Queen Amanishakheto who reigned from 10BC – 1AD was a successor of Queen Amanirenas, remains one of the greatest rulers in African, and one of the defenders of mother Africa. At a time when Europe was starting its conquest of the world, she led Nubia and fought off the Romans.
The kingdom of Kush was an ancient Kingdom in Nubia and one of the advanced ancient civilizations before its decline in 350AD.
The Kingdom was established in 1070BC at the junction of the Atbara River and the Nile Valley (Blue and White Nile) in what is now Northern Sudan and Southern Egypt.
This powerful kingdom (Kush) whose capital was Meroë (An ancient city on the east bank of the Nile) was ruled by several queen rulers who succeeded each other and were referred to as Candaces/Kandake or Qore which means “Ruler and Queen”. Although the Kingdom was ruled by several queens since its establishment, Queen Amanishakheto is the most famous of all.
Queen Amanishakheto who reigned from 10BC – 1AD was a successor of Queen Amanirenas (the brave and blind in one eye queen who led the Kushite armies against the Romans in a war that lasted 5years).
She was an extremely wealthy Queen whose reign produced the majority of gold that was used in Ancient Egypt. Queen Amanishakheto was a ruler who held a significant amount of power and also defeated the Roman armies after Emperor Augustus sent his troop to conquer Kush. She compelled the Roman army to sign a fair peace deal.
During her reign, she led the construction of many pyramids and buildings in Meroë and also the construction of the 60-room palace in Wad ban Naqa which has been one of the largest discovered.
She was also a Queen who practiced a religion similar to the ancient Egyptian religion (worship of Egyptian gods, mummification of the dead, the building of pyramids at burial sites, and others).
Although her birth and death date is unknown, inscriptions found in the ancient Wad ban Naqa palace, Amun- temple of Kawa, a stela from Meroë, and in her pyramid at Meroë proves that she existed. She is also recognized by different monuments in Egypt.
She is also known for her jewelry collection which was first discovered in her tomb (Pyramid no 6) at Meroë in 1834 by Italian treasure hunter Guiseppe Ferlini.
Although her tomb was destroyed by the looting of Ferlini, her treasures can still be located today in various museums, including the Staatliche Museum Agyptischer Kunst in Munich.