The ancient Medjay (known today as Beja) were a nomadic people that served as Soldiers for ancient Nile Valley kingdoms. Their origin is believed to be in the eastern desert part of the Sahara, before migrating to Lower Nubia & southern Egypt in 2400 BC.
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The Medjay were first recorded in the 6th dynasty of ancient Kemet in the autobiography of Weni, they were listed with other African people with in and south of the Sahara in the 3rd millennium BC.

Eventually serving as a national police force, using trained dogs and monkeys to arrest criminals. They were known for protecting royal palaces and tombs of high officials. Some times they were loyal to Kemet, while in other periods they pledged their loyalty to Kush.

Operating as hired Soldiers, the Medjay helped the Thebans of southern Kemet in the war that defeated the foreign Hyksos invaders. However it was also the Medjay who enlisted in the Kushite kingdom's army, raiding and temporary conquering southern Kemet. https://twitter.com/AAMAfrica/status/1275538732171628545?s=19

After the fall of ancient Kemet the Medjay, would later be known as "Blemmyes" to the Greeks, begining around the 3rd century BC. They are mentioned in Greek poems of Theocritus and as late as the Roman era they were still being used as hired Soldiers, living in Egypt & Sudan.

Unlike ancient Kemet, the Kushite Kingdom of Sudan was never conquered by the Romans. However in the 4th century AD, according to the Ezana stone, the Aksumite empire of Eritrea and Ethiopia conquered the Kushites in Meroe. Which included subjugating Beja (Medjay) people.

In modern times the Beja were referred to as the brave "Fuzzy Wuzzy" by British soldiers, who fought against them in the Mahdist war. Beja men joined the armies of Sudan under the leadership of Muhammad Ahmad, a Sudanese man who was believed to be the prophisesd Mahdi.

In 1892, the modern Beja were still known as fierce warriors, just as they were in ancient times. Rudyard Kipling dedicated a poem to them called "Fuzzy Wuzzy", in which he champions them for being strong enough to knock the British off their square.
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