AHC : Independent Nubia to the modern day.

With a PoD post-conquest of Egypt by the Caliphate, have Nubia remain as an independent, Christian state in the historical region of Nubia/The Great Bend.

Bonus Points if they get involved with the Crusades as a 'Prester John' style figure.
 
The obvious way is to have Egypt get rekt by a Crusade and turned into a Christian kingdom. Even though the Nubians don't follow the right Christianity, they won't get messed with for a good while.

The other way is to somehow get the Funj who conquered the Nubian states to convert to Christianity and adopt Nubian culture. This might be a bit harder, since I believe Islamic penetration into Nubia was increasing by the end of the Nubian states.

Since that's pretty late, and there's no guarantee of European colonialism being a threat, Nubia could modernise and end up a state like Ethiopia. It probably would consist of most of modern day Sudan (minus South Sudan of course). The other problem is a resurgent Egypt, Muslim or Christian, which would be a major problem as in OTL.
 
The obvious way is to have Egypt get rekt by a Crusade and turned into a Christian kingdom. Even though the Nubians don't follow the right Christianity, they won't get messed with for a good while.

If they can be in a good state before the Crusades arrive, it could be interesting to see a Nubia that invades Egypt from the south whilst the Crusaders invade the Levant. Apart from forcing any power that holds both to fight on two fronts, I expect that Egypt (or at least Coptic Egypt) might be more sympathetic to the Nubians than the Crusaders.

The other way is to somehow get the Funj who conquered the Nubian states to convert to Christianity and adopt Nubian culture. This might be a bit harder, since I believe Islamic penetration into Nubia was increasing by the end of the Nubian states.

I agree - perhaps an intervention during the Fatamid Civil War is a good choice? The PoD may have to be further back than that, but it'd be a good moment to establish the Nubians as a player in Egyptian affairs, rather than allies of convenience for the Fatamids.

Since that's pretty late, and there's no guarantee of European colonialism being a threat, Nubia could modernise and end up a state like Ethiopia. It probably would consist of most of modern day Sudan (minus South Sudan of course). The other problem is a resurgent Egypt, Muslim or Christian, which would be a major problem as in OTL.

I think that a surviving Nubia might have to establish itself by taking over Egypt and asserting itself. Being able to assert a millennia-awaited old idea of Kemet & Kush united as a national myth, that could go a long way - even if it is a Christian Kemet & Kush.
 

Thank you, that is interesting.

The two premises seem to play off of each other nicely.

I wonder, if instead of suffering invasions, Nubia instead was able to 'slow' the Nile at the Cataracts to have it drop sediment - essentially digging small canals (and I suppose a possible shipping canal if they had the manpower/money/time) to redirect water away from the Cataract proper, and out into the lands nearby.

Heck - I even think I know where I'd suggest to give it a try - the Third Cataract. The land nearby is (relatively) flat - and there are a couple of islands that with some effort could be irrigated if work was done.

Alternatively, if the Nubians really wanted to go a bit mental they could dig up some stone for rip-rap (I mean, these guys build pyramids of their own, they have to be able to, somehow) and dump it in the narrower points of the river to purposely slow it down, trap silt, and slowly raise the river level whilst creating farmland.

The way I see it, any project that can help the Nile be of more use to Nubia, helps shift the balance between Nubia and Egypt in Nubias favour, and against Egypts (even if only in small quantities).

Side note : The idea of Nubia essentially using stone to manipulate the flow of the Nile river, seems terrifying and amazing at the same time. If doing this can increase their carrying capacity, awesome. If it increases it enough to enable building shipping canals (far off, I know), then Nubia has become baws.
 
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