Faras

Faras (Arabic: فرس), formerly Pachoras (Latin) or Pakhoras (Ancient Greek: Παχώρας, Pakhṓras; Old Nubian: Ⲡⲁⲭⲱⲣⲁⲥ, Pakhōras)¹ was a major city in Lower Nubia. The site of the city, on the border between modern Egypt and Sudan at Wadi Halfa Salient, was flooded by Lake Nasser in the 1960s and is now permanently underwater. Before this flooding, extensive archaeological work was conducted by a Polish archaeological team led by professor Kazimierz Michałowski.

History

Dating back to the A-Group period, the town was a major centre during the Meroitic period, and was the site of a major temple. During the period of ancient Egyptian control over Nubia, it became an Egyptian administrative centre and, located upriver from Abu Simbel, Egyptian cultural influences were prominent.

The city reached its height during the Christian period of Nubia, when Pakhoras was the capital of the basiliskos Silko of Nobadia. When Nobatia was absorbed into Makuria, it remained the most prominent center in the north, the seat of Nobadia's eparch. A nearby citadel at an archaeological site now known as Qasr or Kasr el-Wizz housed a major church and monastery, likely known as Apa Dios or Apa Dioskoros after a local saint.²

In the turbulent later years of Christian Nubia, Pakhoras seems to have declined and the administrative centre moved to the more easily defended area of Silmi (now ).