Kandake

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Kandake or Kentake, also known as Candace, was the title for queens and queen mothers of the ancient African empire of Kush (also known as Nubia). The name Candace and its variants derive from the title Kandake.

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[edit] History

The Kandakes were also known by various other titles. One of the titles associated with the Kandakes was High Priestess of Isis, even though many of the Kandakes had regnal names indicating dedication to the deity named Amani (Amani is also Amun, Amen, Amon, Imana, Iman and Mani).[citation needed]

[edit] Famous Kandakes

Reliable historical accounts exist for several Kandakes, namely Queen Shanakdakhete, who is credited with resisting Hellenization and introducing the Meroitic script; Candace of Meroë; kandake Amanirenas, a contemporary of Augustus Caesar, went to war against the Romans; kandake Maleqereabar I had good relations with Roman Emperor Nero; kandake Amanikhatashan succeeded Maleqereabar I. Her cavalry helped in the capture of Jerusalem in 70 AD by Vespasian's army; Kandake Amanitore, who ruled at Meroe from 1 AD to 20 AD, is easily the most recognizable to historians and the public because dramatic records of her reign survive in on the walls of the stone ruins in the Sudan.[citation needed]

[edit] New Testament

In the New Testament of the Christian Bible, a treasury official of "Candace, queen of the Ethiopians" returning from a trip to Jerusalem was baptised by Philip.[1] The actual kandake was likely Amantitere, who ruled from 22 AD to 41 AD.

[edit] Role

The Kandake could be a ruling queen, a queen mother or a queen consort.

The kandake operated in political, military, religious capacities. She shared power with another female, usually older, who held the title of Qore.[citation needed] The Qore (also written "Gore") was in charge of protocol and managed the royal house, but was not in charge of affairs of state due to her divine status.[citation needed] The position of Qore corresponds with that of "queen mother" or dowager.[citation needed] A qore did not handle state affairs directly.

[edit] Warrior Queens

The kandake sometimes functioned as commander-in-chief of the Kushite army and led soldiers into battle. Accounts of wars fought by two of these warrior queens can be found in the conflicts at Meroë between Kush and powerful armies of the day. A legend in the Alexander Romance claims that Candace of Meroë fought Alexander the Great [2]. In fact, Alexander never attacked Nubia, and never attempted to move further south than the oasis of Siwa in Egypt.[3] [4]

Later, the kandake Amanirenas, as reported by Strabo, fought a war with the army of the Roman Empire under Augustus. [5]

[edit] Religious Powers

The kandake also served as high priestess of Isis.[citation needed]

[edit] Kandakes of Kush

[edit] References

  1. ^ Acts 8:27
  2. ^ Jones, David E., Women Warriors: A History, Brasseys, Inc.; (2000)
  3. ^ Gutenberg, David M. (2003). The Curse of Ham: Race and Slavery in Early Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Princeton University Press. p. 64. 
  4. ^ Morgan, J.R. and Stoneman, Richard (1994). Greek Fiction: The Greek Novel in Context. Routledge. pp. 117–118. ISBN 0415085071. 
  5. ^ Nubian Queens in the Nile Valley and Afro-Asiatic Cultural History - Carolyn Fluehr-Lobban, Professor of Anthropology, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston U.S.A, August 20-26, 1998

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kandake"
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