The Romans met several queens of Meroë whom they thought were named "Kandake" (KAN-DA-key). They did not realize that "Kandake" was simply the Meroitic title meaning "Queen" or "Mother of the crown prince". Our modern female name Candace (now pronounced Kan-das) comes from this ancient Nubian royal title.
The Kushites gave special honor to their queens because they believed that the kings, who were sons of these women, were also sons of the great god Amun. In other words, they imagined that these ladies were actually wives of the god and mothers of the living gods (the kings). If a king died, his wife might rule alone while her son was growing up. The people would worship her like a goddess.
When the Romans went to war against Kush in 24 BCE, they reported that the Kushite army was led by a "Candace" who was "a very masculine sort of woman and blind in one eye." We can understand this strange description when we see how the artists represented the queens. They were massive, powerful women, covered with jewels and elaborate fringed and tasseled robes. They often appear carrying weapons in one hand, preparing to kill bunches of small enemy figures which they hold in the other.
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| Relief on the west wall of the Lion Temple at Naga, Sudan. Here Queen Amanitore (left) and her husband King Natakamani (right) appear before the lion god Apedemak (center). Notice that the queen is unusually stout, while the god is shown in the novel manner of a figure facing each of them, and also the viewer at the same time. He thus has three heads and four arms. About 0-100 CE. |
| Photo: T. Kendall. |
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| Portrait of Queen Amanishakheto, from her pyramid chapel at Meroë, about 25-0 BCE. Notice that she has three parallel scars on her cheek. These are marks still worn in Sudan to indicate one's tribal affiliation. |
| Courtesy of the Egyptian Museum, Berlin. |
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| Gold armlet with colored glass inlays that belonged to Queen Amanishakheto. This and the rest of the queen's jewels were found in 1833, reportedly in a chamber near the top of her pyramid. |
| Courtesy of the Egyptian Museum, Berlin. |