Hatshepsut was the daughter ofThutmose I andGreat Royal Wife,Ahmose. Upon the death of her husband and half-brotherThutmose II, she had initially ruled as regent to herstepson,Thutmose III, who inherited the throne at the age of two. Several years into her regency, Hatshepsut assumed the position of pharaoh and adopted the fullroyal titulary, making her a co-ruler alongside Thutmose III. In order to establish herself in the Egyptian patriarchy, she took on traditionally male roles and was depicted as a male pharaoh, with physically masculine traits and traditionally male garb. She emphasized both the qualities of men and women to convey the idea that she was both a mother and father to the realm.[9] Hatshepsut's reign was a period of great prosperity and general peace. One of the most prolific builders in Ancient Egypt, she oversaw large-scale construction projects such as theKarnak Temple Complex, theRed Chapel, theSpeos Artemidos and most famously, theMortuary Temple of Hatshepsut atDeir el-Bahari.
Hatshepsut probably died in Year 22 of the reign of Thutmose III.[10] Towards the end of the reign of Thutmose III and into the reign of his sonAmenhotep II, an attempt was made to remove her from official accounts of Egyptian historiography: her statues were destroyed, her monuments were defaced, and many of her achievements were ascribed to other pharaohs.
Hatshepsut was born between 1505 and 1495 BC as eldest daughter ofThutmose I and hisgreat royal wife,Ahmose.[11] After her father's death, Hatshepsut was then married toThutmose II, her half-brother and father'sheir, when she was fourteen or fifteen years old. Thutmose II was of a similar age.[12]
Upon the death of Thutmose II, the underageThutmose III became the pharaoh of Egypt. Hatshepsut was thought of by early modern scholars to have only served asregent alongside him.[13] However, modern scholars agree that, while she initially served as regent for young Thutmose III from his accession inc. 1479 BC, Hatshepsut eventually assumed the position of pharaoh alongside him by Year 7 of his reign,c. 1472 BC; becomingqueen regnant, Hatshepsut shared Thutmose III's existing regnal count, effectively back-dating her accession as pharaoh to Year 1, when she had been merely regent.[8][10][14][15][16][17][18] Although queenSobekneferu and - possibly -Nitocris, have previously assumed the role of pharaoh, Hatshepsut was the only female ruler to do so in a time of prosperity, and she arguably had more powers than her female predecessors.[19][20]
Retrospectively, Hatshepsut was described by ancient authors as having reigned for about 21–22 years, which included both her regency and her reign as queen regnant.Josephus andJulius Africanus follow the earlier testimony ofManetho (3rd century BC), mentioning a queen regnant called Amessis or Amensis, specified by Josephus as having been the sister of her predecessor.[21] This woman was later identified by historians as Hatshepsut. In Josephus's text, her reign is described as lasting for 21 years and 9 months,[22][23] while Africanus states it as 22 years, apparentlyrounding up.[24] The latest attestation of Hatshepsut in contemporary records comes from Year 20 of the regnal count of Thutmose III; she is no longer mentioned in Year 22, when he undertook his first major foreign campaign.[10][25] This is compatible with the 21 years 9 months recorded by Manetho and Josephus, which would place the end of Hatshepsut's reign in Year 22 of Thutmose III.
Dating the beginning of her reign is more difficult. Her father, Thutmose I, began his reign in either 1526 BC or 1506 BC according to the high and low estimates of her reign,[26] although the length of the reigns of Thutmose I and Thutmose II cannot be determined with certainty. With short reigns, Hatshepsut would have ascended the throne 14 years after her father's coronation;[27] longer reigns would put her accession 25 years after his coronation.[26]
The earliest attestation of Hatshepsut as pharaoh occurs in the tomb ofRamose and Hatnofer, where a collection of grave goods contained a single pottery jar oramphora from the tomb's chamber, stamped with the date "Year 7".[28] Another jar from the same tomb, discoveredin situ by a 1935–36Metropolitan Museum of Art expedition on a hillside nearThebes, was stamped with the seal of the "God's Wife Hatshepsut", and two jars bore the seal of "The Good Goddess Maatkare".[28] The dating of the amphorae, "sealed into the [tomb's] burial chamber by the debris from Senenmut's own tomb", is undisputed, meaning that Hatshepsut was acknowledged as pharaoh of Egypt—and no longer merely regent—by Year 7 of her reign.[28] She was certainly pharaoh by Year 9, the date of the Punt expedition,c. 1471 BC; her last dated attestation as pharaoh is Year 20,c. 1460 BC, and she no longer appears in Year 22,c. 1458.[8][10]
Hatshepsut's delegation returned from Punt bearing 31 live myrrh trees[33] and other luxuries such asfrankincense.[30][31][32] Hatshepsut would grind the charred frankincense intokohl eyeliner. This is the first recorded use of the resin.[34]
Hatshepsut had the expedition commemorated in relief atDeir el-Bahari, which is also famous for its realistic depiction of Queen Ati of the Land of Punt.[35] Hatshepsut also sent raiding expeditions toByblos and theSinai Peninsula shortly after the Punt expedition. Very little is known about these expeditions. Although manyEgyptologists have claimed that herforeign policy was mainly peaceful,[35] it is possible that she led military campaigns againstNubia andCanaan.[36]
Copper or bronze sheet bearing the name of Hatshepsut. From a foundation deposit in a small pit covered with a mat found at Deir el-Bahari.
Hatshepsut was one of the most prolific builders in Ancient Egypt, commissioning hundreds of construction projects throughout bothUpper Egypt andLower Egypt. Many of these building projects were temples to build her religious base and legitimacy beyond her position as God's Wife of Amun. At these temples, she performed religious rituals that had hitherto been reserved for kings, corroborating the evidence that Hatshepsut assumed traditionally male roles as pharaoh.[37][page needed] She employed the great architectIneni, who also had worked for her father, her husband, and for the royal stewardSenenmut.[38] The extant artifacts of the statuary provide archaeological evidence of Hatshepsut's portrayals of herself as a male pharaoh, with physically masculine traits and traditionally male Ancient Egyptian garb, such as afalse beard and ram's horns.[39] These images are seen as symbolic, and not evidence ofcross-dressing orandrogyny.[40]
Following the tradition of most pharaohs, Hatshepsut had monuments constructed at theTemple of Karnak. She also restored the originalPrecinct of Mut, thegreat ancient goddess of Egypt, at Karnak that had been ravaged by the foreign rulers during theHyksos occupation. It later was ravaged by other pharaohs, who took one part after another to use in their own projects. The precinct awaits restoration. She had twinobelisks erected at the entrance to the temple which at the time of building were the tallest in the world. Only one remains upright, which is thesecond-tallest ancient obelisk still standing, the other having toppled and broken in two. The official in charge of those obelisks was the high stewardAmenhotep.[41] Another project, Karnak's Red Chapel, orChapelle Rouge, was built as a barque shrine.[42]
Later, she ordered the construction of two more obelisks to celebrate her 16th year as pharaoh; one of the obelisks broke during construction, and a third was therefore constructed to replace it. The broken obelisk was left at its quarrying site inAswan, where it remains. Known asthe Unfinished Obelisk, it provides evidence of how obelisks were quarried.[43]
Colonnaded design of Hatshepsut mortuary temple
Hatshepsut built the Temple ofPakhet atBeni Hasan in theMinya Governorate south ofAl Minya. The name, Pakhet, was a synthesis that occurred by combiningBast andSekhmet, who were similar lioness war goddesses, in an area that bordered the north and south division of their cults. The cavernous underground temple, cut into the rock cliffs on the eastern side of theNile, was admired and called theSpeos Artemidos by the Greeks during their occupation of Egypt, known as thePtolemaic Dynasty. They saw the goddess as akin to their hunter goddess, Artemis. The temple is thought to have been built alongside much more ancient ones that have not survived. This temple has an architrave with a long dedicatory text bearing Hatshepsut's famous denunciation of theHyksos thatJames P. Allen has translated.[44] This temple was altered later, and some of its insides were altered bySeti I of theNineteenth Dynasty in an attempt to have his name replace that of Hatshepsut.[45]
Following the tradition of many pharaohs, the masterpiece of Hatshepsut's building projects was amortuary temple. She built hers ina complex atDeir el-Bahari.[46] The identity of the architect behind the project remains unclear. It is possible thatSenenmut, the Overseer of Works, orHapuseneb, the High Priest, was responsible. It is also likely that Hatshepsut provided input to the project.[47] Located opposite the city ofLuxor, it is considered to be a masterpiece of ancient architecture.[48][47][49] The complex's focal point was theDjeser-Djeseru or "the Holy of Holies".[47]
Hatshepsut was "often portrayed in lion formsphinx when she ruled as king",[50] as in thisgranite sculpture which also shows her wearing the traditionalfalse beard, a symbol of pharaonic power.The Hawk of the Pharaoh, Hatshepsut—Temple at Luxor
Hyperbole is common to virtually all royal inscriptions of Egyptian history. While all ancient leaders used it to laud their achievements, Hatshepsut has been called the most accomplished pharaoh at promoting her accomplishments.[51]
Hatshepsut assumed all theregalia and symbols of the Pharaonic office in official representations: theKhat head cloth, topped with theuraeus, the traditional false beard, andshendyt kilt.[51] Hatshepsut was ambiguous and androgynous in many of her statues and monuments. She would create a masculine version of herself to establish herself in the Egyptian patriarchy.[37][page needed]
Osirian statues of Hatshepsut—as with other pharaohs—depict the dead pharaoh as Osiris, with the body and regalia of that deity.[52]
To further lay her claim to the throne,priests told a story of divine birth. In this myth,Amun goes toAhmose in the form of Thutmose I. Hatshepsut is conceived by Ahmose.Khnum, the god who forms the bodies of human children, is then instructed to create a body andka, or corporal presence/life force, for Hatshepsut.Heket, the goddess of life and fertility, and Khnum then lead Ahmose along to a place where she gives birth to Hatshepsut.[53][54][55][56][page needed] Reliefs depicting each step in these events are at Karnak and in her mortuary temple.[57]
The Oracle of Amun proclaimed that it was the will of Amun that Hatshepsut be pharaoh, further strengthening her position. She reiterated Amun's support by having these proclamations by the god Amun carved on her monuments:
Welcome my sweet daughter, my favorite, the King of Upper and Lower Egypt, Maatkare, Hatshepsut. Thou art the Pharaoh, taking possession of the Two Lands.[58]
Once she became pharaoh herself, Hatshepsut supported her assertion that she was her father's designated successor with inscriptions on the walls of her mortuary temple:
Then his majesty said to them: "This daughter of mine, Khnumetamun Hatshepsut—may she live!—I have appointed as my successor upon my throne... she shall direct the people in every sphere of the palace; it is she indeed who shall lead you. Obey her words, unite yourselves at her command." The royal nobles, the dignitaries, and the leaders of the people heard this proclamation of the promotion of his daughter, the King of Upper and Lower Egypt, Maatkare—may she live eternally.[59]
Hatshepsut's last dated attestation as pharaoh is Year 20, IIIPeret, Day 2,c. 22 May 1459 BC, but the reign length of 21 years and 9 months for her byManetho inJosephus's bookContra Apionem[60] indicates that she ceased to reign in Year 22,c. 1458 BC.[10][8][61] The precise date of the beginning of Thutmose III's reign as sole ruler of Egypt—and presumably of Hatshepsut's death—is considered to be Year 22, II Peret, Day 10, recorded on a single stela erected atArmant,[10][62] corresponding to 16 January 1458 BC.[63] This information validates the basic reliability of Manetho's king list records since Hatshepsut's known accession date was IShemu, Day 4.[64][10]
Hatshepsut began constructing atomb when she was theGreat Royal Wife of Thutmose II. Still, the scale of this was not suitable for a pharaoh, so when she ascended the throne, preparation for another burial started. For this,KV20, originally quarried for her father, Thutmose I, and probably the first royal tomb in theValley of the Kings, was extended with a new burial chamber. Hatshepsut also refurbished her father's burial and prepared for a double interment of both Thutmose I and her within KV20. Therefore, it is likely that when she died (no later than the 22nd year of her reign), she was interred in this tomb along with her father.[65]
However, during Thutmose III's reign, a new tomb (KV38), was constructed along with fresh burial equipment for Thutmose I. Thus, Thutmose I was relocated from his original tomb and reburied elsewhere. There is a possibility that at the same time, Hatshepsut's mummy was moved into the tomb of her nurse,Sitre In, inKV60. These actions could have been motivated byAmenhotep II, Thutmose III's son from a secondary wife, in an effort to secure his own uncertain claim to the throne.
Besides what was recovered from KV20 during EgyptologistHoward Carter's clearance of the tomb in 1903, other funerary furniture belonging to Hatshepsut has been found elsewhere, including a lioness throne or bedstead, asenet game board with carved lioness-headed, red-jasper game pieces bearing her pharaonic title, a signet ring, and a partialshabti figurine bearing her name. In the Royal Mummy Cache atDB320, a wooden canopic box featuring an ivory knob was found, bearing the name of Hatshepsut and containing a mummified liver or spleen, along with a molar tooth. There was also a royal lady with the same name from the 21st dynasty, leading to initial speculation that the artifacts may have belonged to her instead.[66]
In 1903, Howard Carter had discovered tombKV60 in the Valley of the Kings. It contained two female mummies: one identified as Hatshepsut's wet nurse and the other unidentified. In spring 2007, the unidentified body, called KV60A, was finally removed from the tomb by Dr.Zahi Hawass and taken to Cairo's Egyptian Museum for testing. This mummy was missing a tooth, and the space in the jaw perfectly matched Hatshepsut's existing molar, found in the DB320 "canopic box". Based on this, Hawass concluded that the KV60A mummy is very likely Hatshepsut.[67][68]
While the mummy and the tooth could be DNA tested to see if it belonged to the same person and confirm the mummy's identity, Hawass, the Cairo Museum and some Egyptologists have refused to do it as it would require destroying the tooth to retrieve the DNA.[67][68] Her death has since been attributed to abenzopyrenecarcinogenic skin lotion found in possession of the Pharaoh, which led to her havingbone cancer. Other members of the queen's family are thought to have suffered from inflammatory skin diseases that tend to be genetic. Assuming that the mummy is that of Hatshepsut, it is likely that she inadvertently poisoned herself while trying to soothe her itchy, irritated skin.[69][70][71] It also would suggest that she had arthritis and bad teeth, which may be why the tooth was removed.[4]
However, in 2011, the tooth was identified as the molar from a lower jaw, whereas the mummy from KV60 was missing a molar from its upper jaw, thus casting doubt on the supposed identification.[72]
An example ofdamnatio memoriae of Hatshepsut in Deir el-Bahari. While the cartouches of Thutmose III (right) were left intact, the cartouches of Hatshepsut (left) were hacked off, presumably by Amenhotep II.
Toward the end of the reign ofThutmose III and into the reign of his son, an attempt was made to remove Hatshepsut from certain historical and pharaonic records. Her cartouches and images were chiselled off stone walls. Erasure methods ranged from full destruction of any instance of her name or image to replacement, inserting Thutmose I or II where Hatshepsut once stood. There were also instances of smoothing, patchwork jobs that covered Hatshepsut's cartouche; examples of this can be seen on the walls of the Deir el-Bahari temple. Simpler methods also included covering, where new stone was added to fully cover reliefs or sacred stone work.[73]
At the Deir el-Bahari temple, Hatshepsut's many statues were torn down and in many cases, smashed or disfigured before being buried in a pit. At Karnak, an attempt was made to wall up her monuments. While it is clear that much of this rewriting of Hatshepsut's history occurred only during the close of Thutmose III's reign, it is not clear why it happened, other than as a manifestation of the typical pattern of self-promotion that existed among the pharaohs and their administrators, or perhaps to save money by not building new monuments for the burial of Thutmose III, and instead using the grand structures built by Hatshepsut.[74]
Amenhotep II, the son of Thutmose III, who became a co-regent toward the end of his father's reign, is suspected by some as being the defacer during the end of the reign of a very old pharaoh. He would have had a motive because his position in the royal lineage was not so strong as to assure his elevation to pharaoh. He is documented, further, as having usurped many of Hatshepsut's accomplishments during his own reign. His reign is marked with attempts to break the royal lineage as well, not recording the names of his queens and eliminating the powerful titles and official roles of royal women, such as God's Wife of Amun. Some of these titles would be restored in the reign of his sonThutmose IV.[75]
For many years, presuming that it was Thutmose III acting out of resentment once he became pharaoh, early modern Egyptologists presumed that the erasures were similar to the Romandamnatio memoriae. EgyptologistDonald Redford says that this was not borne out of hatred but was a political necessity to assert his own beliefs.[76] Redford added:
But did Thutmose remember her? Here and there, in the dark recesses of a shrine or tomb where no plebeian eye could see, the queen's cartouche and figure were left intact ... which never vulgar eye would again behold, still conveyed for the king the warmth and awe of a divine presence.[76]
Hatshepsut is, according to EgyptologistJames Henry Breasted, "the first great woman in history of whom we are informed."[77] In some ways, Hatshepsut's reign was seen as going against thepatriarchal system of her time. She managed to rule as regent for a son who was not her own, going against the system which had previously only allowed mothers to rule on behalf of their biological sons. She used this regency to create her female kingship, constructing extensive temples to celebrate her reign, which meant that the public became used to seeing a woman in such a powerful role. This ensured that when the oracle declared her king, the Egyptian public readily accepted her status.[37][page needed]
However, as with other female heads of state in ancient Egypt, this was only done through the use of male symbols of kingship; hence the description of Hatshepsut and others as female kings rather than queens.[78] Hatshepsut was arguably placed in power by men to further their own wealth. She gained power when Egypt had recently amassed extensive wealth, implying that she was placed in power by Egyptian elites due to her record as successful in various domains—as High Priestess or as a placeholder serving for her father Thutmose I in Thebes while he was away on military campaigns. This record of success made such elites confident that she could handle Egyptian wealth and trade, capitalizing on Egypt's moment of prosperity. Indeed, historianKara Cooney describes Hatshepsut as "arguably, the only woman to have ever taken power as king in ancient Egypt during a time of prosperity and expansion."[79]
HistorianJoyce Tyldesley stated that Thutmose III may have ordered public monuments to Hatshepsut and her achievements to be altered or destroyed in order to place her in a lower position of co-regent, meaning he could claim that royal succession ran directly from Thutmose II to Thutmose III without any interference from his aunt. This was supported by Thutmose III's officials, and as Hatshepsut's officials either died or were no longer in the public eye, there was little opposition to this.[b] Tyldesley, along with historiansPeter Dorman andGay Robins, say that the erasure and defacement of Hatshepsut's monuments may have been an attempt to extinguish the memory of female kingship[35][80][81] (including its successes, as opposed to the female pharaohSobekneferu, who failed to rejuvenate Egypt's fortunes and was therefore more acceptable to the conservative establishment as a tragic figure) and re-legitimise his right to rule.[35]
The "Hatshepsut Problem" is a direct link to gender normatives in regards to ancient Egyptian social structures. Although she did hold Queen status, her reign, especially after, was disregarded and even erased. Her reign could be considered more successful than some pharaohs' reigns, for example with expanding borders, which can be seen as a threat to traditional gender roles. This raises questions about the conflict between power and traditional gender roles, and to what extent modernism and conservatism overlap.[37][page needed]
The erasure of Hatshepsut's name—by the men who succeeded her for whatever reason—almost caused her to disappear from Egypt's archaeological and written records. When 19th-century Egyptologists started to interpret the texts on the Deir el-Bahari temple walls (which were illustrated with two seemingly male kings) their translations made no sense.Jean-François Champollion, the French decoder ofhieroglyphs, said:
If I felt somewhat surprised at seeing here, as elsewhere throughout the temple, the renowned Moeris [Thutmose III], adorned with all the insignia of royalty, giving place to this Amenenthe [Hatshepsut], for whose name we may search the royal lists in vain, still more astonished was I to find upon reading the inscriptions that wherever they referred to this bearded king in the usual dress of the Pharaohs, nouns and verbs were in the feminine, as though a queen were in question. I found the same peculiarity everywhere...[82]
This problem was a major issue in late 19th-century and early 20th-centuryEgyptology, centering on confusion and disagreement on the order of succession of early18th Dynastypharaohs. The dilemma takes its name from confusion over thechronology of the rule of Queen Hatshepsut and Thutmose I, II, and III.[83]
^Tyldesley (1996) notes on p. 252 that a detailed discussion of the disappearance of Senenmut – Hatshepsut's highest official and closest supporter who retired abruptly or died around Years 16 and 20 of Hatshepsut's reign – and a useful list of other publications on this topic is given in A. R. Schulman's 1969–70 paper "Some Remarks on the Alleged 'Fall' of Senmut," JARCE 8, pp. 29–48.
^Graves-Brown 2010, p. 106, "Female rulers are given the attributes of essentially male kingship such as false beards (the beard is also false when worn by male kings) and kilts. But depictions of female queens, such as Sobekneferu or Hatshepsut, wearing male attire should certainly not be seen as evidence of transvestism or mythical androgyny. Female kings were rather taking on a male persona, given the essential masculinity of kingship.".
^Allen 2005, p. 261. Allen writes here that scholars consider the Armant stela to mark the occasion of Thutmose III's sole reign since he uses the epithet "Thutmose, Ruler ofMaat" twice on this document for the first time in his reign. This means he was asserting his own claim to the administration of Egypt after that of Hatshepsut, who by then had probably died.
^Wilford 2007, A single tooth and some DNA clues appear to have solved the mystery of the lost mummy of Hatshepsut, one of the great queens of ancient Egypt, who reigned in the 15th century B.C..
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