Towards a decolonial approach to Ancient Africa: Amanirenas and Amanishaketo (2nd century BCE–1st century CE)

Abstract

Throughout the centuries, the African continent has been traversed by ethnocentric, racist, and colonialist discourses that have contributed to the construction of stereotypical images of its societies, cultures, and gender relations. Among the impacts of these perspectives is the dissemination of colonial conceptions that associated African women with submission, sociopolitical exclusion, and male dependence, erasing historical experiences of female protagonism that existed before colonization. Seeking to contribute to confronting these narratives, this article proposes a decolonial approach to gender coloniality through a return to African antiquity, focusing on the figures of the KTKE/KDKE, popularly known as Candaces, warrior-rulers of the Kingdom of Kush. Based on the trajectories of Amanirenas and Amanishakheto, the study discusses how these female leaders demonstrate forms of power, political participation, and military authority exercised by African women in pre-colonial contexts. In this way, the article articulates studies on Ancient Africa and the Candaces as historiographical possibilities for confronting the remnants of coloniality, contributing to the valorization of African historicities that are frequently erased or marginalized by colonial narratives.