Reigned c. 40 to 10 BCE

Amanirenas

Kandake of Kush

A queen who led Kush in war against Rome and secured a favourable peace.

Interpretive portrait of a Kushite Kandake meeting with royal advisors — Artist’s interpretation of a Kandake in a royal setting, created to convey the authority held by Kushite royal women.

Around 25 BCE, Kushite forces under Amanirenas campaigned against Roman-held Egypt. Ancient writers describe her as a formidable commander.

The conflict ended with a treaty that was favourable to Kush. A bronze head of the emperor Augustus, taken during the campaign and buried beneath a temple step at Meroë, is now in the British Museum.

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