The first remarkable Black woman I read about in my new book is Tiye a Nubian Queen. Just to let you know I am recieveing all of my info from the book In Her Footsteps.
She was known as the queen mother of Egypt and remain in that position for half a century. Born in 1415 B.C.E. in Nubia. By the time of the reighn of Amenhotep III, Egypt had subjugated Nubia. Against his custom Amenhotep III chose to marry Tiye for political reasons and also because of true love. The custom in Egypt was for a pharoh to marry a daughter of the pharoh in order to keep the royal bloodline pure (which meant that pharohs would usually marry their sister or even their daughters).
Amenhotep III truly loved Tiye, he described her as the Princess, the most praised, the lady of grace, sweet in her love, who fills the palace with her beauty, the Regent of the North and the South, the Great Wife of the King who loves her....... (side note: gosh I pray that my husband will think of me like this). He also demostrated his love by building her a temple in her honor which was the first time in Egyptian history that a queen had recieved such an honor. When sculptures and painting would depict the queen usually she would be half the size of the king but Amenhotep III made sure she was portrayed as an equal.
Tiye was only 13 when she was married and had at least 7 children. After her husband died her son Akhenaten became pharoah. While her husband reign, she helped him to coordinate state policies and her role continued with her son's reign.
Her reign as queen marked a change in the status of women. For the first time a commoner was proclaimed and depicted as the equal of the king.
To learn more about her check this site out: http://www.heptune.com/Tiye.html
I like this one because of the way love played a factor in her life which eventually lead to a transformation in how Queens were perceived. ooohhh and i liked the names of the people, random i know.
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