Nzuri Malkia "beautiful queen"

Homeless High School Teen Graduates as Valedictorian & Will Enter Spellman as a junior

http://www.clutchmagonline.com/2013/05/homeless-high-school-teen-graduates-as-valedictorian-will-enter-spelman-as-a-junior/

Congrats Chelesa Fearce Nzuri Malkia is extremely proud of you.

www.zuridesignsbylashantis.com

I’m so proud to announce that “Zuri Designs” African custom pieces will be in an upcoming fashion show. Stay tune for more details. Thank you for your support.

Zuri

Queen Mother Amanirenas
About 27-25 BC
From Meroe, Sudan

This head was once part of a statue of the emperor Augustus (ruled 27 BC-AD 14). It was taken during a Kushite raid on Roman-occupied Egypt as a symbol of their defiance of Roman might. It was buried in front of the steps of a Kushite temple of Victory at Meroe in Upper Nubia and was probably placed there so as to be permanently underneath the feet of its captors. Height: 447 mm. – Courtesy the British Museum

The Classical authors credit a Candake as the leader of the Meroites. As one has seen earlier, they had mistaken the title, kdke, for the personal name of the female ruler of kingdom of Meroe. Her identity remains unknown, although there are attempts to identify her with the Queen Mother Amanirenas, who is suggested to have ruled during this period of time. She apparently shared power with the pqr, Akinidad. If one’s reading of the monuments is correct, Akinidad continued to rule after her demise with another kdke, Amanishakheto by name. Akinidad exercised personal control over both Upper and Lower Nubia, as his titles attest. He is to date the only Meroite known to have held the office of pqr and pesato, “viceroy [of Lower Nubia],” simultaneously.

A number of Meroitic queens called Ka’andakes (Candaces) ruled Nubia-Kush just before the birth of Christ. Candace Amanirenas and her son Prince Akinidad along with the Meroitic Army kept the Romans out of Nubia-Kush. In this scene, they are witnessing the burning of the Roman Garrison in Aswan. Meroitic-Kush never became part of the Roman empire. The formidable leader greatly impressed classical writers, who mistook the royal title of Candace for a personal name. – Reference and photo from Splendors of the Past: Lost Cities of the Ancient World, National Geographic Society, 1981, page 171-173

QUEEN OF SHEBA (960 B.C.)
Written by Legrand H. Clegg II
Historian
“I am black but comely,
O ye daughters of Jerusalem,
As the tents of Kedar,
As the curtains of Solomon,
Look not upon me because I am black
Because the sun hath scorched me.”
(Song of Solomon)

Although most of Black history is suppressed, distorted or ignored by an ungrateful modern world, some African traditions are so persistent that all of the power and deception of the Western academic establishment have failed to stamp them out. One such story is that of Makeda, the Queen of Sheba, and King Solomon of Israel.
Black women of antiquity were legendary for their beauty, power and lover affairs. Especially great were the Queens of Ethiopia; Queen of Sheba (960 B.C.), Candace of Meroe and her defeat of Alexander the Great (332 B.C.), Amanirenas, Amanishakhete, Nawidemak, Amanitore (Acts 8:26-40), Shanakdakh, and Malegereabar.

Ethiopia was also known as Nubia, Kush, Aksum, Abyssinia and Sheba. One thousand years before Christ, Ethiopia was ruled by a line of virgin queens. The one whose story has survived into our time was known as Makeda, “the Queen of Sheba.” Her remarkable tradition was recorded in the Kebra Nagast, or the Book of the Glory of the Kings [of Ethiopia], has been held in the highest esteem and honour throughout the length and breadth of Abyssinia for a thousand years at least, and even to-day it is believed by every educated man in that country to contain the true history of the origin of the Solomonic line of kings in Ethiopia, and is regarded as the final authority on the history of the conversion of the Ethiopians from the worship of the sun, moon, and stars to that of the Lord God of Israel.

The Bible tells us that, during his reign, King Solomon of Israel decided to build a magnificent temple. To announce this endeavor, the king sent forth messengers to various foreign countries to invite merchants from abroad to come to Jerusalem with their caravans so that they might engage in trade there.
At this time, Ethiopia was second only to Egypt in power and fame. Hence, King Solomon was enthralled by Ethiopia’s beautiful people, rich history, deep spiritual tradition and wealth. He was especially interested in engaging in commerce with one of Queen Makeda’s subjects, an important merchant by the name of Tamrin.

Solomon sent for Tamrin who “packed up stores of valuables including ebony, sapphires and red gold, which he took to Jerusalem to sell to the king.”(2) It turns out that Tamrin’s visit was momentous. Although accustomed to the grandeur and luxury of Egypt and Ethiopia, Tamrin was still impressed by King Solomon and his young nation. During a prolonged stay in Israel, Tamrin observed the magnificent buildings and was intrigued by the Jewish people and their culture. But above all else, he was deeply moved by Solomon’s wisdom and compassion for his subjects.

Upon returning to his country, Tamrin poured forth elaborate details about his trip to Queen Makeda. She was so impressed by the exciting story that the great queen decided to visit King Solomon herself.

Queen Tiye:
Titles:
Hereditary Princess (iryt-p`t)
Great of Praises (wrt-hzwt)
Sweet of Love (bnrt-mrwt)
Lady of The Two Lands (nbt-t3wy)
King’s Wife (hmt-nisw)
Great King’s Wife (hmt-niswt-wrt),
King’s Wife, his beloved (hmt-nisw meryt.f),
Mistress of Upper and Lower Egypt (hnwt-Shm’w-mhw)
Mistress of the Two Lands (hnwt-t3wy)
Queen Tiye from the tomb of Userhat (Brussels)
Photo by Yuti

Daughter of Yuya and Tuya and wife of Amenhotep III.
Mother of Tuthmosis, Amenhotep (later to be called Akhenaten), Sitamen, Henuttaneb, Isis, Nebetah, and Baketaten

Yuya and Tuya were the non royal parents of Queen Tiye.
Yuya was commander of the Chariotry, God’s Father and High Priest of Min.
Tuya was Chief of the Harem of Amun and Min.

Tiye was the daughter of Yuya, the High Priest of Min from Akhmin and his wife , the chief of the Harem Tuya. Tiye had at least one brother Anen who later rose to the position of Second Priest of Amun in Karnak. Tiye must have been quite young herself when she was married of to the young Pharaoh Amenhotep III. Tiye is mentioned on several marriage scarabs and other documents from early in the reign. Later during the reign of Amenhotep III she became a very iinfluential lady at court. It is interesting for instance to note that several large statues exist that show Tiye depicted at the same size as her husband. The dyad that is now in the Cairo Museum is a good example.

A temple was dedicated to Queen Tiye in Sedeinga, Nubia during the latter part of Amenhotep’s reign. Tiye represents the “eye of Re” and her temple is the female counterpart to a larger temple dedicated to Amenhotep III nearby. Some see these dual temples as a fore runner of the double temple complex of Ramesses II and his wife Nefertari at Abu Simbel.

Tiye gave birts to several children during her marriage to Amenhotep III. She is depicted with several daughters in for instance the temple at Soleb. Two royal princesses, Sitamen and Isis, are among the royal princesses thought to be her daughters. These two royal women would later be elevated to the rank of great royal wife by their father.

Hatshepsut (reigned 1503-1482 B.C.) was an Egyptian queen of the Eighteenth Dynasty. Usurping the throne after her husband’s death, she held effective power for over 20 years.

The daughter of Thutmose I by his queen Ahmose, Hatshepsut was married to her half brother Thutmose II, a son of Thutmose I by a lesser queen named Mutnofre. During Thutmose II’s lifetime Hatshepsut was merely a principal queen bearing the titles King’s Daughter, King’s Sister, God’s Wife, and King’s Great Wife.
On the death of Thutmose II the youthful Thutmose III, a son of Thutmose II by a concubine named Ese (Isis), came to the throne but under the tutelage of Hatshepsut, who for a number of years thereafter succeeded in keeping him in the background. At the beginning she had only queenly status but soon assumed the double crown of Egypt and, after some initial hesitation, had herself depicted in male dress.
Although both she, and later Thutmose III, counted their reigns from the beginning of their partnership, Hatshepsut was the dominant ruler until Year Twenty. Thutmose III was also shown as a king but only as a junior coregent. In an inscription of Year Twenty in Sinai, however, Thutmose III is shown on an equal footing with his aunt.
For obvious reasons warlike activities were barred even to so virile a woman as Hatshepsut, and with the exception of a minor expedition into Nubia, her reign was devoid of military undertakings. But an inscription on the facade of a small rock temple in Middle Egypt, known to the Greeks as Speos Artemidos, records her pride in having restored the sanctuaries in that part of Egypt, which she claimed had been neglected since the time of the alien Hyksos rulers.
Among the many officials on whose support Hatshepsut must have depended at least initially was one Senmut, whom she entrusted with the guardianship of the heir to the throne, the princess Ranefru, her daughter by her marriage to Thutmose II. According to Senmut himself, he was responsible for the many buildings erected by the Queen at Thebes. Among these was her splendid terraced temple at Deir el-Bahri, which was inspired by the earlier structure there of the Eleventh Dynasty king Mentuhotpe I.
Apart from the customary ritual ceremonies, the colored reliefs on the walls of this temple depicted the two main events of Hatshepsut’s reign, the transport of two great red granite obelisks from Elephantine to Karnak and the famous expedition of Year Nine to the land of Punt, an unidentified locality which probably lay somewhere on the African Red Sea littoral.
Once having proclaimed herself king, Hatshepsut had a tomb excavated for herself in the Valley of the Kings. How she died is unknown, but after her death her memory was execrated by Thutmose III, who caused her name to be erased from the monuments wherever it could be found
Hatshepsut

Nefertari
During the nineteenth Dynasty a queen by the name of Nefertari was in power with Ramesses the Great. She was one of many wives, but continued to remain one of his favorites. Her birth parents remain a mystery, but it’s determined she is of royal heritage. It’s however known that she had a brother by the name of Amenmose who was the mayor of Thebes during her rule as queen. She had two sons, Amonhirwonmef, Prehirwonmef and two daughters named Merytamon, and Mertatum.
Looking at all the monuments constructed it’s pretty evident she was of high importance. She must’ve played an important role in her time. Most depictions of the queen stand with Ramesses II, which might mean she might’ve had a major political influence on Egypt. Ramesses II also dedicated a temple to her called Abu Simbel. This temple is located south of Aswan near the second Cataract of the Nile. This temple was designed with four large statues of Ramesses II with several small figures at his side. The temple was dedicated to the goddess Hathor and Queen Nefertari.
Nefertari was not the only Queen present during the rule of Ramesses II. In fact, Ramesses had a harem filled with many queens. His children were estimated at one hundred or more. Ramesses refers to her as the most beautiful one.
Her disappearance remains a mystery. Experts aren’t sure if she died, or just remained part of the great harem. Her tomb has been found and it remains a precious treasure to Egypt. Her tomb is said to be one of the more extraordinary tombs found to date. It’s located in The Valley of the Queens

Nandi (c. 1760 – October 10, 1827) was a daughter of Bhebhe, a past chief of the Langeni tribe and the mother of the legendary Shaka, King of the Zulus.
Shaka’s father was Senzangakhona kaJama, chieftain of the Zulu clan, which was small and insignificant at the time. After giving birth to her illegitimate son, Nandi spent many hard years being shuffled back and forth between the Zulus and her own tribe. During that time she also had to protect her son from famine, assassination attempts, and his own destructive temper.

Queen Nzinga
(1583-1663)
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.
Converting to Christianity for reasons more political than religious (primarily to forge links with the governor) she adopted the name Dona Anna de Souza. However, the governor could not honor the treaty as Portugal’s rapacious appetite for black slaves had to be satisfied. She appealed to her brother to repel the Portugese, but he proved to be a weakling and Nzinga decided to take matters into her own hands.
Subsequently, Nzinga formed an alliance with the Jaga. She fashioned an organized army out of disparate elements, strengthened the alliance by marrying the Jaga chief, and ultimately created a land for her people by conquering the kingdom of Matamba. The fragile alliance with the Jaga chief ended when he betrayed her and attacked Matamba. Fortunately, dissension among the Europeans—the Dutch were encroaching on Portugal’s share of the slave trade—created an opportunity for Nzinga. She established a strategic alliance with the Dutch, pitting them against the Portugese. After the Portugese routed the Dutch, Nzinga retreated to the hills of Matamba, where she established a formidable resistance movement against the Portugese regime.
She became renowned for the guerilla tactics she employed for resisting the technologically superior Portugese army. She was a brilliant strategist and, although past sixty, led her warriors herself.
Never surrendering, she died on December 17, 1663.
Her death accelerated the Portugese occupation of the interior of South West Africa, fueled by the massive expansion of the Portugese slave trade.

Yaa Asantewa of the Ashanti Empire
Her fight against British colonialists is a story that is woven throughout the history of Ghana.
One evening the chiefs held a secret meeting at Kumasi. Yaa Asantewa, the Queen Mother of Ejisu, was at the meeting. The chiefs were discussing how they should make war on the white men and force them to bring back the Asantehene. Yaa Asantewa noticed that some of the chiefs were afraid. Some said that there should be no war. They should rather go to beg the Governor to bring back the Asantehene King Prempeh. Then suddenly Yaa Asantewa stood up and spoke. This was what she said: “Now I have seen that some of you fear to go forward to fight for our king. If it were in the brave days of, the days of Osei Tutu, Okomfo Anokye, and Opolu Ware, chiefs would not sit down to see thief king taken away without firing a shot. No white man could have dared to speak to chief of the Ashanti in the way the Governor spoke to you chiefs this morning. Is it true that the bravery of the Ashanti is no more? I cannot believe it. It cannot be! I must say this, if you the men of Ashanti will not go forward, then we will. We the women will. I shall call upon my fellow women. We will fight the white men. We will fight till the last of us falls in the battlefields.” This speech stirred up the men who took an oath to fight the white men until they released the Asantehene. For months the Ashantis led by Yaa Asantewa fought very bravely and kept the white men in the fort. Yet British reinforcements totaling 1,400 soldiers arrived at Kumasi. Yaa Asantewa and other leaders were captured and sent into exile. Yaa Asantewa’s war was the last of the major war in Africa led by a woman.

Ankh-N-Aten

Teaching a doctrine of love and peace, he moved into the desert early in his reign and built a new city dedicated to religion, art and music. This new city, Akhenaton (now Tell el Amarna) with its lush gardens and magnificent buildings became known as the City of Dreams.