Great African Women In History You Should Know

As a Black man and an African historian, I even have found that one among the foremost inspiring aspects within the annals of humankind is that the outstanding role of African women and their contributions to history. During this brief article, we highlight and pay tribute to a number of the best of those women.

Queen Tiye

Queen Tiye
Queen Tiye

Queen Tiye was the beloved wife of King Nebmare Amenhotep III, the mother of King Akhenaton (who as Akhenaten is altogether |one amongst|one in every of”> one among the foremost significant figures in all of human history) and therefore the mother or grandmother of Tutankhamen—perhaps the foremost famous king to emerge from the traditional world.

Tiye is one of the foremost exciting figures in history, even within the realm of affection and romance. Amenhotep III and Tiye married while quite young and shared one among the proper relationships of the ages. The colossal statue of Amenhotep III and Tiye found at the temple of Medinet Habu is Luxor, Egypt demonstrates a degree of affection and respect that probably has no equal.

That Tiye was of exceptional ability and powerful influence is proved by association together with her husband altogether of his ceremonial records. She was such an integral part of Africa affairs that in additional than one instance, foreign sovereigns appealed to her directly in matters of international importance.

The surviving depictions of Tiye show her with distinctly African features. And these depictions are numerous, found now in museums in NY City, Paris, Brussels, and Berlin. Indeed, there are probably more depictions of Queen Tiye than any African woman from the past.

 

AHMOSE-NEFERTARI

AHMOSE-NEFERTARI
AHMOSE-NEFERTARI

Queen Ahmose-Nefertari (circa 1570-1530 B.C.) was a lively participant, alongside her husband, King Ahmose, within the final defeat and ejection from Africa of the hated Hyksos invaders and occupiers. As such, she was considered a national hero and one among the outstanding figures in African history. Indeed, she was a co-founder of the fantastic 18th dynasty of Kmt — called “The greatest royalty that ever mounted a throne.”

Ahmose-Nefertari was born a royal heiress to the throne and has become one among Kmt’s most beloved and audacious women. After her husband’s brilliant reign, she ruled the land together with her son, King Amenhotep I.

It would not be inaccurate to mention that Ahmose-Nefertari was revered, a practice that continued for quite 600 years after her death. To her memory was attached a special priesthood, who recited in her honor a prayer only utilized in addressing the pantheon of the foremost powerful deities within the land. Ahmose-Nefertari was titled “God’s Wife of Amen” and held an edge as a priestess within the national religious center. It’s interesting too that the surviving portraits of Ahmose-Nefertari are all painted Black — a symbol further illustrating her great prominence.

AL-KAHINA

AL-KAHINA
AL-KAHINA

Dahia al-Kahina, in what’s now Algeria, at the top of the seventh century, was extraordinarily active within the North African resistance to the Arab invasions of Africa. Round the year 690, she took personal command of the African armies. Under her vigilant direction and leadership, the Arab legions were forced to retreat, regroup, and reassess their strategy and tactics for the invasion of North Africa. The Arabs were bent occupying Africa, however, and because the military situation of the Africans deteriorated, the determined Kahina instituted a scorched earth policy of destruction. Her posture was that she would rather see the destruction of the land instead of ceding it to invaders. Sadly, the consequences of the devastation can still be seen today within the North African countryside.

Based on tradition, Dahia al-Kahina eventually took her own life instead of accepting defeat at the hands of the Arabs. Her sons went on to assist lead the Moorish invasion of Spain. But with the death of this bold African woman ended what was perhaps the first determined and galvanizing chapter within the effort to preserve Africa for the Africans.

Nzingha

NZINGHA
NZINGHA

Nzingha also referred to as Ann Nzingha, is that the high national figure of pre-colonial Angola. The extraordinary scholar John Henrik Clarke referenced her because the “greatest military strategist that ever confronted the soldiers of Portugal.” Nzingha was born in the Central African Republic around 1582, and her brilliance was recognized early. The very fact that she was a lady wasn’t an impediment to her ability to steer. Toward the center of her life, she became increasingly aggressive in her desire to take care of the facility and dignity of the people of the Central African Republic. Indeed, her military campaigns kept the Portuguese in Africa cornered for quite four decades. Her goal was the ultimate and complete eradication of the Portuguese capture and enslavement of African people.

Nzingha sent ambassadors and representatives throughout West and Central African Republic intending to build a vast coalition of Africans to eject the Portuguese.

Nzingha died fighting for her people in 1663 at the ripe adulthood of 81.

 

MAKARE HATSHEPSUT

MAKARE HATSHEPSUT
MAKARE HATSHEPSUT

The 20-year reign of the outstanding queen Makare Hatshepsut, beginning about 1500 B.C., occurred near the top of Ancient Egypt. this point period may be a golden age within the long history of African people. It had been a period marked by tremendous internal stability and a time of high international prestige.

One of Hatshepsut’s grandest accomplishments was a splendid expedition to the African land of Punt — regarded by the Kamites as “God’s land.” The area of Punt was within the Horn of Africa, probably encompassing a part of Somalia, Eritrea, and even Yemen across the Red Sea within the Arabian Peninsula. A journey to Punt was perhaps the best of achievements for the monarchs of Kmt.

Eti was the queen of Punt at the start of the 15 century B.C. The products of Punt included ebony, frankincense, and myrrh. Eti, an outsized heavy-set woman, was famously depicted during a procession with Perehu, the king of Punt, on the walls of Makare Hatshepsut’s mortuary temple at Deir el-Bahri. The first depiction is now located within the Egyptian Museum in Cairo.

Princess Neferure was the daughter of Hatshepsut. The Steward Senenmut raised Neferure. Several block statues of Senenmut exist with the top of Princess Neferure emerging from the block. Neferure has the titles: “King’s Daughter” and “God’s Wife.”

Makare Hatshepsut’s royal titles included: King of the North and South, Son of the Sun, The Heru of Gold, Bestower of Years, Goddess of Risings, Conqueror of all Lands, Lady of both Lands, Vivifier of Years, Chief Spouse of Amen, the Mighty One.

Makare Hatshepsut was one among the mightiest of African women.

 

MAKEDA

MAKEDA
MAKEDA

During the 10th century B.C., we hear of the deeds of Makeda — a near-legendary African woman. This queen had the qualities of an impressive ruler and seemed to possess governed over a prosperous land encompassing parts of both East Africa and Southwest Asia. Within the Quran, she is understood as Bilqis, within the great epic of Ethiopia called the Kebra Negast, she is named Makeda, and within the Bible and within the popular imagination of the Western world she is understood because of the Queen of Sheba. These texts show a clear image of a well-developed land characterized by the elevated overall posture of girls. And Makeda wasn’t an isolated phenomenon. Either their deeds or inheritance or both enabled such Black women to face out singularly and individually.

 

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