Kandake

Relief depicting Kandake Amanitore

Kandake, kadake or kentake (Meroitic: đŠČ𐊷đŠČ𐊥 kdke),[1] often Latinised as Candace (Ancient Greek: ÎšÎ±ÎœÎŽÎŹÎșη, Kandakē),[1] was the Meroitic term for the sister of the king of Kush who, due to the matrilineal succession, would bear the next heir, making her a queen mother. She had her own court, probably acted as a landholder[2] and held a prominent secular role as regent.[3] Contemporary Greek and Roman sources treated it, incorrectly, as a name. The name Candace is derived from the way the word is used in the New Testament (Acts 8:27).[4][5][6]

A kandake who ruled in her own right bore in addition the title qore, the same title carried by male rulers.[7]

  1. ^ a b Kirsty Rowan, "Revising the Sound Value of Meroitic D: A Phonological Approach," Beitrage zur Sudanforschung 10 (2009).
  2. ^ Lohwasser, Angelika (1999). "Die Frau im antiken Sudan" (PDF). p. 131.
  3. ^ Khan, Dan'el (2012). "The Queen Mother in the Kingdom of Kush: Status, Power and Cultic Role". Teshura le-Zafrira: Studies in the Bible, the History of Israel, and the Ancient Near East Presented to Zafrira Ben-Barak of the University of Haifa. pp. 67–68.
  4. ^ Lobban, Richard A. Jr. (2003). Historical Dictionary of Ancient and Medieval Nubia. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press. ISBN 978-0-8108-6578-5.
  5. ^ Miriam Ma'at-ka-re Monges (2005). "Kush". In Molefi Kete Asante, Ama Mazama (ed.). Encyclopedia of Black Studies. Sage. p. 302. ISBN 978-0-7619-2762-4.
  6. ^ Fage, John (23 October 2013). A History of Africa. Routledge. p. 115. ISBN 978-1317797272.
  7. ^ LĂĄszlĂł Török (1997), The Kingdom of Kush: Handbook of the Napatan–Meroitic Civilization, Brill, pp. 213–214.