Thanks to our Kickstarter campaign for 2013, we’re adding 19 new costumes this season, 7 of which our backers and supporters will get to vote on. This series of posts is designed to briefly introduce the many notable women and legendary figures we’ll be considering. Voting will take place spring/summer of 2013.

A couple of thousand years ago, Sudan was home to a remarkable civilization. The Kingdom of Meroë flourished from about 300 BCE to 300 CE, with its own writing system (not yet fully deciphered), an iron-working industry that was one of the engines of the ancient world, and trade contacts as far afield as Europe and India. An intriguing aspect of Meroitic culture was the ruling role played by queens, who were known by the title Kandake (traditionally spelled Candace). Amanishakheto was surely one of the greatest Kandakes; the treasure plundered from her pyramid in Naqa demonstrates the wealth and power at her command. She may have been the famous “one-eyed” Kandake who led a war against the Romans in the 20s BCE, successfully keeping Meroë out of Rome’s grasp even as Egypt and Lower Nubia were reduced to imperial provinces. (It also might have been her predecessor, Amanirenas, but until the Meroitic language is deciphered, we can’t be sure. The Greek historians only referred to the queen by her title, not her name, and the exact dating of each Kandake’s reign is iffy.)

The documentary Nubia: The Forgotten Kingdom has great footage of the Meroitic ruins and Amanishakheto’s jewelry, with actors recreating scenes from the life of the queen and of the creepy European fortune hunter who plundered and destroyed her pyramid in the nineteenth century:

Think we should add an Amanishakheto costume to Take Back Halloween? If you missed our Kickstarter campaign you can still become a supporter and get to vote on the new costumes.

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