17th century BC – Ahhotep I is credited with a stela at Karnak for "having pulled Egypt together, having cared for its army, having guarded it, having brought back those who fled, gathering up its deserters, having quieted the South, subduing those who defy her."[1]
Ahhotep II is buried with a dagger and axe, as well as three golden fly pendants, which were given as rewards for military valor. However, it is debated as to whether or not they actually belong to her.[2]
332 BC – The Nubian queen, Candace of Meroe, intimidated Alexander the Great with her armies and her strategy while confronting him, causing him to avoid Nubia, instead heading to Egypt, according to Pseudo-Callisthenes.[5] However, Pseudo-Callisthenes is not considered a reliable source, and it is possible that the entire event is fiction.[6] More reliable historical accounts indicate that Alexander never attacked Nubia and never attempted to move farther south than the oasis of Siwa in Egypt.[7]
217 BC – Arsinoe III of Egypt accompanied Ptolemy IV at the Battle of Raphia. When the battle went poorly, she appeared before the troops and exhorted them to fight to defend their families. She also promised two minas of gold to each of them if they won the battle, which they did.[8]
Early 1500s: Idia, mother of Esigie, the Oba of Benin, is described as a great warrior, and receives much credit for her son's conquest of the Igala.[13]
16th century: Portuguese explorers report that a group of female warriors existed in the Congo, and that their king assigned regions where only female children were raised. Angola resists the Portuguese under Queen Nzinga of Ndongo and Matamba.[14]
1536–1573: Reign of Amina, ruler of the Hausa empire in Niger. She personally led an army of over 20,000 soldiers.[citation needed]
1716-1718: Hangbe in the Kingdom of Dahomey becomes the regent after her twin brother Akaba is killed. Oral traditions say that when Akaba died, she put on his armour and acted in his place for the rest of war in the Ouémé River valley.[citation needed]
^Gender in Pre-Hispanic America, edited by Cecelia F. Klein, 2001 p.309
^Bunson, Margaret (2002) [1991]. Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt (hardcover revised ed.). New York, New York: Facts on File Books. p. 161. ISBN0-8160-4563-1.
^Pseudo-Callisthenes (1889). The History of Alexander the Great. Ernest Alfred Wallis Budge (trans.). Cambridge University Press. p. 124.
^Morgan, J.R. & Stoneman, Richard (1994). Greek Fiction: The Greek Novel in Context. Routledge. pp. 117–118. ISBN0-415-08507-1.
^Gutenberg, David M. (2003). The Curse of Ham: Race and Slavery in Early Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Princeton University Press. p. 64.
^Meyers, Carol, general editor. (2000). Women in Scripture: A Dictionary of Named and Unnamed Women in the Hebrew Bible, the Apocryphal/Deuterocanonical Books, and the New Testament. Houghton Mifflin Company, New York. p. 397. ISBN0-395-70936-9. {{cite book}}: |author= has generic name (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^Hannoum, Abdelmajid (2001). Post-Colonial Memories: The Legend of the Kahina, a North African Heroine (Studies in African Literature). ISBN978-0-325-00253-8.
^Historical Dictionary of Nigeria By Toyin Falola, Ann Genova, p.160
^Steinem, Gloria; Chesler, Phyllis; Feitler, Bea (1972). Wonder Woman. Hole, Rinehart and Winston and Warner Books. ISBN0-03-005376-5.