Zacharias III (, ; Byzantine Greek:, ; Arabic:) (c. 795c. 856) was a ruler of the Nubian kingdom of Makuria.
Life Zacharias was born around 795 in Dongola, probably the son of the nobleman Ioannes and an anonymous woman of the Makurian royal family. Ioannes ascended to the Dongolan throne around 800, however it was Makurian tradition for the crown to pass from the king to his sororal nephew.Łajtar and Ochała 2021, pp. 364–365. Through unknown means, Zacharias was able to his succeed his father in the 820s when he ascended to the throne of Dongola and took the Roman imperial title of Augustus (Byzantine Greek:, ).Łajtar and Ochała 2021, pp. 365–366.
Reign Zacharias initially exploited the ongoing chaos of the Fourth Fitna (811–813/837) by continuing his predecessors' policy of refusing to send the annual tribute of slaves to Umayyad Egypt but intermittent invasions from the Abbasids had made the situation untenable and open rebellion had erupted against Zacharias.Al-Maqrizi IIa.36 (p.313). In 834, the new caliph al-Mu'tasim (833-842) attempted to re-impose the by threatening war unless the missing fourteen years worth of tribute were paid in full.Zurawski 2021. The Patriarch of Alexandria Joseph I, wishing to mediate peace between the two, sent his own letter to Zacharias advising him to obey the caliph.Severus ibn al-Muqaffa, pp. 503–504. With rebellions confining Zacharias to Dongola, the king knew it would be near-impossible to gather the required 5,000 slaves and in 835 sent his 20-year old son Georgios I to Baghdad as an envoy. Before he left, Zacharias proclaimed Georgios as his heir and may have bestowed upon him the title of caesar (, ).Severus ibn al-Muqaffa, pp. 505. Georgios, aided by Joseph, was successful in his mission and al-Mu'tasim reduced the payment to once every three years.Al-Maqrizi IIa.36 (pp.314–315). After Georgios's triumphant return to Dongola in early 837, Zacharias rebuilt the Great Church of Jesus in gratitude for his son's safe return. Zacharias ruled with his son for the rest of his reign.Werner 203, pp. 91–92.
Death and Succession Little else is known of Zacharias's life. As Georgios I was reigning alone in the 850s, Zacharias likely died in the first half of the decade.Łajtar 2003, p. 105.
Family Zacharias had three known children :
Georgios I of Makuria (815–887), caesar during his father's reign.Łajtar 2003, p. 91. Princess Kosma ( 820–a. 840), whose son Niuty was Georgios' heir before a failed rebellion.Welsby 2002, p. 74. Ioannes (827–883), protomeizoteros and eparch of Gadera during Georgios' reign.Łajtar 2003, pp. 100–105. Notes
References
Bibliography
Al-Maqrizi. Book of Exhortations and Useful Lessons in Dealing with Topography and Historical Remains trans. K. Stowasser. Liege 2022. Severus ibn al-Muqaffa. History of the Patriarchs of Alexandria trans. B. Evetts, History of the Patriarchs of the Coptic Church of Alexandria III. 1910 ( Patrologia Orientalis 5)
Łajtar, Adam. (2003). Catalogue of the Greek Inscriptions in the Sudan National Museum at Khartoum. Peeters, Leuven (Orientalia Lovaniensia Analecta 122). Łajtar, Adam and Ochała, Grzegorz. "A Christian King in Africa: The Image of Christian Nubian Rulers in Internal and External Sources," in P. Forness, A. Hasse-Ungeheuer and H. Leppin (eds.) The Good Christian Ruler in the First Millenium: Views from the Wider Mediterranean World in Conversation (2021). De Gruyter (Millenium Studies 92). Welsby, Derek A. (2002). The Medieval Kingdoms of Nubia, British Museum Press, London. Werner, Roland (2013). Das Christentum in Nubien: Geschichte und Gestalt einer afrikanischen Kirche. (Studien zur Orientalischen Kirchengeschichte 48) Zurawski, B. (2021). "Christian and Islamic Nubia, 543–1820," Oxford Research Encyclopedia of African History.