Bana-Mighdall

Infobox comics location


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publisher = DC Comics
debut = "Wonder Woman" Vol. 2, #29
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type = City-state
city=y
country=y
residents =
races = Amazon
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subcat = DC Comics
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sortkey = PAGENAME

Bana-Mighdall is a fictional Amazon nation as well as fictional former cities in the DC Comics universe created by writer George Pérez. The Egyptian city of Bana-Mighdall was introduced in "Wonder Woman" Vol. 2, issue 29. The initial Themyscirian Bana-Mighdall encampment was shown in "Wonder Woman" Vol. 2, issue 0, while the more full sized Themyscirian city was first shown in "Wonder Woman" Vol. 2, issue 168. The term can either be a reference to the past Amazon cities or to identify a particular type/breed of Amazon.

History of the city

According to the comic book origin, the two Amazon Queens (Hippolyta and Antiope) split the Amazon nation three-thousand years ago. Hippolyta's tribe traveled to the isolated island of Themyscira to live immortal lives in order to protect the doorway to the Underworld called Doom's Doorway. Antiope's tribe was never given immortality and was forced to mate with common men in order to guarantee their tribe's survival, much like the real world Amazonians of which they were based. They migrated from Greece to various European and Middle Eastern countries before finally settling in Egypt. As Antiope and her tribe had renounced the Olympian gods once the two Queens parted ways, they eventually began to assimilate various religions and goddesses from the many lands to where they traveled. It was in Egypt that they finally built the city of Bana-Mighdall, which in their language translates to "The Temple of Women".

The city was magically protected, as one of their new goddesses created a powerfully consistent sandstorm to surround and protect their city from "ariadnas", any outsiders who could not be trusted. It also was shown to suppress the powers of outside gods. ("Wonder Woman" Vol. 2, issue 34)

Eventually in the 20th century, the Amazon Princess Diana of Themyscira, or Wonder Woman, accidentally found the city of Bana-Mighdall while searching for the villain the Cheetah. A battle took place between her and the Bana-Mighdallian's chief warrior or Shim'Tar. Soon an enraged Olympian god Hermes, who was in love with Diana, took vengeance on the desert Amazons for attacking his beloved and the city of Bana-Mighdall was destroyed. It was decided by the remaining Amazons that since the Themyscirian princess was the initial cause of their city being destroyed, they would take over her Amazon city instead.

During the attack on Themyscira the witch Circe teleported the island into a dimension of demons in order for both tribes to be destroyed. The two tribes stopped their private war in order to fight the demons to ensure their survival. Wonder Woman learned about Circe's spell and had the island returned.

After Themyscira was put back into place the Amazons of Bana-Mighdall were offered the most desolate section of the island to live upon by Queen Hippolyta as thanks for their aid against the demons. A section of the Banas who still held animosity toward Hippolyta and her Amazons refused and returned to Man's World, becoming a splintered tribe. The Banas that agreed to live among the Themyscirian Amazons agreed and created their own city. They christened the city Bana-Mighdall in honor of their former city in Egypt. Unfortunately, civil war broke out between the two groups of Amazons due to their animosities. The Amazon Artemis had to take up the title of Shim'Tar and join Wonder Woman in guiding both tribes to peaceful negotiations. Queen Hippolyta and Princess Diana eventually renounced their crowns, thus ending the war and leaving the island without a structured government. It was later decided that General Phillipus of the Themysciran Royal Guard and Artemis would be co-rulers of the island, under the titles of Supreme Grand Chancellors.

During "Our Worlds At War", the island of Themyscira was destroyed and thus both Amazon cities no longer physically existed. Wanting to put past angers aside, Artemis and Philippus put a stop to tribal separation by having one city re-built on the remains of the islands for both peoples to live in, thus unifying the tribes.

Rogue tribe

The 2007 mini-series "Amazons Attack" features an off-shoot tribe of Bana Amazons who are led by an Amazon named Karna; ["Amazons Attack" #4] whose lieutenant is named Magda. ["Catwoman" Vol. 2, #69] The new technologically advanced, dark-skinned tribe of Amazons carry out violent acts of terrorism across America which have not been approved by war general Hippolyta. The new sect attempt to recruit various female metahumans and villains, such as Grace and Catwoman, to join their tribe. The rogue Bana Amazons use their fighting skills and knowledge of technology to destroy male oppressors. They consider the Themyscirian Amazons and their former Bana sisters who have joined with them to be their enemies. At the conclusion of the war, New God and extraterrestrial supervillain Granny Goodness captures the entire Thermiscyran and Bana Amazon population with the exceptions of Wonder Woman, Troia, Wonder Girl, Nu'Bia, Mercy and Grace Choi. She then erases their memories, replacing them with false personas and scatters them throughout the world posing as ordinary humans.

Ritual

Tournament of the Crown

If an Amazon wishes to replace the existing seated Queen of Bana-Mighdall she can call for a Tournament of the Crown. When this happens the Queen and the challenger must duel in a life or death battle. In one case a herald named Faruka was used to announce the challenge between regent queen Nehebka and Shim'Tar.

Royal death

It is custom for the Bana-Mighdallian queen (upon her death) to have her head severed, preserved and then placed upon a spike. The spike is then placed in a tome of the dead which contains the perfectly preserved heads of all previous queens throughout the centuries. All of the heads are then pointed to look in the same unknown direction. ("Wonder Woman" Vol. 2, issue 34)

Notable members

Antiope, Phthia, Queen Anahid, Nehebka, Faruka, Kadesha-Banu, Batiri, Artemis, Patrice, Nuscia, Mala, Trigona, Anaya, Falizia, Laris, Sashina, Ratira, Kaleeza Fashed, Akila, and Bitari. Lex Luthor's bodyguards Hope and Mercy may be Amazons of Bana-Mighdall; in "52" Mercy threatened to "go Themysciran" on someone.

The leader of the rogue Bana claims that Grace Choi has Bana DNA. ["Amazons Attack" #5]

Deities

Unlike their distant cousins, the Themyscirian Amazons, the Amazons of Bana-Mighdall do not worship the Greek gods. Renoucing them millennia ago, the tribe instead worship a combination of Egyptian and middle eastern deities. The main circle of gods worshiped are: Isis (wisdom and magic), Mammitu (judgment bringer), Bast (nature and feminine), and Neith (mother figure and protection). These gods were shown to have integrated themselves with the Olympians once the two Amazon tribes agreed to unify the Amazon nation once more. Though these are the central gods in their belief system, less significant gods have been shown to be part of their godly pantheon such as Sekhmet (war goddess), Thoth (their only known male god) and possibly Ishtar (love goddess).

Present state of the city

Due to the events of "Infinite Crisis" the island was attacked yet again, this time by OMAC shock troops. Tired of the endless battles and the high loss of life on the island, the remaining Themyscirian and Bana-Mighdallian Amazons were sent to a hidden location via their gods in the hopes of living out their lives in peace.

On December 20, 2006 writer Will Pfeifer revealed that the Amazons would return to attack Washington D.C. as retaliation for the attack on the island in a six-part mini-series titled "Amazons Attack" slated to be released April 2007. As depicted before, Artemis will be shown as the Amazon military leader. [http://forum.newsarama.com/showthread.php?t=94872 link]

Powers & abilities

While the Themyscirian Amazons retained their gods-given levels of strength, speed and stamina, this does not necessarily hold true for the Bana-Mighdallian Amazons. Due to breeding with mortal men for thousands of years these gifts have been watered down by several degrees within the tribe. The extent of this "watering down" remains vague and wildly inconsistent within the DC universe. Lex Luthor's bodyguards Hope and Mercy have displayed superhuman strength and are rumored to be Bana Amazons. Grace Choi of the Outsiders also displays superhuman strength and has been revealed to be of Bana-Mighdallian descent. That stated, even the weakest among them still possess peak human level conditioning and are experts in both hand-to-hand combat as well as in the use of a variety of weapons. They are master weapons makers creating tools ranging from simple swords to more complex weapons like machine guns and rocket launchers. Due to their previous arrangement with the witch Circe, they now possess immortality.

Notes and references

External links

* DCDP: Amazons of Bana-Mighdall - DC Database Project