Edited by Ivan Van Sertima

"This unique volume provides an overview of the black queens, madonnas, and goddesses who dominated the history and imagination of ancient times. The authors have concentrated on Ethiopia and Egypt because the documents of the Nile Valley are voluminous compared to the sketchier records in other parts of Africa, but also because the imagination of the world, not just that of Africa, was haunted by these women. They are just as prominent a feature of European mythology as of African reality. The book is divided into three parts: Ethiopian and Egyptian Queens and Goddesses; Black Women in Ancient Art; and Conquerors and Courtesans. This new edition has an essay on the most powerful queen in history Queen Hatshepsut. Black Women in Antiquity provides a dramatic account of the role black women have played in the history and development of civilization."