Progress and Achievements of the Colored People / Containing the Story of the Wonderful Advancement of the Colored Americans—the Most Marvelous in the History of Nations—Their Past Accomplishments, Together With Their Present-day Opportunities and a Glimpse Into the Future for Further Developments—the Dawn of a Triumphant Era. A Handbook for Self-improvement Which Leads to Greater Success

by Kelly Miller; Joseph R. Gay

When Cambyses, king of Persia, conquered Egypt six hundred years before the Christian era, he ventured to arrange an expedition against the black empire to the south, stories of the greatness of which he had been told. He sent to the Black King gifts of gold, palm wine and incense, and asked to be informed whether or not it was true that on a certain spot called the “Table of the Sun,” the magistrates, every night, put provisions of cooked meats so that every one who was hungry might come in the morning and help himself.

The history proceeds to tell us, that the black king, Nastasenen, received the envoys of Cambyses peacefully but without enthusiasm. He showed them the “Table of the Sun” mentioned by Cambyses, and took them to the prisons where the prisoners wore fetters of gold, so that the Persians might be properly impressed.

Cambyses was very much impressed by the fact that gold was so common that it was used in making the shackles of prisoners, and he made war upon the black empire to get that gold, but miserably failed.

THE BEAUTIFUL BLACK QUEEN

We now come to the Queen Candace mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles. The account there given is as follows (Chapter 8):

“26th verse. And the angel of the Lord spake unto Philip, saying, arise and go toward the south unto the way that goeth down from Jerusalem unto Gaza, which is desert.

“27th verse. And he arose and went: and behold, a man of Ethiopia, an eunuch of great authority under Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who had charge of all her treasure, and had come to Jerusalem for to worship.”

This is all that relates to Queen Candace, but it transpires from subsequent verses of the same chapter, that the treasurer of Queen Candace was baptized and went on his way rejoicing.

One queen Candace of Ethiopia, was a famous black queen, tales of whose prowess spread as far as Greece. It appears from the monuments, that the kingdom was ruled by successive queens each bearing the name of Candace, which may account for the different descriptions of her, some showing her as very beautiful, and some allowing her but one eye with the disposition of a termagant.

These kings and queens, whose records have been deciphered, are of comparatively recent years—not more than 2,500 or 3,000 years old. It is expected that the results of the excavations of the older ruins will be more interesting.