Sunday, July 3, 2011

The Candaces of Ethiopia

I first came across the term "Candace of Ethiopia" in the Bible. Acts 8:27 "So he started out, and on his way he met an Ethiopian eunuch, an important official in charge of all the treasury of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians." However, the term "Candace" isn't a particular person's name but is the title of Ethiopian Queens (that is why the post is labeled in the plural "Candaces"). The African term for "Candace" is Kandake hence the difference in translation in the New Living version of that same verse "So he started out, and he met the treasurer of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority under the Kandake, the queen of Ethiopia."

Who were the Candaces or Kandakes of Ethiopia? According to Wikipedia "Kandake" was a term used to describe Queens/Queen mothers in the land of Kush/Cush. Kush or Cush as it is sometimes spelled is the African term for Ethiopia/Nubia so I will use the term Ethiopia/Nubia/Cush interchangable. The land of Cush can be found in the Bible where the garden of Eden is described in Gen 2:13. " The name of the second river is the Gihon; it winds through the entire land of Cush". (thank God my Pastor teaches the truth of our African Biblical Hertitage).


The Kandakes were African Warrior Queens who were written about by Herodotus, Strabo, and Diodorus. In 332 BC, when Alexander the Great was trying to invade Nubia, the ruling Kandake prepared her army for battle causing Alexander the Great to retreat and turn back to Egypt out of fear. When I read the history of my people I was intrigued.

I then studied the Fulani (who are said to be the descendants of Ethiopians) and I discovered that one reason Fulani were sold into slavery by other Africans was because they would not give up their "female clans" which offended African nations who did not believe in female rulership.

Kandake's of Ethiopia:
Pelekh Candace of Meroe (c. 345 BCE–332 BCE)
Alakhebasken (c. 295 BCE)
Shanakdakhete (177 BCE–155 BCE)
Amanikhabale (50 BCE–40 BCE)
Amanirenas (40 BCE–10 BCE)
Amanishakheto (c. 10 BCE–1 CE)
Amanitore (1–20 CE)
Amantitere (22–41 CE)
Amanikhatashan (62–85 CE)
Maleqorobar (266–283 CE)
Lahideamani (306–314 CE)


Check out my follow up post:  Cush and the Bible pt 1
http://rhoadie.blogspot.com/2012/10/cush-and-bible-part-1.html












5 comments:

TheRevelationGirl said...

You look like what I've always imagined the true egyptians and isrialites would have looked like.
I have always believed that they migrated from those areas or had some connection the the original tribes of Kush. Good Job!

Unknown said...

Well, You're mistaken by thinking Candace was "Ethiopian". There was no Candace queen of modern "ethiopia" but there was a Kandace queen in Sudan. Sudan is between Egypt and "ethiopia". The bible was translated form Hebrew to Greek and the word cush was translated by the Greek word aithiopia, which mean the land of the blacks(burnt faces). Aithiopia refers to a kingdom immediately south of Egypt. The capital of the kingdom was Meroe; that's where queen Candace lived not in the present day "ethiopia". The country now called ethiopia has nothing to do with ancient Cush (the ethiopia mentioned in the bible). These are two different kingdoms, two different people. just google Cush and see the painting of ancient of cushites(ancient ethiopians) by ancient egyptians.... search for the location of cush.. it's not in "Ethiopia" but Sudan. It's great you're form Ethiopia but learn that Ethiopia was Abyssinia until 1935. They changed the name of their country to Ethiopia after the Italian conflict. It doesn't mean that candace was "ethiopian". However, there was an axumite empire, a powerful empire that ruled over Yemen and part of Arabia; that was Abyssinian empire.

Miss Rhoadie said...

Thank you for your enlightment Moshe.

Unknown said...

You're welcome, my queen. You're surely form a royalty!

Unknown said...

Thank a lot my queen! In fact the descendent of the cushites are living in "ethiopia"(until today). Therefore, there is no doubt you're form a royalty.

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