David

David II (Old Nubian: ⲇⲁ̄ⲇ, Dād) was king of the Nubian kingdom of Makuria from 1268 or 1269 (667 AH) to 4 June 1276.

Life David was the son of an unknown father and Taslima, a sister of king Murtashkara. David came to power after deposing Murtashkara and expelling his sons to the Kingdom of al-Abwab in the south. Afterwards he attacked the Red Sea port of Aydhab and the Egyptian border town of Aswan in 1272 and 1275 respectively, ruled by the Mamluk Sultanate of Baybars. The attack on Aswan prompted Baybars to invade Makuria, depose David and install Mashkouda on the throne. As a consequence Makuria would become a Mamluk puppet state plagued by civil wars and Mamluk incursions for decades to come. David and his family were detained in Cairo in June 1276, where he remained captive until his death, presumably after 1284.

David is known from two legal documents found at Qasr Ibrim. In one of them his throne name appears as George Basil David (Georgiou Basileos Dād).

Wall painting In 2023, a Christian wall painting was discovered in Dongola, the capital of Makuria. It shows a king bowing to Christ, while to his left stands Archangel Michael. It is accompanied by an Old Nubian inscription that repeatedly mentions king David and his pleas to Christ to protect the city, likely the same David who attacked Aydhab and Aswan.