Queen Araweelo

Historical Distortions: The story of Queen Ebla Awad (Araweelo) is one of the most controversial in Somali society. Since almost all Somali stories are oral and not written, it is impossible to prove their authenticity. When these stories were first told, most Somalis were nomads who did not know how to write and read.
Many centuries after these stories were first reported; Somalis have become educated and are curious about the truth of these stories. Since Somalia is a male-dominated society, few women have had the opportunity for an education and to challenge the bias that has long existed against them. Therefore, Queen Araweelo’s story has been exaggerated by Somali men.

Queen Araweelo ruled Somalia around AD 15. The men who passed on her history called her a monster, who maimed and castrated men for no reason. Not one shred of evidence supports this claim. There are however, a few poorly written articles posted on the internet that try to repeat the same false assertions.

Fortunately, many Somali girls and women have become educated. Today, in Europe, America, Austria and even the Middle East, Somali girls out perform their male counterparts and many more women are in schools than men. These trends favor Somali women in all areas where Somali is spoken.

These educated women are challenging the status quo and questioning the legitimacy of what has been reported about Queen Ebla Awad and other famous Somali women. They are asking themselves who Queen Araweelo was, if she was real, how she came to power, and how she ruled. Many of these women like me are re-examining the unsubstantiated and biased stories that have been told about her.

There are also many elderly and wise women who dare to tell their versions of what they have heard about Queen Araweelo. These women who feared retribution for years are now coming forward to tell the world what they know about Somali women’s plight and the real story of Queen Araweelo.

The real story

According to some of the wise elders that we have interviewed, Queen Araweelo came to power around AD 15 after a long war between Somali clans. These feuds had claimed thousands of lives countless and more had died starvation. Some of the elderly women we have interviewed said that Ebla’s husband was killed few years after the clan warfare started. It was also reported that the only two children she had had died of starvation during the civil war.

During this period, it was taboo among Somali men to marry a widow. The only exception was a widow with living children could marry one of her late husband’s brothers. This practice was merely to keep the deceased man’s family together and make sure that his assets such as livestock wouldn’t pass to someone else. In that kind of arrangement, the woman was considered as part of her husband’s family property. Since Araweelo’s husband didn’t leave behind any children or livestock, she was no longer considered part of his family.

As a young and destitute woman, Araweelo walked away from her husband’s family which she had known since the age of 16, when she was married. She decided to go back to her own family. But after she went back to her family, she didn’t fit in and everybody shunned her. In nomadic Somali society, it was very rare for a widowed or divorced woman to return to her family. She is not considered useful, since she is not expected to bring or earn a dowry. No man would marry a widow.

When her own family rejected her, Araweelo became very depressed and decided to leave. She met with many other young women who were in a similar situation. They hunted together and lived in the wilderness for many years. As they lived in the jungle, they had to face aggression from Somali men who wanted to destroy their organization and their way of life.

During this difficult time, Araweelo showed great bravery and toughness when the women were attacked by Somali bandits; consequently, they chose her to be their leader.

When other women who lived in similar situations had heard about this group of women who banded together to protect themselves, they joined in droves. The number of women in the jungle community grew and became a force to be reckoned with. In later years, many minority groups who needed protection against larger clans also joined. Araweelo was eventually crowned as the Queen of Peace and Prosperity. The word spread to every corner of Somali territory and many women felt liberated.

After she was crowned, the Queen gathered her wise women and men and asked for their counsel. She told them that stopping the civil war was one of her first priorities. The conference produced a three-point plan: 1) to approach the fighting parties and offer them an impartial reconciliation, 2) if they refused, to give them a warning, and 3) if they still refused, to declare war on them. During the negotiations, the Queen started building a strong army.

Before the Queen’s army launched the war, she ordered the construction of a huge prison that could hold thousands of prisoners. This prison later became the home of many clan leaders who refused to accept the Queen’s peace proposition. This kind of scheme had never been heard of before, and because this was a society with no central government, Somalis has never seen such a huge building before.

When many men that were imprisoned did not come back to their families, many people wondered why the men had not been able to escape. Soon there were rumors about what had happened to them.

In Somali culture, a man’s testicles are everything. There are many myths that Somalis believe, such as “if man loses his testicles he cannot escape, think or help himself.” Since the prison was maximum security and no one was able to escape from it, many people were convinced that the men had to have been castrated. When the Queen heard these rumors, she was amused and encouraged her staff to spread the same rumor, in order to frighten her enemies. This rumor helped the Queen to prevent more bloodshed and discourage more young men from joining the feud between clans.

Conclusion

In all fairness, the Queen was tough on trouble makers, but at the end, she liberated thousands of Somalis from war, poverty and humiliation. She was a good woman, and she ruled her people with fairness and justice. Unfortunately, on her 40th birthday, a renegade warlord called Oday Biqay had her killed while she was attending the funeral of a revered elder woman.

After the tragic death of Queen Ebla Awad (Araweelo), the Somali clans started regrouping and rearming themselves and began to slaughter each other again. For centuries, even after the Queen’s death, Somali men continued to kill each other and inflict untold agony and suffering on their people. Regrettably, the Somali men had never appreciated what Queen Araweelo had done for her people, but instead they labeled her as man-hating lunatic.

Fortunately, there are enough educated Somali women capable to tell the true story of Queen Araweelo. It is also equally important that Somali women to take their place in history and liberate the Somali people one more time. We cannot watch our people; particularly women and children suffer, and die of starvation because of crazy men.

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ritten by Farah M. Mohamed