Amanishakheto bore the titles “Qore” and “Kandake”, both “King” and “Queen mother”, meaning that she was a ruling queen, and not merely a consort. She was the successor to the famous Queen Amanirenas, who fought the Romans in the 20’s BC.
“The name of Amanishakheto (10 BC- AD 1) is engraved on several Kushite monuments of relative importance, such as the Temple of Amun at Kawa and on the walls of an unfinished 60 room palace at Wad-ben-Naqa (one of the largest discovered), as well as on three stelae found at Meroë, Qasr Ibrim and at Naqa.
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Her treasure was discovered in 1834 by the Italian doctor Giuseppe Ferlini (Bologna, 1797-1870), who became an explorer and smuggler. Enlisted as a doctor in the Ottoman army and transferred to Khartoum, Ferlini partnered with the Albanian merchant, Antonio Stefani, and together they used explosives to topple more than 40 Meroë pyramids in order to find valuables to sell. Ferlini knew that the Kings of Kush followed a similar tradition to Egypt’s pharaohs, often being buried with treasures and food to be used by the ka, the life force that left the body when they died.
Ferlini did not choose the pyramids at random, but used a catalogue produced by the archaeologist Frédéric Cailliaud in which the state of conservation of the pyramids was detailed. According to Ferlini’s reasoning, if the pyramid was relatively intact the chances of finding a treasure within its structure increased. After previously unsuccessful attempts involving the hire of more than 500 workers, resulting in the destruction of some of the smaller pyramids, he finally managed to find various objects of high quality and workmanship. One discovery which stood out was that of an empty sarcophagus and an extraordinary treasure made of gold, enamels and semi-precious stones, found in pyramid no. 6 belonging to Queen Amanishakheto. It was a treasure that fulfilled all his greedy expectations: it consisted of 10 bracelets, 9 shield rings, 67 signet rings, 2 bracelets and a large number of amulets, all created by the best craftsmen of the Kingdom of Meroë.
Given the sacred nature of jewellery in Kush, queens could wear ten bracelets at the same time. Some of the earrings and shield rings had gold hangings which in shape and size are reminiscent of the cowrie shells used in the traditional crafts of black Africa, and when they collided, they would drive away evil spirits and satisfy Amun. It is in these types of pieces, where the advanced techniques and forms of Egyptian metalwork are combined with those of an almost animistic African aesthetic, that we can best appreciate the process of cultural and artistic hybridization that took place in Kush. In turn, the intricate partitioned glass work of some bracelets recalls the design of tribal cloths and basketry, with geometric motifs and series of repetitive figures, while other pieces present an adaptation of traditional Egyptian mythological iconography, with figures of the winged goddess Mut, protective and crowned with the solar disk or the double crown of Upper and Lower Egypt. It is not strange that the wife of the god Amun is a recurring character in the decoration of Nubian jewellery, since the queens identified with this divinity, being queens but also wives and mothers of kings.
Almost all the pieces were created in gold, silver or bronze, with gold grains and geometric motifs linked to religious symbols. For example, one of the necklaces features a head of the ram of Amun in front of a chapel in a temple; another is formed by a series of green and blue wadjet eyes (which protected their wearer from bad luck) culminating in a central lotus flower; and a third, designed as a choker, is made up of linked ankhs, symbols of sacred life. Among the shield rings, two stand out: one is decorated with the effigy of the lion god Apedemak, protector of the queen in battles and the other has a ram’s head of the god Amun, with a gold collar beneath, and a small golden bead necklace formed from gold granulate from which a tiny anthropomorphic Amun appears - a symbol of prestige and power. The presence of the iconography of the god Amun in Nubian metalwork is constant, since he was the supreme god of their pantheon and was thought to live on the sacred mountain of Gebel Barkal, near the modern city of Karima. It should be noted that these types of rings were not worn on the finger in a traditional way; the queen tied them to her hair so that they were suspended over her forehead.
Upset by the discovery of such a treasure, the local population began to flock to the site en masse, precipitating the flight of the Italian looter with his treasure. Ferlini and Stefani travelled down the Nile to the Fifth Cataract and then to Cairo, where Ferlini wrote a report on their find to the governor, published in 1836 under the title Nell’interno dell’Africa 1829-1835. At first no one believed the adventurer’s story, since they considered that a treasure of such quality and technical virtuosity could not have been manufactured by a people from black Africa. However, eventually the story began to sink in and after several unsuccessful sale attempts, it was acquired by King Louis I of Bavaria on the advice of Karl Richard Lepsius and Baron von Bunsen. The jewellery is now on display in museums in Berlin and Munich.
Although these pieces did not achieve the same degree of fame as the later discovery of Tutankhamun’s treasures, the technical and artistic skill of the artisans who created them is extraordinary. Amanishakheto’s jewellery constitutes a tangible document that clearly demonstrates the cultural relations between the Egyptian and Nubian peoples in ancient times, reflecting a hybrid culture which combines the tradition of the depths of Africa with the aesthetics of Pharaonic Egypt.”
-The Sacred Treasure of Queen Amanishakheto, by Alberto A. Vela-Rodrigo
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