Queen, or “Kandake” Amanishekheto was one of a series of female rulers during the Meroitic period of the Nubian Kingdom of Kush. Like her more famous predecessor, Queen Amanirenas, Amanishakheto was a ruling sovereign, who also took the traditional male title of “Qore”, or king. She is attested in inscriptions from all over ancient Nubia, but Amanishakheto is perhaps most famous for the large hoard of exquisite gold jewelry that was hidden in her pyramid, discovered by the Italian treasure hunter, Giuseppe Ferlini, in 1834. Ferlini demolished Amanishakhto’s pyramid, alongside over 40 other Kushite pyramids at the royal necropolis of Meroë in his hunt for gold.
“During the excavation in the hypostyle hall [of the Amun temple at Naqa], a small stele was found hidden under one of the column drums with very delicate reliefs showing, under a winged sun disk, the queen Amanishakheto to the right and the goddess Amesemi to the left. The goddess with scarification marks on the cheek has placed one hand behind the head and the other on the elbow of the queen. A chain of small ankh signs connect the noses of the two women indicating a symbolic transfer of the breath of life by the goddess to the queen. The back of the stele and the sides are covered with 15 lines of a Meroitic cursive inscription (Rilly 2011, 187). Although the script can be read, Meroitic texts still await complete decipherment.”
- Rediscovery of the Kushite site - Naga, 15 years of excavation (1995-2010). Surprises and Innovations, by Karla Kroeper
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