Kentake Amanirenas of Kush (flourished c.24 BC)-gctid176058

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[TH]11. Kentake Amanirenas of Kush (flourished c.24 BC)
Defender of the Sudanese Kingdom of Kush against Roman aggression[/TH]
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[TD]The Roman conquest of Egypt in 30 BC brought a new challenge to the Kingdom of Kush, to the south. Augustus Caesar, the Roman emperor, threatened an invasion, following his Egyptian campaign. According to Strabo, a famous geographer, sometime between 29 and 24 BC the conflict with Kush began. Kentake (i.e. Queen-Mother) Amanirenas, the Kushite ruler, gave the order to march into Egypt and attack the invaders. Akindad led the campaigns against the Roman armies of Augustus. The Kushites sacked Aswan with an army of 30,000 men and they destroyed the statues of Caesar in Elephantine. The Romans, under Petronius, counterattacked. Though described as a strong and fortified city, they captured Qasr Ibrim in 23 BC after their first assault. The Romans invaded as far as Napata and sacked it, though Amanirenas evaded their clutches. Petronius returned to Alexandria with prisoners and booty leaving behind a garrison in Lower Nubia. Amenirenas ordered her armies to march a second time with the aim of seizing the Roman garrison. This time, however, a standoff with Petronius was reached without fighting. The Roman army retired to Egypt and withdrew their fort declaring Pax Romana (peace). In fact, the full extent of the Roman humiliation has yet to be disclosed since the relevant Kushite account of the affair has yet to be published. The Kushite account of this encounter, written in the Meroïtic script, cannot as yet be fully understood.

All of this information is extracted from the Book 'When We Ruled'.
To find out more about this book CLICK HERE

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