UNESCO Ancient Civilizations of Africa (Editor G. Mokhtar)

Ancient Civilizations of Africa
close parallels among kingdoms and chiefdoms in various parts of Africa. ' 3
All the coronation ceremonies point to a sacral kingship in Napata and
Meroe: the king was considered to be an adopted son of various deities.
How far he himself was regarded as a god or as the incarnation of a god is
not clear but since he was chosen by the gods his actions were directed
by them through the precepts of customary law. We have a highly developed
concept of a divinely appointed king who dispenses judgement and justice
in accordance with the will of a god or gods, a concept which forms the
essence of all absolute kingships ancient and modern. Although in theory
his power was absolute and undivided the king had to rule strictly according
to customary law from which he was not permitted to deviate. He was,
moreover, limited by many taboos. Strabo and Diodorus Siculus relate cases
where priests, acting avowedly under divine instructions, ordered the king
to commit suicide. 14 They state that this custom persisted until the time of
Ergamenos (about — 250 to -125), who had had a Greek education which
freed him from superstitions and who executed the leading priests for their
presumption. After that time the custom of royal suicide disappeared. ' 5
The rulers of Napata and Meroe used traditional Pharaonic titles in their
inscriptions. Nowhere in their titulature do we encounter a Meroitic word
for king. The title kwr (read qere, qer or qeren) appears only in Psammetik
IPs account of his conquest of Kush when he mentions the king
Aspelta. ' 6 Though this title must have been the usual form of address of
Kushite sovereigns, it was not allowed to intrude into the monuments of
Kush.
The candace: the role of the queen-mother
The exact role played by royal ladies in the earlier periods is not quite
clear but there are many indications that they occupied prominent positions
and important offices in the realm. During the Kushite rule over Egypt
the office of the chief priestess (Dewat Neter) to god Amun in Thebes was
held by the daughter of the king and gave her great economic and political
influence. Even after the loss of Egypt, and consequently of this office,
royal ladies continued to hold prominent positions coupled with considerable
power among the temple priesthood of Amun at Napata and elsewhere.
The queen-mother's important role at the election and coronation ceremonies
of her son is mentioned by Taharqa and Anlamani in such a way
13. For instance in Kaffa, Buganda, Ankola, among the Shilluk, in Monomotapa and
elsewhere.
14. Strabo, XVII, 2, 3; Diodorus Siculus, III, 6.
15. Diodorus, loc. cit. There are many parallels to the ritual killing of kings on the
order of priests or elders in Africa; cf. L. Frobenius.
16. S. Sauneron and J. Yoyotte, 1952, pp. 157-207, recognized for the firsttime 'kwr' as
the Meroitic title for 'King'. The modern Alur word ker, 'the quality of chiefliness', is
probably etymologically related to the Meroitic word; cf. B. G. Haycock, p. 471, no. 34.
302