Who was Kahena?

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Cheb i Sabbah's La Kahena

New Album is dedicated to 7th Century North African Jewish Freedom

Fighter and Queen.

"To be defeated by a woman is the worst humiliation for a muslim

army; by a Jewish woman, it is even worse."

 

As well as Yemenites and Ethiopians are proud of their Queen of

Sheva and her relationship with the King of Israel, the Amazigh are

proud of their own Jewish Queen, whose history is known better as

she lived in the early Middle Ages. Her name was Dehiyyah al-Kahena,

called also the veiled Queen of Jerawah. In history she is usually

named "Kahena". Like any people's heroine, she became a legendary

figure and the historical facts should be separated from the myth.

Her biography was written by Ibn Khaldun and `Ubayd ibn Salih

ibn `Abd al-Halim; from a comparison of both works emerges a

reliable historical account.

It is not clear if Kahena belonged to a Jewish family dwelling among

the Amazigh or else to an Amazigh family that embraced Judaism, in

either case the title given her, "the Jewish Queen of the Amazigh",

is rightful. The first possibility is considered the most likely,

though the Judaized Amazigh mixed with the Jewish immigrants and it

is difficult to distinguish between both groups that were different

in origin.

In that period, a new nightmare appeared in the Middle East: the

ruthless islamic Arabs, enriched after having plundered all peoples

up to the gates of India, had already conquered Egypt and Eastern

Tamazgha (Libya), and advanced relentlessly westwards. The Amazigh

peoples appointed Queen Kahena as their military commander to

organize the resistance against the muslim invaders. In the year

4454 (694 c.e.), the Arab hordes drove into Tamazgha, relying on the

invincibility of their armies, but were unexpectedly stopped by the

Jewish-Amazigh alliance under Kahena's command. Western Tamazgha was

cleansed of Arab plunderers, but a second, stronger Arab invasion

was coming. Kahena's military achievement encouraged the inhabitants

of the coastal towns to join the resistance. Once again, the muslim

invaders were vanquished by the Jewish-Amazigh army and the Arabs

were completely routed. Kahena's army advanced eastwards and freed

the land from both the Byzantine oppressors and the Arabs. Kart-

Hadash was rebuilt and the whole region enjoyed peace and freedom

for about a five-year period.

To be defeated by a woman is the worst humiliation for a muslim

army; by a Jewish woman, it is even worse. Indeed, also the modern

Israeli Defence Forces, that have always overwhelmingly defeated the

armies of the whole Arab world in all the Israeli-Arab wars, are

composed by a large number of female soldiers.

Such a defeat wounded the islamic pride, and the Arabs understood

that in order to go on with their conquering ambitions they had to

resort to deception and conspiracy. They knew that centuries of

Roman-Byzantine oppression have permeated with anti-Semitic feelings

the alleged Christian inhabitants of Tamazgha, so the Arabs offered

them privileges and advantages if they turned against the Jewish-

Amazigh leadership. They were also afraid of being conquered by the

Visigoths, so the Arabs' proposal resulted alluring. The peace and

freedom they enjoyed under Kahena's leadership proved weaker than

their concealed anti-Semitism, and they betrayed their Queen. The

last Arab invasion caught the Amazigh army unprepared and the Arab

perfidy was unveiled when it was too late. Kahena died in battle

fighting the muslims, and the whole North Africa lost its

independence and civilization until now. The Amazigh language and

culture faded away, and their women lost the freedom they enjoyed.