mentioned in accounts by Greek and Coptic authors of the conversion of Nubian kings to Christianity in the sixth century. A missionary was supposedly sent to Nobatia by the Byzantine empress Theodora in 540. The Nubian kings accepted the Monophysite Christianity practiced in Egypt and acknowledged the spiritual authority of the Coptic patriarch of Alexandria over the Nubian church. A hierarchy of bishops was named by the Coptic patriarchs and directed the church's activities, wielding considerable secular influence. The church sanctioned a sacerdotal kingship that confirmed the royal line's legitimacy, and in turn the monarch protected the interests of the church. The emergency of Christianity reopened channels to the Mediterranean and renewed Nubia's cu
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