Post by anansi on Jun 22, 2010 1:11:41 GMT -5
Women who were no mere toys for boys but struck out on their own or fight with male companions to defend their nations sometimes serving as royal wives or reigning monarchs,they were a force to reckoned with their histories long and their legends recoreded.
The Amazons
According to the Library of History, a historical account of the world, written by Diodorus Siculus in the 1st century BC, the Amazons' original home was in western Libya. They were said to have lived in the land called Hespera, which lay in the marsh of Tritonis and near Mount Atlas. The city of Cherronesus was the capital of the Amazons. Where is Cherronesus, remained uncertain.
Myrine Libyan Amazon
Diodorus described their custom and warring ways that was similar to Herodotus' account in the 5th century BC. It was the women, who were trained in combat and warfare, while the men (husbands?) looked after the homes and children.
Diodorus' description of the Amazon tactics was similar to those of the Parthian cavalry archers. The Parthians were superb horsemen, who had developed the skills of firing their arrows as they retreat from their enemies. Obviously Diodorus was influenced by the Roman defeat under their general Crassus, in the Battle of Carrhae (53 BC).
At the beginning of Myrina's campaign, she was said to be able to muster 30,000 foot-soldiers and 3000 strong cavalry, which is quite formidable.
During the reign of their queen, Myrina, the Amazons encountered another race of woman warriors, known as the Gorgons.
The Gorgons were usually known as monsters with snakes on their head instead of hairs. Looking directly into their faces could turn almost every living creature into stone. Diodorus had scoffed this myth, and claimed the Gorgons were nothing more than fierce tribal women in Libya, skilled in warfare.
The Amazons clashed with the Gorgons; the former crushing the later in battle. See Perseus for the alternative legend of the Gorgons.
After this, the Amazons had conquered many territories, as far east as Syria, and in the north in Asia Minor and a few islands in the Aegean, including Lesbos and Samothrace.
Myrina's empire crumbled at her death, when the Thracians and the Scythians defeated her army. Myrina was killed in battle. After a series of losses, the Amazons withdrew back into Libya.
www.timelessmyths.com/classical/amazons.html#Libya
Could the Georgians spoken of above be women with dread lock that resemble snakes?? just speculating!!
Nugaymath Turquia is the leader of a band of three hundred Amazons. They are negresses, they have their heads shaven, leaving only a topknot, they are on a pilgrimage and they are armed with Turkish bows".
Norris goes further to quote from the actual text stating, "King Bucar ordered that black Moorish woman to encamp nears the town with all her company That Moorish woman was so shrewd a master archer with the Turkish bow that it was a wonder to behold, and for that reason (the History) says the Moors called in her in Arabic nugaymath turquia, which means 'star of the archers of Turkey'".
Golden Age OF The Moors.
Tuareg queen Tin Hinan
African Amazon Queen and famous Ancestress of the Tuaregs
In Abalessa, the ancient capital of the Hoggar region, there is the tomb of the famous Tuareg queen Tin Hinan.
About this famous ancestress of the Tuaregs following story is told: Tin Hinan came in the company of her maid-servant Takamat from Tafilalet in South Morocco to the Hoggar. There she became the first Tamenokalt (= Queen) of the Tuaregs and her fame was so great, that even today the Tuaregs call her »Mother of Us All«.
Her sepulchre was also a place of pilgrimage and worship, so there were found hints that inside this tomb healing sleep was practised.
Queen Nzinga of the Angolans
Nzinga Meeting with Portuguese Governor Joao Corria de Sousa, 1622
In the sixteenth century, the Portugese position in the slave trade was threatened by England and France. As a result, the Portugese shifted their slave-trading activities to the Congo and South West Africa. Mistaking the title of the ruler (ngola) for the name of the country, the Portugese called the land of the Mbundu people Angola—the name by which it is still known today.
Here, the Portugese encountered the brilliant and courageous Queen Nzinga, who was determined never to accept the Portugese conquest of her country. An exceptional stateswoman and military strategist, she harassed the Portugese until her death, at age eighty.
Her meeting with the Portugese governor, recorded by a Dutch artist, is legendary in the history of Africa's confrontations with Europe: Representing her brother, the ngola, Nzinga arrived at Luanda in royal splendor. Upon entering the room, Nzinga observed that the only seat in the room belonged to the governor. She promptly summoned one of her women, who fell on her hands and knees and became Nzinga's "seat". Outwitted from the start, the governor never gained the advantage at the meeting, which resulted in a treaty on equal terms.
Zenobia
Zenobia was a third-century queen of Palmyra, a "warrior queen." Zenobia led her people in a war against Rome, much like Boudica did in England. Zenobia appears to have been an Arab, although she may have had many other dashes of blood in her, including Aramaean. Palmyrene inscriptions are found in the Greek, Latin and Aramaic languages. Although Zenobia claimed to have been a descendent of Cleopatra (of Egypt), there appears to be no concrete evidence of that. She did, however, know the Egyptian language and had a strong predisposition towards the Egyptian culture. Her mother may have been Egyptian. By associating herself with a past, glorious woman warrior, Zenobia understood the power of good public relations.
Zenobia did indeed come from a long history of fabulous Syrian and Abyssinian queens, including the Queen of Sheba. The Assyrian records speak of troublesome Arab queens such as Zabibi, who revolted but was finally subjugated in 738 B.C. Through the years, many powerful queens ruled, both through their husbands and for their offspring. Julia Maesa ruled for her son the Emperor Alexander and accompanied him on a campaign in 234 A.D.
Boadicea
Between AD 61 and AD 63 Boadicea led her Iceni people to a glorious war against the Romans. The Iceni Celts had submitted their kingdom in East Anglia to the conquering Romans and the rule of Emperor Claudius in AD 43. In AD 61, Prasutagus, Boadicea's husband and King of the Iceni died. A dispute followed during which Boadicea, was publicly beaten by the soldiers of the emperor, and her two daughters raped. The Iceni were insulted and rose in revolt led by their queen Boadicea. So successful was the uprising that the Romans were almost defeated. Unfortunately for the Iceni and their allies, the military skill of the Roman army finally led to the crushing of the rebellion.After the revolt, Roman rule was re-established. For almost two glorious years, Boadicea pillaged the Roman settlements; she remains to this day, the greatest of the heroines of Britain.
travesti.geophys.mcgill.ca/~olivia/BOUDICA/
Empress Himiko
Himiko or Pimiko (卑弥呼, d. ca. 248) was an obscure shaman queen of Yamataikoku in ancient Wa (Japan). Early Chinese dynastic histories chronicle tributary relations between Queen Himiko and the Cao Wei Kingdom (220-265), and record that the Yayoi period people chose her as ruler following decades of warfare among the kings of Wa. Early Japanese histories do not mention Himiko, but historians associate her with legendary figures such as Empress Consort Jingū, who was Regent (ca. 200-269 ) in roughly the same era as Himiko. Scholarly debates over the identity of Himiko and the location of her domain Yamatai have raged since the late Edo period, with opinions divided between northern Kyūshū or traditional Yamato province in present-day Kinki.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Himiko
The Amazons
According to the Library of History, a historical account of the world, written by Diodorus Siculus in the 1st century BC, the Amazons' original home was in western Libya. They were said to have lived in the land called Hespera, which lay in the marsh of Tritonis and near Mount Atlas. The city of Cherronesus was the capital of the Amazons. Where is Cherronesus, remained uncertain.
Myrine Libyan Amazon
Diodorus described their custom and warring ways that was similar to Herodotus' account in the 5th century BC. It was the women, who were trained in combat and warfare, while the men (husbands?) looked after the homes and children.
Diodorus' description of the Amazon tactics was similar to those of the Parthian cavalry archers. The Parthians were superb horsemen, who had developed the skills of firing their arrows as they retreat from their enemies. Obviously Diodorus was influenced by the Roman defeat under their general Crassus, in the Battle of Carrhae (53 BC).
At the beginning of Myrina's campaign, she was said to be able to muster 30,000 foot-soldiers and 3000 strong cavalry, which is quite formidable.
During the reign of their queen, Myrina, the Amazons encountered another race of woman warriors, known as the Gorgons.
The Gorgons were usually known as monsters with snakes on their head instead of hairs. Looking directly into their faces could turn almost every living creature into stone. Diodorus had scoffed this myth, and claimed the Gorgons were nothing more than fierce tribal women in Libya, skilled in warfare.
The Amazons clashed with the Gorgons; the former crushing the later in battle. See Perseus for the alternative legend of the Gorgons.
After this, the Amazons had conquered many territories, as far east as Syria, and in the north in Asia Minor and a few islands in the Aegean, including Lesbos and Samothrace.
Myrina's empire crumbled at her death, when the Thracians and the Scythians defeated her army. Myrina was killed in battle. After a series of losses, the Amazons withdrew back into Libya.
www.timelessmyths.com/classical/amazons.html#Libya
Could the Georgians spoken of above be women with dread lock that resemble snakes?? just speculating!!
Nugaymath Turquia is the leader of a band of three hundred Amazons. They are negresses, they have their heads shaven, leaving only a topknot, they are on a pilgrimage and they are armed with Turkish bows".
Norris goes further to quote from the actual text stating, "King Bucar ordered that black Moorish woman to encamp nears the town with all her company That Moorish woman was so shrewd a master archer with the Turkish bow that it was a wonder to behold, and for that reason (the History) says the Moors called in her in Arabic nugaymath turquia, which means 'star of the archers of Turkey'".
Golden Age OF The Moors.
Tuareg queen Tin Hinan
African Amazon Queen and famous Ancestress of the Tuaregs
In Abalessa, the ancient capital of the Hoggar region, there is the tomb of the famous Tuareg queen Tin Hinan.
About this famous ancestress of the Tuaregs following story is told: Tin Hinan came in the company of her maid-servant Takamat from Tafilalet in South Morocco to the Hoggar. There she became the first Tamenokalt (= Queen) of the Tuaregs and her fame was so great, that even today the Tuaregs call her »Mother of Us All«.
Her sepulchre was also a place of pilgrimage and worship, so there were found hints that inside this tomb healing sleep was practised.
Queen Nzinga of the Angolans
Nzinga Meeting with Portuguese Governor Joao Corria de Sousa, 1622
In the sixteenth century, the Portugese position in the slave trade was threatened by England and France. As a result, the Portugese shifted their slave-trading activities to the Congo and South West Africa. Mistaking the title of the ruler (ngola) for the name of the country, the Portugese called the land of the Mbundu people Angola—the name by which it is still known today.
Here, the Portugese encountered the brilliant and courageous Queen Nzinga, who was determined never to accept the Portugese conquest of her country. An exceptional stateswoman and military strategist, she harassed the Portugese until her death, at age eighty.
Her meeting with the Portugese governor, recorded by a Dutch artist, is legendary in the history of Africa's confrontations with Europe: Representing her brother, the ngola, Nzinga arrived at Luanda in royal splendor. Upon entering the room, Nzinga observed that the only seat in the room belonged to the governor. She promptly summoned one of her women, who fell on her hands and knees and became Nzinga's "seat". Outwitted from the start, the governor never gained the advantage at the meeting, which resulted in a treaty on equal terms.
Zenobia
Zenobia was a third-century queen of Palmyra, a "warrior queen." Zenobia led her people in a war against Rome, much like Boudica did in England. Zenobia appears to have been an Arab, although she may have had many other dashes of blood in her, including Aramaean. Palmyrene inscriptions are found in the Greek, Latin and Aramaic languages. Although Zenobia claimed to have been a descendent of Cleopatra (of Egypt), there appears to be no concrete evidence of that. She did, however, know the Egyptian language and had a strong predisposition towards the Egyptian culture. Her mother may have been Egyptian. By associating herself with a past, glorious woman warrior, Zenobia understood the power of good public relations.
Zenobia did indeed come from a long history of fabulous Syrian and Abyssinian queens, including the Queen of Sheba. The Assyrian records speak of troublesome Arab queens such as Zabibi, who revolted but was finally subjugated in 738 B.C. Through the years, many powerful queens ruled, both through their husbands and for their offspring. Julia Maesa ruled for her son the Emperor Alexander and accompanied him on a campaign in 234 A.D.
Boadicea
Between AD 61 and AD 63 Boadicea led her Iceni people to a glorious war against the Romans. The Iceni Celts had submitted their kingdom in East Anglia to the conquering Romans and the rule of Emperor Claudius in AD 43. In AD 61, Prasutagus, Boadicea's husband and King of the Iceni died. A dispute followed during which Boadicea, was publicly beaten by the soldiers of the emperor, and her two daughters raped. The Iceni were insulted and rose in revolt led by their queen Boadicea. So successful was the uprising that the Romans were almost defeated. Unfortunately for the Iceni and their allies, the military skill of the Roman army finally led to the crushing of the rebellion.After the revolt, Roman rule was re-established. For almost two glorious years, Boadicea pillaged the Roman settlements; she remains to this day, the greatest of the heroines of Britain.
travesti.geophys.mcgill.ca/~olivia/BOUDICA/
Empress Himiko
Himiko or Pimiko (卑弥呼, d. ca. 248) was an obscure shaman queen of Yamataikoku in ancient Wa (Japan). Early Chinese dynastic histories chronicle tributary relations between Queen Himiko and the Cao Wei Kingdom (220-265), and record that the Yayoi period people chose her as ruler following decades of warfare among the kings of Wa. Early Japanese histories do not mention Himiko, but historians associate her with legendary figures such as Empress Consort Jingū, who was Regent (ca. 200-269 ) in roughly the same era as Himiko. Scholarly debates over the identity of Himiko and the location of her domain Yamatai have raged since the late Edo period, with opinions divided between northern Kyūshū or traditional Yamato province in present-day Kinki.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Himiko