Kandake, kadake or kentake (Meroitic: 𐦲𐦷𐦲𐦡 kdke),[1] often Latinised as Candace (Ancient Greek: Κανδάκη, 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]
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- ^ a b Kirsty Rowan, "Revising the Sound Value of Meroitic D: A Phonological Approach," Beitrage zur Sudanforschung 10 (2009).
- ^ Lohwasser, Angelika (1999). "Die Frau im antiken Sudan" (PDF). p. 131.
- ^ 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.
- ^ Lobban, Richard A. Jr. (2003). Historical Dictionary of Ancient and Medieval Nubia. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press. ISBN 978-0-8108-6578-5.
- ^ 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.
- ^ Fage, John (23 October 2013). A History of Africa. Routledge. p. 115. ISBN 978-1317797272.
- ^ László Török (1997), The Kingdom of Kush: Handbook of the Napatan–Meroitic Civilization, Brill, pp. 213–214.