Essay On Hatshepsut

Queen Hatshepsut was one of the most powerful females in Ancient Egyptian history. Not only was she the longest reigning female pharaoh in all of Egypt, but she made lasting impacts on the nation during and far after her reign. Although she was a woman, and this type of power had never been given to a woman before, she is considered one of Egypt's most successful pharaohs.

Hatshepsut was born in 1508 B.C., daughter of Thutmose I. Thutmose I was the third king of the 18th century, son of a military man. He did not take to the throne as son of a former king, but due to unknown circumstances he rose to the throne. His reign ended in 1493B.C.. Thutmose I was succeeded by his son Thutmose II. After the death of Hatshepsut’s father at age twelve,

she married her half-brother Thutmose II. She was the principle wife to her brother, and also took the role of Queen. Fifteen years into Thutmose II’s ruling, he died, leaving Hatshepsut as a widow. Hatshepsut’s only kin was a daughter, or an infant son, “destined” to take the throne, his name being Thutmose III. Since Thutmose III was too young to take the throne, Hatshepsut served as his regent. This was not uncommon in Egyptian culture, if the current King was too young to assume the throne, and Hatshepsut played this role traditionally for a while. But, for reasons unknown, she soon claimed the role of pharaoh in 1497 B.C. Although we was considered a pharaoh, Thutmose III and Hatshepsut were still considered equals, and there was no superiority on statues or monuments.
It has been said that Hatshepsut saw herself as Thutmose I’s heir, even before he died. She strongly believed in the power of female rulers, and was said to be preparing her daughter to take the claim to the throne in the future. Hatshepsut capitalized on being the ‘god’s wife to Amun’ in order to support her regency in a manner similar to powerful females before her, such as Ahhotep and Ahmose-Nefertari. Hatshepsut did not justify her power and right to the throne by saying that she ruled with her husband, Thutmose II. Instead, being of full royal bloodline, she used that fact to prove her legitimacy. She was known as ‘king’s daughter, king’s sister, god’s wife, great royal wife Hatshepsut’ according to royal steward Senenmut at Aswan.
Hatshepsut had herself depicted in the traditional king’s kilt and crown during her rule (figure 1). She even went as far as to have a fake beard and male body in statues and paintings. Woman had not typically had this type of power before, so Hatshepsut wanted to make sure Egypt understood her role as Pharaoh. No Queen had ever tried to make the transition from Queen to Pharaoh before, so she had to take many precautions. Hatshepsut’s transition from queen to pharaoh could be credited, in part, to her ability to get influential supporters. Many of the men she chose to rule under her had been favored officials of her father during his rule. One of Hatshepsut’s most important advisors was Senenmut (figure 4). He had been among the queen’s servants and rose with her in power, and some speculate he was her lover as well.
Once she rose to power, Hatshepsut became well known for her ambitious building projects.

The sites touched by Thutmose I and II were expanded in Upper Egypt. Hatshepsut built for Horus of Buhen, which was a temple of a temple common in the mid 18th dynasty. Hatshepsut lined the temple with drawings of her and Thutmose III. Although later, when Thutmose III rose to power, he replaced those drawings with those of just him and his father and grandfather. However, parts of the Buhen temples that were moved to the Khartoum Museum, contains scenes of Hatshepsut’s coronation and veneration of her father, Thutmose I. There are no records of any 18th dynasty kings building before Hatshepsut. Hatshepsut also inscribed a lengthy tale on Speos Artemidos, saying that she was the first person to start to restore temples in the area of Memphis since the Hyksos destroyed the area. She claimed to rebuild temples at Hermopolis and at Cusae. This work was claimed to be overlooked by one of her nomarch named, Djehuty. Djehuty was a general under king Thutmose III, and then a nomarch to Hatshepsut. Djehuty had the titles “king's scribe”, “overseer of troops” and “overseer of the northern countries”. Hatshepsut gave the most attention to Thebes. She had a huge focus on the Temple of Karnak, and worked on restoring and expanding on the once great temple. Djehuty had a large role in this project as well. Illustrated on the walls of this temple, was the Queen’s expedition to

Punt.
The nation was at peace for most of Hatshepsut’s ruling, and therefore she was able to exploit Egypt’s plentiful natural resources, as well as resources coming in from Nubia.

Gold and precious stone were plentiful, and this was clearly shown on the walls of the Temple of Karnak. She was pleased with the amount of luxury goods that she was able to acquire and also donate in Amun’s name, that she had a scene of that carved into the Temple walls. These luxury goods were exported from Punt. There were many detailed inscriptions of the exotic goods brought from Punt on the Queen’s expedition. Hatshepsut had another temple known as Djeser-Djeseru (seen in figures 2 and 3), which translates to 'Sublime of the Sublimes'. She built it in the Valley of the Kings and the temple was dedicated to Amun. Hatshepsut restored other temples dedicated to Amun as well, to show respect for the gods. In cut hieroglyphs, characteristic of inscriptions of the reign of Hatshepsut, the Queen’s words were inscribed into the

temple:
“I make my devotion to Amon-Ra known to the generations to come. Their - hearts will enquire about this monument which I raised for my father the god. In future time they will stare at it with discussion and speculation. The two great obelisks which I have sheathed with electrum are for my father Amon-Ra. They will ensure that my name will remain established in this temple for ever and ever. The obelisks are each made of a single stone of hard granite without any join or division in them. Their points are of electrum, selected from the choicest electrum sent as tribute by many countries. They can be seen on both sides of the valley. The Two Lands are bathed with their splendour. The sun’s disk rises between them in the way that it rises from the horizon of heaven.”
Throughout this time, as Thutmose III was growing up, he was still considered to be heir to the throne. On monuments and in text, it was said that he and Hatshepsut ruled together, although that was not the case. As Thutmose was growing up, he also grew to resent Hatshepsut , perhaps for taking his place as pharaoh. His rebellion against her authority began in boyhood and became the strongest emotion in his life. He felt that Hatshepsut had usurped his throne and thrust him into the background. Thutmose wanted military renown. He was trained at a young age to hunt and fight, and many military generals would spend time teaching him strategies. Hatshepsut appears to have renounced the imperial ideal of her forbears. Her tastes in warfare most likely preferred the tactical talks of the officials rather than the terrible bloodbath of the cavalry charge. So disagreeing on military tactics caused Thutmose to grow to resent his co-ruler more.
This resent for Hatshepsut is most likely why after Hatshepsut’s death, Thutmose III took her name off all monuments. The queen died in early February of 1458 B.C., after twenty-one years of rule. Thutmose III was forced to take the throne, alone. In 1459, he became Pharaoh, and the co-regency ended. He replaced her name with the names of him, his father (Thutmose II) or his grandfather (Thutmose I). He wanted to eradicate Hatshepsut’s memory completely. He defaced her monuments and even constructed walls around her obelisks. Besides his resentment for her, this could have been done to try to ensure his bloodline, so that no one would challenge his son’s legitimacy to the throne. As a consequence of Hatshepsut’s name being crossed off most documents, scholars of ancient Egypt knew little of Hatshepsut’s existence until 1822, when they were able to decode and read the hieroglyphics on the walls of Deir el-Bahri.
Scientists have thought the cause of her death to be related to an ointment used to ease the pain of a chronic genetic skin condition. Testing of artifacts near her tomb have revealed traces of a potentially toxic substance. Helmut Wiedenfeld of the University of Bonn’s pharmaceutical institute has stated, “If you imagine that the queen had a chronic skin disease and that she found short-term improvement from the salve, she may have exposed herself to a great risk over the years.” It used to be speculated that Hatshepsut was murdered by her son, but that is no longer thought to be true. This was assumed because for a long time, her body was not found, and she was known as “the Lost Queen”. However, her mummy was in the Valley of the Kings, found by Howard Carter in 1903 (see figures 5 and 6). Researchers identified the queen by matching a molar known to have been Hatshepsut's with an empty tooth socket in the mummy's jaw.
Queen Hatshepsut changed the course of history in Ancient Egypt. Hatshepsut seized her chance to showcase women’s power, and brought prosperous and peaceful times to Egypt. Although her rule was attempted to be erased from memory, it is very clear today who she was and what she stood for. Not to be taken lightly, this “gender-crossing” ruler was able to keep her reign for over 20 years, and leave behind a better, intact nation. Toward the end of her reign, Hatshepsut erected a second pair of obelisks at Karnak. On one the inscription reads: “Now my heart turns this way and that, as I think what the people will say—those who shall see my monuments in years to come, and who shall speak of what I have done.”