Candace of MeroeMeroë is the name of an ancient city on the east bank of the Nile about 6 km north-east of the Kabushiya station near Shendi, Sudan, approximately 200 km north-east of Khartoum. Near the site are a group of villages called Bagrawiyah. This city was the capital of the Kingdom of Kush for several...
was the
queenA queen regnant is a qualifying reference to a female monarch possessing and exercising all of the monarchical powers of a ruler, in contrast to a "queen consort", who is the wife of a male reigning as monarch and who is without any official powers of state.In Ancient Egypt, Pacific cultures, and...
of
NubiaNubia is the region in the south of Egypt, along the Nile and in northern Sudan. Most of Nubia is situated in Sudan with about a quarter of its territory in Egypt...
at the time of the conquests of
Alexander the GreatAlexander III of Macedon, popularly known as Alexander the Great , was an Ancient Greek king of Macedon who created one of the largest empires in ancient history...
. According to legend, Alexander encountered her when he invaded Nubia. In fact, Alexander never attacked Nubia, and never attempted to move further south than the
oasis of SiwaThe Siwa Oasis is an oasis in Egypt, located between the Qattara Depression and the Egyptian Sand Sea in the Libyan Desert, nearly 50 km east of the Libyan border, and 560 km from Cairo.About 80 km in length and 20 km wide, Siwa Oasis is one of Egypt's...
in
EgyptEgypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Western Asia...
.
The story is that when Alexander attempted to conquer her lands in
332 BC-Persian Empire:* The Persian King Darius III twice sends Alexander letters of friendship. The second time he offers a large ransom for his family, the ceding of all of the Persian Empire west of the Euphrates River, and the hand of his daughter in return for an alliance...
, she arranged her armies strategically to meet him and was present on a war
elephantElephants are large land mammals in two genera of the family Elephantidae: Elephas and Loxodonta. Three species of elephant are living today: the African Bush Elephant, the African Forest Elephant and the Asian Elephant...
when he approached.
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Candace of MeroeMeroë is the name of an ancient city on the east bank of the Nile about 6 km north-east of the Kabushiya station near Shendi, Sudan, approximately 200 km north-east of Khartoum. Near the site are a group of villages called Bagrawiyah. This city was the capital of the Kingdom of Kush for several...
was the
queenA queen regnant is a qualifying reference to a female monarch possessing and exercising all of the monarchical powers of a ruler, in contrast to a "queen consort", who is the wife of a male reigning as monarch and who is without any official powers of state.In Ancient Egypt, Pacific cultures, and...
of
NubiaNubia is the region in the south of Egypt, along the Nile and in northern Sudan. Most of Nubia is situated in Sudan with about a quarter of its territory in Egypt...
at the time of the conquests of
Alexander the GreatAlexander III of Macedon, popularly known as Alexander the Great , was an Ancient Greek king of Macedon who created one of the largest empires in ancient history...
. According to legend, Alexander encountered her when he invaded Nubia. In fact, Alexander never attacked Nubia, and never attempted to move further south than the
oasis of SiwaThe Siwa Oasis is an oasis in Egypt, located between the Qattara Depression and the Egyptian Sand Sea in the Libyan Desert, nearly 50 km east of the Libyan border, and 560 km from Cairo.About 80 km in length and 20 km wide, Siwa Oasis is one of Egypt's...
in
EgyptEgypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Western Asia...
.
The story is that when Alexander attempted to conquer her lands in
332 BC-Persian Empire:* The Persian King Darius III twice sends Alexander letters of friendship. The second time he offers a large ransom for his family, the ceding of all of the Persian Empire west of the Euphrates River, and the hand of his daughter in return for an alliance...
, she arranged her armies strategically to meet him and was present on a war
elephantElephants are large land mammals in two genera of the family Elephantidae: Elephas and Loxodonta. Three species of elephant are living today: the African Bush Elephant, the African Forest Elephant and the Asian Elephant...
when he approached. Having assessed the strength of her armies, Alexander decided to withdraw from
NubiaNubia is the region in the south of Egypt, along the Nile and in northern Sudan. Most of Nubia is situated in Sudan with about a quarter of its territory in Egypt...
, heading to
EgyptEgypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Western Asia...
instead. Another story claims that Alexander and Candace had a romantic encounter.
These accounts originate from "The Alexander Romance" by an unknown writer called "Pseudo-Callisthenes", and the work is largely a fictionalized and grandiose account of Alexander's life. It is commonly quoted, but there seems to be no historical reference to this event from Alexander's time. The whole story of Alexander and Candace's encounter appears to be legendary.
References to this
warrior queenAccording to the Random House Dictionary, the term warrior has two meanings. The first literal use refers to "a person engaged or experienced in warfare." The second figurative use refers to "a person who shows or has shown great vigor, courage, or aggressiveness, as in politics or athletics."...
are among the earliest made to the Nubian Kentakes. The name "Candace" is actually a form of the title "Kentake", and not the actual name of a person.