Everything about Amanirenas totally explained
Amanirenas was a queen of
Kush. She reigned from about
40 BCE to
10 BCE. She is one of the most famous
kandakes, because of her role leading Kushites armies against the Romans from in a war that lasted five years, from
27 BCE to 22 BCE. After an initial victory when she attacked Roman
Egypt, Amanirenas was defeated and surrendered. She succeeded in negotiating a peace treaty on favourable terms. Amanirenas (also spelled
Amanirena) was described as brave, and blind in one eye.
Her husband was King Teriteqas, and she appears to have been a
queen consort until his death. Their son was the crown prince
Akinidad. When Teriteqas died at the beginning of the war, either or both of Amanirenas and Akinidad succeeded to the throne.
Roman Conflict
The First Battles
When Aelius Gallus, the chief magistrate of Egypt, was absent on a campaign in Arabia in 24 BC, the Kushites launched an attack on Egypt. Amanirenas, and her son the crown prince Akinidad, defeated Roman forces at Syene and Philae, and drove the Jews from Elephantine Island. They and returned to Kush with prisoners and loot, including several statues of Emperor Augustus (Jameson 1986: 71-84).
Petronius Nubian Campaign
The Kushites were driven out of Syene later in the year by Gaius Petronius, who now held the office of Roman magistrate in Egypt. According to a detailed report made by Strabo (17: 53-54), the Roman troops advanced far into Kush, and finally reached Napata. Although they withdrew again to the north they left behind a garrison in Qasr Ibrim (Primis), which now became the border of the Roman Empire. The Kushites made a renewed attempt to seize Primis, but Petronius defeated them.
Following this event, Amanirenas surrendered and negotiations began. The Meroites sent mediators to Augustus, who was then in Samos, and in the year 21/20 BC. a peace treaty was conducted. It was strikingly favorable to the Meroites in that the southern part of the Thirty-Mile Strip, including Primis, was evacuated by the Romans, and the Meroites were exempted from having to pay tribute to the Emperor. On the other hand, the Romans continued to occupy the Dodekashoinos as a military border zone, so the frontier now lay near Hiere Sycaminos (Maharraqa). This arrangement continued until the end of the third century AD, the relations between Meroe and Roman Egypt remaining generally peaceful during this time (Hintze 1978 :100).
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