Amanishakheto

Who is Amanishakheto?

Amanishakheto was a Kandake of Nubia. She seems to have reigned from 10 BC to 1 AD, although most dates of Nubian history before the Middle Ages are very uncertain.

In Meroitic hieroglyphs her name is written as Amanikasheto. In Meroitic cursive she is referred to as Amaniskheto qor kd which means Amanishakheto, Qore and Kandake.

Amanishakheto is known from several monuments. She is mentioned in the Amun-temple of Kawa, on a stela from Meroe, and in inscriptions of a palace building found at Wad ban Naqa, from a stela found at Qasr Ibrim, another stela from Naqa and her pyramid at Meroe.

Amanishakheto is best known from a treasure of jewellery recovered in 1834 from her pyramid in Meroe by Italian explorer Giuseppe Ferlini. These pieces are now in the Egyptian Museum of Berlin and in the Egyptian Museum of Munich.

She is known for having defeated a Roman army sent by Augustus to conquer Nubia, having broken a favourable peace treaty.