Women and power
for this is presented by geographer Pausanias 1 (2 nd century AD) who describes a bronze statue of Athene on Athens’ Acropolis so impressive that: ‘the point of the spear of this Athena and the crest of her helmet are visible to those sailing to Athens, as soon as Sunium is passed’. Although the statue has not survived, this description indicates the sheer impressiveness of the female (divine) depiction. Pausanias later describes the materials’ provenance: ‘tithe from the Persians who landed at Marathon’ (Pausanias, Description of Greece , 1.28). This suggests how much the Athenians valued divine female depiction, since this battle was their first victory in the Persian wars and source of Athenian pride. So, depicting a woman in response to this is rather telling. Pausanias hints at an Athenian tradition of sorts, later describing a bronze statue of Nike erected elsewhere ‘as a memorial of the events at Sphacteria’ (over Sparta). Athene
embodied the identity of her city and was vital to its visual imperial demonstrations (even the currency of the empire had her face on it). Nike, too, is found on important cult statues all over Greece, to demonstrate the power of cities’ protective patron gods including Zeus’ chryselephantine statue at Olympia, one of the Seven
Archaic coin of Athens with effigy of Athene on the obverse
Ancient Wonders. The Athenian acropolis is full of female depictions with Nike and Athene, both having their own temples and represented in chryselephantine. Thus, although in many ways different to ancient Egyptian art, the Greeks did also use divine women in visual imperial promotion. However, unlike both aforementioned empires, the Athenian empire with its patriarchal democratic organization scarcely used historical women in promotional art.
A few centuries later, it is interesting to compare Kush and imperial Rome to demonstrate how female depiction was considered differently in different civilizations. Early 1 st -century AD Queen
Amanishakheto of Kush (northern Sudan) reigned during the early decades of the Roman empire, assigning herself in meroitic inscriptions ‘ Amaniskheto qor kd(ke)’ [Amanishakheto, ruler and queen], the former typically assumed by men. She is depicted in the relief to the right alongside Nubian warrior deities (including goddess Amesemi), promoting herself as protector of the Kushite kingdom. As another example here below is a large depiction of the later Kushite Queen
Amanitore. Here she and her husband- king are in the same size, and both smiting enemies of Kush with sword and axe— reminiscent of the previously also a role reserved usually for the (male) ‘Qore’. The large scale of the depiction emphasizes how imposing it was meant to be when promoting royal power. Thus, both historical and divine women are promoting royal power in art in Kush. Amanishakheto Relief on Temple of Amun at Naqa, in the collection of the Khartoum National Museum.
Queen Amanitore on the walls of the Temple of Apedemak at Naqa
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