This would be a young woman from one of the Christian kingdoms of medieval Nubia, in what is now northern Sudan to southernmost Egypt. Although the term “Nubian” is often used for all inhabitants of this region throughout history, it more properly refers to a number of ethnic groups who settled it from the Sahara Desert to the west following the collapse of the indigenous kingdom of Kush in the fourth century AD. These newcomers would establish kingdoms of their own such as Nobatia, Makuria, and Alodia which would dominate the area during the Middle Ages, with Orthodox Christianity being their primary religion. It would be in the sixteenth century when the last of these Christian kingdoms fell due to pressure from the Ottoman Empire to the north and the Muslim Funj to the south, ultimately leading to the Islamization of the northern Sudan.
Like my previous drawing of the medieval Nubian archer, the reference for this woman’s attire comes from a Portuguese text called the Codice Casanatense, which contains illustrations from various peoples from around the world during the sixteenth century when it was written. In fact, the original image showed the woman as having one exposed breast, which was surprising for a woman from medieval Christendom. I guess Nubians back then had less shame about showing off skin no matter what their religion was!