The reign of Amanitore was considered one of the most prosperous times of the Meroitic period. She ruled alongside Natakamani, who was either her husband or her son. The success of the two rulers is evident through their work towards the building, restoration, and expansion of many temples throughout Nubia. The temples that can be accredited to the work of the two include: the Temple of Apedemak, the Amun temple B500 at Napata, the Amun temple at Meroe, the Amun Temples of Naqa and Amara, the Isis temple at Wad ben Naqa, and the Meroitic palace B1500 at Napata.
Temple of Apedemak
The Temple of Apedemak, also known as the Lion Temple, features many representations of Amanitore and her coregent Natakamani. The temple is located in the ancient Meroitic city of Naqa, which is about 50 km east of the Nile in what is modern-day Sudan. The temple, which was built around the middle of 1 CE, is dedicated to the Nubain lion-headed god warrior Apedemak.
The iconography displayed throughout the temple is widely considered to have derived from a similar Apedemak temple located in Musawwarat, and the two temples are frequently compared with each other in academic literature. While there are many similarities between the two temples, the iconographic program displayed throughout the Apedemak Temple in Naqa demonstrates a new ideal of Kushite myth that Amanitore and Natakamani intended to establish. Through representations of the two rulers, the temple is intended to illustrate Kushite themes of triumph of the ruler over their enemies, reciprocity between the gods and the rulers, and a male-female dualism of regency.
Scenes located on the west and main wall of the interior of the temple represent the legitimation of Natakamani and Amanitore by the gods Apedemak and Amun while in the presence of their son, Prince Arikankharor.
Uniquely, the south front of the temple displays the coregents and the prince being accompanied by only male deities. These gods include Apedemak, Amun of Napata, Khonsu (Aqedise), and Amun of Kerma. Conversely, the north front shows the coregents and prince with the solely female deities of Isis, Mut, Hathor, and Satis. As such, the southern half of the west front of the temple features depictions of the king being legitimated by Apedemak, while the northern half features depictions of the queen being legitimated by Apedemak. Similarly, within the central scenes located on the interior side walls of the temple, the king is depicted alone before Apedemak-Sarapis on the southern half of the temple. On the northern half of this interior, Amanitore is depicted alone before Zeus-Amun Sarapis. With these representations in mind, it is evident that Natakamani is associated with the south/left side of the temple, while Amanitore is associated with the north/right side. Thus, these sides can be gendered as male and female respectively.
This idea of male-female symmetry is shown throughout the side fronts of the temple as well. While the deities are split with male depictions on the south/left side and female depictions on the north/right side, Amanitore and Natakamani are shown on both side fronts of the temple. The inclusion of both coregents on the side fronts is important in conveying the concept of male-female dualism of regency in Meroitic culture. Specifically, on the south front, the two are shown each wearing a diadem featuring a lion-headed uraeus in the front. These diadems signify the symmetry of male-female regency. Correspondingly, on the north front, Amanitore is depicted wearing a Kushite skullcap crown on which there is a diadem containing two uraei—one wearing the red crown and the other wearing a white crown—and a vulture head. She is also shown wearing a crown superstructure that is made up of cow’s horns and the sundisc of the goddess Isis. Next to her, Natakamani is depicted wearing an atef crown while Arikankharor is adorned in a coat decorated with varied images of Apedemak’s head with a hemhem crown or a human head wearing either the plymed crown of Amun or an atef crown of Osiris. The inclusion of these adronments is intended to present the coregents and the prince as the deities Osiris, Isis, and Horus. Significantly, this iconography establishes Amanitore as at the center of the scene as she is associated with Isis and is shown wearing the double uraeus, while the king only has one uraeus. This difference in crowns of the coregents suggests an intended emphasis on Amanitore’s authority in Kush.