museum, pp. 16–17.
- ^ Dijkstra, Jitse H.F. (2013), "Blemmyes", The Encyclopedia of Ancient History, Wiley, pp. 1145–1146.
- ^ Dijkstra, Jitse H.F. (2018), "Blemmyes", The Oxford Dictionary of Late Antiquity, vol. 1, Oxford University Press, p. 253.