up by Egyptian refugees rather than indigenous Makurians. Since the 10th/11th century the Nubians had their own monastery in the Egyptian Wadi El Natrun valley. Islam The Baqt guaranteed the security of Muslims travelling in Makuria, but prohibited their settlement in the kingdom. The latter point was, however, not maintained: Muslim migrants, probably merchants and artisans, are confirmed to have settled in Lower Nubia from the 9th century and to have intermarried with the locals, thus laying the foundation for a small Muslim population as far south as the Batn el-Hajar. Arabic documents from Qasr Ibrim confirm that these Muslims had their own communal judiciary, but still regarded the Eparch of Nobatia as their suzerain. It seems likely that they had own mosques, but yet none has been identified archaeologically, with a possible exception being in Gebel Adda. In Dongola, there was no larger number of Muslims until the end of the 13th century. Before that date, Muslim residents were limited to merchants and diplomats. In the late 10th century, when al-Aswani came to Dongola, there was, despite being demanded in the Baqt, still no mosque; he and around 60 other Muslims had to pray outside of the city. It is not until 1317, with the conversion of the throne hall by Abdallah Barshambu, when a mosque is firmly attested. While the Jizya, the Islamic head tax enforced on non-Muslims, was established after the Mamluk invasion of 1276 and Makuria was periodically governed by Muslim kings since Abdallah Barshambu, the majority of the Nubians remained Christian. The actual Islamization of Nubia began in the late 14th century, with the arrival of the first in a series of Muslim teachers propagating Islam. Economy The main economic activity in Makuria was agriculture, with farmers growing several crops a year of barley, millet, and dates. The methods used were generally the same that had been used for millennia. Small plots of well irrigated land were lined along the banks of the Nile, which would be fertilized by the river's annual flooding. One important technological advance was the saqiya, an oxen-powered water wheel, that was introduced in the Roman period and helped increase yields and population density. Settlement patterns indicate that land was divided into individual plots rather than as in a manorial system. The peasants lived in small villages composed of clustered houses of sun-dried brick. Important industries included the production of pottery,