Amunat

The Province of Raziya

Allegiance	Sirdabi Caliphate
Capital	Kneph-Nebet
Demonym	Amunati
Official Language	Sirdabi
Official Religion	Azadi
Currency	fals/dirham/nour
Native Heritages	Amunati, Sirdabi

Amunat is one of the Sirdabi Caliphate's north Idiri provinces, lying directly to the west of Raziya and east of Ifru. A dry and sunny land, the province is dominated by the great River Tamarat, whose seasonal flood waters and the rich silt deposited by them each year have made the surrounding valley among the most productive agricultural areas in the world. Amunat has a proud and extremely long history, having been for millennia one of the greatest kingdoms of the ancient world, with a sophisticated culture that influenced peoples around the Adelantean basin and beyond. It retains much of this cultural cachet even today, along with a faintly exotic reputation for mystery and magic.

Geography & Climate

Amunat Province, Sirdabi Caliphate

Amunat is one of the smaller provinces of the Sirdabi Caliphate, consisting almost entirely of the narrow valley of the River Tamarat. To west and east the province is bounded by rugged and extremely arid terrain, but in the lands touched by the Tamarat's annual floodwaters it is a well-watered and bounteous landscape. The floods and the broad channel of the river are in fact essential to Amunat's prosperity, if not in fact its very existence, for there is scarcely any rain that falls in Amunat and what little there is pours down in short-lived tempests more destructive than beneficial. Fortunately the waters of the Tamarat rise faithfully every year, following the dry season that lasts from to Jirguz to Kholabi. Somewhat less fortunately, while the onset of the flood itself is very regular, the degree of flooding is less so, and it is not uncommon for neighborhoods or even whole villages to be inundated every few to several years if they are built too low and close to the riverbank.

For several miles in either direction from the river, the land is flat or gently rolling, and generally covered by fields of grain and shady groves of date palms. Where the land is not cultivated it is often watery marshland and dense papyrus swamp, which offer their own vital sources of food and material. The further one goes from the banks of the Tamarat, the drier the landscape steadily becomes, transitioning from cropland to pasture, and then swiftly to barren desert. The Sundab Hills in the east mark the much-disputed border between Amunat and the neighboring province of Raziya, and have historically been the site of conflict between these two age-old rivals. To the west the border with Ifru is a much friendlier one, marked by the eastern edge of the Citadel Mountains and the northern end of the Red Crown Cliffs . Although the Tamarat river valley ends below the cliffs, Amunat has since ancient times laid claim to the Valley of Tears which lies between them and the Citadel. Although overall quite desolate and isolated, a single productive well supports the town of el-Mizut in the middle of starkly towering escarpments and the barren flatland of the valley.

While Amunat is generally fairly flat except for its limited hinterlands, the terrain does rise gradually from the low marshy land of the Tamarat Delta in the north, to the Numizana Foothills and Piruti Falls in the south.

People

The native people of Amunat, the Amunati, make up the vast majority of the province's population. The capital of Kneph-Nebet has the most diverse ethnic makeup, with a large concentration of Sirdabi as well as smaller numbers of Salawi, Tessouare, and others. But the Amunati still dominate the scene even in the capital, where their influence on local architecture and customs is noticeable. Throughout the rest of the province, Sirdabi and Tessouare are again scattered throughout the towns along the Tamarat, but people of Amunati ancestry predominate.

The Amunati themselves differ between those of the lower Tamarat in the north, and those dwelling along the upper river in the south. Those native to the lower Tamarat tend to be taller, with more aquiline features and coppery skin tones, while those native to the upper Tamarat have darker skin, rounder faces, and often the exceptionally nimble and graceful hands that are said to be the hallmark of the Milombo people of the Izendi Highlands. Although these traits are roughly used to distinguish between the so-called "Red Crown Tamarat" (northern) and "Gold Crown Tamarat" (southern) populations, the two groups intermingle across the province and collectively consider themselves proud Amunati.

Economy

The vast majority of people in Amunat are employed in agriculture within the Tamarat's fertile floodplain, where an immense amount of grain is produced -- not just several varieties of wheat, but also barley as well as smaller grains such as pearl millet and teff. These grains support the local population with plenty to spare, such that Amunat plays a major role in providing foodstuffs for the entire caliphate. Within Amunat itself, some of the harvest is devoted to producing the Amunati's beloved beer, known generally as heqet, although numerous distinct varieties are produced according to local taste. Popular since the most ancient times, heqet continues to be consumed in quantity despite Azadi proscriptions on alcohol consumption, and is particularly popular in the more traditional lower regions of Amunat.

Points of Interest

Field of Plumes Gates of Dawn Lake Mesheb

Lake Nefertep Piruti Falls Red Crown Cliffs

Sundab Hills Tamarat Delta Valley of Tears