CHAPTER IX.
OF THE RACES OF PEOPLE INHABITING NUBIA AND OTHER
_ COUNTRIES BETWEEN ABYSSINIA AND EGYPT.
Section l |||0 /‘ th e B a r a b r a or B e rb e r in s
T h e people wlio inhabit the valley of the Nile above Egypt,
and from that country to Sennaar, give themselves the appellation
of Berber! T By the Arabs they are termed Nuba.
The same people in Egypt, where' they are .well known,Oa^e
called Berberins. Their general character and habits are well
described by M. Costaz, a member qf the Egyptian .Commission,
who was at Philse in 1799J
* I have already made some observations on the-name of Baräbra in speaking
of the Berbers of Atiantica. Many writers have identified these nations, deceived
by the resemblance of their names.
The Baräbra were first distinguished as a particular race by ,M. Costäz in 1799,
and afterwards described by Demon, Costaz, Hamilton, Legh, Waddingtön, and
Buickhardt. Dr. Seetzen wrote a memoir on this race inserted in 'the'“ Mines de
1’Orient.” He supposed them to be Berbers. Vater compared a considerable number
of words in the languages of the Berbers and the Baräbra, and found only three
which bear any resemblance, they are the following:
Neck, in Berber, arguh; in Baräbra, gummurk
Year esoughas ! szuaga
Water . aman amanga
See Mithridates, iii. p. 129.
Professor Ritter has made by far the most extensive researches into the history
of the Baräbra, and he has collected a great mass of information respecting them,
chiefly from Arabian writers. Ritter not only attempts to. identify the Baräbra
with the Berbers, but ascribes to them both an Indian origin. He supports this
hypothesis with vast learning and extent of research. It still has the appearance of
a paradox, and since Dr. Rüppell discovered the root or stock of the Baräbra in
the Nonba of Kordofan, cannot be maintained with the least appearance of probability.
The last treatise on the Baräbra is a learned and able paper in the sixtieth
volume of the Edinburgh Review. I shall have occasion to refer to most of these
works in the following pages.
f Reisen in Nubien, Kordufan und dem Peträischen Arabien, vorzüglich in
Geographisch-statischer Hinsicht, von D. Edward Rüppell. Frankfurt am Main.
1829, p. 32.
% Mem. sur la Nubie et les Baräbfas, par M. Cöstaz. Description de l’Egypte.
Etat Moderne, torn. i. p 399.
The- Nubians ure neither Arabsj' Negrde^, nor Egyptians;
they form a distinct paces with af peculiar-»physiognomy ^and
colour, and sp.eakafl(an>|^age peculiar,tb,themselves,; in which
>they are called Bar&bras. Wherever, there isAny &oiltion thei
banks of the /NSTd^they - plant ,d@lip$t4peSyi e#ablish their
wheels, forlimgation, and sow a kind* of millet called dhourra,
and also some legrinlihous1 plants. Thqiptrade- consists ;cihiefly>
in? cloth, which?? they buy atiJEsh^ giviiig in exchange dry
dates. The Barabras were* in.i^7j$, under the ’nominal' d<3p$i-
nidteof the Turks, and A^aid an annual tribute of dates vand
black slaves, which latter th e y procured from M^la^tVans' of
Sennaar. They are in the habit Af; coming t down iip |jE g y p t
in search of employ, and’are known ahrGafeo’,, under 'the name
of Berberins! ' They- aT$hmuch^iz%d'ff©r th^ir^d|te^;y^Hn
which - fxt>m the'Afabautheif nteiAbou^ifh? i
Denon has; thus .described them : he their skin isof
a shining :and jet-black,^exactly similar to that of antique
bronzes^ $;They have not the smallest Tesepiiblapce ito the.Nei
groes in the western parts of Africa. ’ Their leyesl^Eet deep Set,
aiid sparkling, ,with the brows hangin^dyeif/the nose pointed;
the nostrils are large, the mouth wide, the lips, of moderate
thickness* and the. hair and beard-in sraai^iquantity*. an<l
hanging in little locks. Being wrinkled betii^g'i’and retaining
their agility to the last, the only indication nl old* .i^c
aiAbhg then% ife, the whiteness of their .beardj^very. part; of
the body remaining .slender and muscular, as in their youth.”*
We may ? observe here, that althbn^f^, Henon i terms * the
complexion of the Barhbras, a jet black pother travellers, hafd
described them as of a much redder hue, andji it seems as if
their colour varied from a copper tint to a dark shade. ; The
accurate English traveller, Mr. Brown, dbserves, that the
Nubian race commences at Assouan or Syene. In -the; island
of Elephantine, the people are black, > but in the opposite
town of Assouan, “ they are,” he setys^l“ of a red colour, and
have the features of the Nubians Or, Barabras, whose language
they readily speak.”
The following account of their physical character is; given
by M. Costaz: —
* Denon, Voy. Egypte, i. p. 48. Aikin’s Translation.