Kandake

thumb|Relief depicting Kandake AmanitoreKandake, kadake or kentake (), often Latinised as Candace (), was one Meroitic term for a queen or queen mother of Kingdom of Kush. It is attested for six or seven women. Some were rulers, while others were most likely just wives of a king. In some cases, she may have been sister or close female relative of the king of Kush, she also could be the queen mother. She sometimes had her own court, possibly acted as a landholder and held a secular role as regent until her son came of age. A kandake who ruled in her own right bore in addition the title qore, the same title carried by male rulers. Contemporary Greek and Roman sources treated it, incorrectly, as a name. The name Candace is derived from the way the word is used in the New Testament ().

==Archaeological sources== The Kandakes of Meroë were first described through the Greek geographer's Strabo account of the "one-eyed Candace" in 23 BCE in his encyclopedia Geographica.  There are at least ten regnant Meroitic queens during the 500 years between 260 BCE and 320 CE, and at least six during the 140 periods between 60 BC and 80 AD. The iconography of the Meroitic queens often depicts them alone and at the forefront of their stelae and sculptures, wearing regal clothing. Early depictions of Kushite queens typically do not have Egyptian elements, making their appearance drastically different from their Kushite male and Egyptian counterparts. As seen in the Dream Stela of Tanawetamani, a large shawl was wrapped around the body with an additionally decorated cloak worn over the first; typically, a small tab-like element hanging below the hem touches the ground and has been interpreted as a little tail. The first association with this element of dress is with Tarharqo's mother during his coronation ceremony.