Barabra is a term for the
Nubian peoples of northern
Sudan
Sudan, officially the Republic of the Sudan, is a country in Northeast Africa. It borders the Central African Republic to the southwest, Chad to the west, Libya to the northwest, Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the east, Eritrea and Ethiopi ...
and southern
Egypt
Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...
. The word is originally derived from the Greek word bárbaros
(i.e.
Barbarian
A barbarian is a person or tribe of people that is perceived to be primitive, savage and warlike. Many cultures have referred to other cultures as barbarians, sometimes out of misunderstanding and sometimes out of prejudice.
A "barbarian" may ...
) that was deformed to "barbarus" in Roman. It was originally used by Greeks to describe all foreigners (non Greek people). In addition, the word barabra is used in Arabic in the plural form "برابرة", hence the added 'a' between the 'r' and 'b' in 'Barabra'. When the locals use it in singular form to refer to one individual, they use the word "بربري" (in English transliteration "barbari"), an Arabized form of the Roman word "barbarus"; the ending letter 'ي' in Arabic or 'i' in English transliteration has the effect of transforming the word into an adjective, just as "مصر" (Masr) refers to Egypt as a country, while one says 'مصري' (Masri) to refer to an Egyptian individual.
The word barbarus was originally used to describe many other foreign non-Greek nations, including ancient Egyptians, Persians, Medes and Phoenicians, while the term
egyptiote was used to describe Greeks living in Egypt.
See also
*
:ar:برابرة
*
Barbaria
*
Barbarian
A barbarian is a person or tribe of people that is perceived to be primitive, savage and warlike. Many cultures have referred to other cultures as barbarians, sometimes out of misunderstanding and sometimes out of prejudice.
A "barbarian" may ...
Notes
References
*
*
*
* Siculus Diodorus, Ludwig August Dindorf, Diodori Bibliotheca historica – Volume 1 – Page 671
{{Authority control
Nubian people
Ethnic groups in Sudan
Egyptian people of Nubian descent
Sudanese people of Nubian descent