Kandake
In ancient times , Kandake was a proper name that all Nubian queens wore. In fact, however, it is a title that is derived from the Meroitic word kdke , (probably) "king mother". Since the king was considered the son of the god Amun , the royal mothers as bearers of the lineage were more important than in Egypt . She appeared in Meroe in ritual scenes that were reserved for the king in Ptolemaic Egypt and was involved in the actual rule. Many researchers consider a matrilineal line of succession to be common in the Meroitic royal house (according to which the eldest son of a king would not be the primary heir to the throne, but the eldest son of the king's eldest sister).
In the Meroitic Empire there were also numerous ruling queens who (based on the New Testament and Latin tradition) are also often mistakenly referred to as Kandake in European historiography. However, ruling queens in Meroe never carried the title kdke , but always the title qore "king" just like their male colleagues (the Meroitic language had no grammatical gender).
According to Strabo (Geographica 17, 54) Kandake was a queen of the Ethiopians at the time of Augustus . In ancient times, aithiops did not refer to today's country Ethiopia , but rather areas in Africa inhabited by dark-skinned people, sometimes also the entire sub-Saharan Africa. Strabo describes Kandake as a "manly woman and mutilated one eye". Their capital was Napata .
In chapter 8 of the Acts of the Apostles ( Acts 8.27 EU ) an Ethiopian is mentioned who came to Jerusalem to worship God. He is described as "a chamberlain, court official of the Kandake, the queen of the Ethiopians, who stood over her entire treasury". The candlestick in Acts of the Apostles was probably Amanitore , who bore this title at the time of King Natakamani .
Kandake, which is equated in research with Amanirenas , led an uprising against the Romans, in which Syene , Elephantine and Philai were conquered. The Ethiopians took prisoners and tore down the statues of Caesar that they brought to Napata. The Roman general Publius Petronius put down the uprising, took the Ethiopian cities of Pselchis , Premnis and Napata and then withdrew with his prisoners to Alexandria . However, he was unable to seize Kandake or her son. Kandake then attacked the occupation forces left behind by Petronius. Petronius came to their aid and Kandake allegedly submitted to Caesar, but without paying any taxes, from which it can be concluded that the Roman advance was largely unsuccessful.
In English, the female first name Candace , derived from Kandake, is common.
List of queens entitled Kandake
| Surname | Throne name | Dating | comment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bartare | around 200 BC Chr. | ||
| Name unknown | around 200 BC Chr. | buried in pyramid Meroe Beg S1 or S9 | |
| Sar ... tin | buried in the pyramid Meroe Beg S4 | ||
| Amanirenas | around 20 BC Chr. | ||
| Amanischacheto | |||
| Amanitore | Merkare | around 50 AD |
See also
Individual evidence
- ↑ Michael Zach: A lost block from the burial chapel of an early Meroite Kandake. In: The Journal of Egyptian Archeology. Vol. 78, 1992, pp. 295-301.