Which African Queen Are You?

(Nigeria) - Queen Amina was a fierce warrior with an outstanding military career from the mid-15th or 16th century. She commanded that a wall be built around every city she conquered for protection and the improvement of trade throughout her kingdom. These became known as the Walls of Amina. The Hausa queen refused to ever marry for fear of losing power. It is unclear whether or not she had off spring; however, it is rumored that she had many lovers, one from each of the people she conquered, and that she killed/castrated each one when she was ready to move on to a new town so that he could not tell her secrets.

(Ethiopia) A wise and powerful leader, Queen Makeda ruled the Kingdom of Sheba for over 50 years. She is credited as the mother of Menelik I, son of King Solomon of Israel. She is known for her wit in being a match for the wisdom of Solomon who was blessed with great wisdom by God. Many say that she ushered in the beginnings of the Christian faith in Ethiopia after visiting Jerusalem and meeting King Solomon.

(Angola) African resistance to colonialism. Fought against the Portuguese and the expansion of the slave trade in central Africa. She has been described as a skilled negotiator. Just prior to becoming Queen, while performing her diplomatic duties, Nijinga traveled to meet with a Portuguese commander who refused to provide her with a chair to sit on. Her maid immediately crouched on all fours on the carpet allowing Njinga to sit on her back as a gesture to show that she was there to negotiate on an equal footing. As Queen, she led her army in battle against the Portuguese. She lived into her 80s and died peacefully in 1663. She is remembered today as a symbol for African independence.

(Sudan) It is said that this Queen ruled without a king and is the earliest known ruling African queen of ancient Nubia reigning from 170 to 150 BC. She controlled the Meroe Empire and played a role of significance in the Meroitic religion. Her husband was her consort with whom she is sometimes pictured. Their son went on to inherit the throne by her death.

(Sudan) Ruled from 40 BCE to 10 BCE and is one of the most famous kandakes (Candaces) because of her role leading Kushite armies against the Romans from 27 BCE to 22 BCE. She is rumored to have been blind in one eye, a wound she received in battle. Amanirenas holds the distinction of having defeated a Roman army. She led her army in battle and is often depicted on pyramid murals as a massive, powerful woman, covered in jewels, elaborate fringed, tasseled robes and carrying weapons in one hand. It is said that she used warrior elephants in battle. Some sources credit her successor, Amanishakheto with having defeated the Romans.

Ruled from 1370 BC to 1330 BC as queen and chief consort of Pharaoh Akhenaten. They were known for a monotheistic, religious revolution in Egypt. They also ruled during one of the wealthiest periods of Ancient Egypt. Some say that after the death of her husband, Nefertiti ruled briefly as Neferneferuaten until her son ascended to the throne.

Ruled from 1478 BC to 1458 BC as Pharaoh, the second confirmed female pharaoh. (The first was Sobekneferu.) She is regarded as one of the most successful pharaohs and reined longer than any other woman of an indigenous Egyptian dynasty. Hatshepsut established the trade networks that were disrupted during the Hyksos occupation of Egypt from 1650 BC to 1550 BC establishing the wealth of the 18th Egyptian Dynasty.

(Ghana) In 1900, this Ashanti queen led a rebellion known as the War of the Golden Stool against the British. When her countrymen would not stand and fight to defend the King, she called upon the women to take up arms at her side with these eloquent words:
"Now, I see that some of you fear to go forward to fight for our king. If it was in the brave days of Osei Tutu, Okomfo Anokye, and Opoku Ware I, chiefs would not sit down to see their king to be taken away without firing a shot. No European could have dared speak to chiefs of Asante in the way the governor spoke to you this morning. Is it true that the bravery of Asante is no more? I cannot believe it. It cannot be! I must say this: if you, the men of Asante, will not go forward, then we will. We, the women, will. I shall call upon my fellow women. We will fight! We will fight till the last of us falls in the battlefields."