The Greatest African Queen The World Forgot: Queen Amanirenas

What up African Worldists, Home Team here and I'm back at it with another video of African history, culture, and worldview. And today, I wanted to speak about the greatest queen in African history, Queen Amon Arenas. And as always, if you want to support the home team, you can do so on patreon.com. I have some new rewards for you guys, so be sure to check that out. Also, go to afrographics.com, a website where you can find unique illustrative infographics summarizing African history. All links to Patreon, Afrographics, and Home Team merchandise are in the description box below. I personally found it strange that we in the diaspora never really spoke much about Queen Amon Arenas. I can understand why popular culture may not, but within our own circles, it would seem as though she would come up more frequently. She tends to be overshadowed by more popular queens from the continent such as Nefertiti, Hatshepsut, or unfortunately, Cleopatra. Our own communities do a little better with focusing on other queens like Queen Nzinga or even Queen Tai, but given the grand accomplishment of Queen Amon Arenas, I thought she would be more recognized. And as the title of this video suggests, I believe she is the greatest queen from the African continent. Not only that, but I also think she's one of the greatest queens in world history altogether. I even created an animated video summing up her story because it's one of the most triumphant stories of an African queen, and it's something that we should be highlighting much more. In my view, she definitely deserves the shine that other African queens get, and I really think it's a shame she doesn't. The closest thing I could think of concerning any sort of significant recognition of Queen Amon Arenas in popular culture perhaps comes from Will Packer and his supposed future production of her story. The film, called Warrior Queen, was apparently acquired by Universal Studios, and if this is true, that would be pretty big considering not many people in the diaspora know this history. Now, I have my own speculations as to why Queen Amon Arenas may not be as well known as other African queens, but I'll let you guys come to your own conclusions. To put things in proper perspective, we have to understand the region in which she came from and why her legacy is so important. Queen Amon Arenas was a Kushite queen from Meroe. After the fall of the Kushite empire or 25th dynasty of Egypt, the Kushites moved their capital to Meroe. Meroe then became a lot more popular due to the ancient world talking about the warrior queens of Kush, queens who literally participated in battle. Queen Amon Arenas is important because she descends from a long line of women warriors, and she no doubt pulled from that energy to become the greatest queen in Africa. It was because of the Nubian queens that came before her why she was able to do what she did. So, who is Queen Amon Arenas, and why do I think she is the greatest African queen on the continent? Queen Amon Arenas came to the throne around 20 BC, and she's among the most accomplished queens of Kush because of her role leading Kushite armies against the Romans in a war that lasted about five years. The Romans under Petronius apparently wanted to tax Nubians living in Egypt, which she naturally opposed. The Romans at the time controlled Egypt and Petronius wanted to challenge Kush and make them a sort of vassal state. Queen Amon Arenas initially waged a successful campaign against the Romans in Egypt, even taking the head of a statue in the form of so her people can symbolically trample over Rome. Petronius of course struck back and drove the Kushite southward. Two years later, Queen Amon Arenas gathered a large Kushite force and met the Romans. The Romans, however, encountered many difficulties navigating the Nubian region and saw fit not to engage further and thus a final battle never actually occurred. The Kushite perspective is unclear as we can't decipher the Nubian Meroitic text, but it's clear that the Romans did not engage further south and strategically withdrew. Queen Amon Arenas is remembered by the Romans as being brave and blind in one eye due to her literal participation in battle. Under her rule, Kush secured its borders away from Roman ambition. A wall painting in a pyramid chapel of Meroe portrays Amon Arenas with bows, arrows, and spears holding by one hand a tethered group of seven captives. And this is why I consider Queen Amon Arenas to be the greatest queen in African history. There was no other queen in Africa who took on such a great threat going on to safeguard the integrity of their state. She accomplished her objective in protecting her people by maintaining their independence. What greater objective is there for any monarch? The Kushites and the Romans signed a treaty and in this treaty, the Kushites got everything they wanted, including having the resented tax revoked. Her presence on the battlefield was documented by eyewitnesses as she's described in Strabo's account as having a scarred eye or blinded eye as mentioned before. Her bravery and composure in conflict with Rome is absolutely legendary as she halted potential Roman ambition in the region. According to legend, Kushite ambassadors in their diplomatic dialogue with the Romans are quoted as bringing a message from the queen. One of the Kushite envoys gallantly presented the Romans a beautiful bundle of golden arrows and said the following words, this gift is from the Candace. If you want peace, this is a token of her warmth and friendship. If you want war, keep the arrows because you are going to need them. It's clear that Queen did not appear before the Romans as a beaten foe because of the aggressive message she brought to them. That has to be one of the most epic responses in world history, especially considering who the message was directed toward, arguably the most powerful military on earth at the time. Her leadership, guidance, determination, and grit is second to none when it comes to African queens. And given all that history, I find it odd that her name doesn't roll off our tongue like other African queens. Hopefully someday that'll change. Well I'm Ola guys, if you like these videos and want to help out in it's continued production, please consider supporting the home team on patreon.com. The link is in the description box below. Know thyself, remember your ancestors, peace.