Kickass Women in History: Queen Amanirenas

The Kingdom of Kush existed along the Nile Valley in what is now parts of Sudan and Egypt. It included the city-states of Kerma, Napata, and Meroë. The inhabitants of this kingdom spoke and wrote in the Meroitic language, a language that is currently almost completely untranslated. Kush existed for over 3,000 years, and during much of that time it was ruled by women.

Queen Amanirenas is famous for having successfully resisted the Roman army’s invasion of the kingdom. Most of the information we have about her is either written in Meroitic, which we can’t read, or comes to us from a Greek historian named Strabo who writes from a place of bias. Still, we know enough to firmly place Queen Amanirenas in the ranks of Kickass Women.

Amanirenas was a Kandake, the Meroitic word for female ruler. She ruled from around 40-10BC. Once the Roman Augustus Caesar established dominion over Egypt, he marched on Kush, desiring its supply of gold. Queen Amanirenas is said to have sent him ten golden arrows and a message stating:

“If you want peace, this is a token of warmth and friendship. If you want war, keep the arrows, because you are going to need them.”

Queen Amanirenas’ army was much smaller than that of the Romans so strategy was crucial. Queen Amanirenas was an archer as were many women from the kingdom. Many women fought in her army. In an early battle, Queen Amanirenas’ husband was killed. In a later battle she lost an eye. She fought with her son at her side, rebounded after some devastating losses, and used battle tactics of surprise and fear. After three years, she forced the Romans to sign a peace treaty which removed taxes from the Meroë and withdrew Roman forces almost all the way back to Egypt.

A temple in Meroë that is dedicated to victory contained a bronze sculpture of Caesar Augustus’s head, buried beneath the temple steps so all could tread upon it. History.com elaborates:

The temple in Meroë is also decorated with drawings of Roman prisoners and victorious Nubian queens. Solange Ashby, Egyptologist and Post-Doctoral Fellow at The University of California, says such depictions are typical for the period and indicative of a wider culture where femininity and willingness to engage in warfare were not contradictory.

Because we have to rely almost entirely on the words of a single person for details about the war, it’s difficult to interpret what did and didn’t happen. Paintings of Amanirenas show her riding a war elephant and feeding prisoners to lions – propaganda created to instill fear, or true reporting of the actions of a ruthless leader? What we do know is that Amanirenas made tremendous gains and maintained the kingdom’s independence. The kingdom endured for another 400 years.

Here’s a video about this amazing woman:

And here are some sources:

“The Nubian Queen Who Fought Back Caesar’s Army” History.com

“Amanirenas: The One-Eyed Queen Who Fought Rome Tooth and Nail” Rejectedprincesses.com

https://artsandculture.google.com/story/queen-amanirenas-the-story-of-the-white-nile-nubi-archeress/bALSN3WTK_YEJA

 

Comments are Closed

  1. chacha1 says:

    A kickass woman indeed! ‘The Last Camel Died at Noon’ by Elizabeth Peters draws on this history a bit (before going off on a wild & entertaining tangent).

  2. Kareni says:

    Thank you, Carrie, for introducing me to this fascinating woman!

  3. Kris says:

    I never heard about Queen Amanirenas and now I need to find out more about her. She sounds fascinating .

  4. JenM says:

    Thank you so much for this information. Another amazing woman ignored by mainstream history.

  5. Thank you for introducing us to this amazing kickass queen. I’d love to see a movie about her life.

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