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| {{Pharaoh Infobox | | |||
| Name=Hatshepsut | | |||
| Alt=Hatchepsut | | |||
| Image=]]] | | |||
| Nomen= <hiero>G39-N5</hiero><hiero><-i-mn:,:n-W9*t:F4-,:t-A51-></hiero> <br> '''Khnumt-Amun Hatshepsut'''<ref name="names"> accessed August 1, 2006</ref> <br> Joined with Amun,<br>Foremost of Noble Ladies | | |||
| Pronomen= <hiero>M23-L2</hiero><hiero><-ra-mAat-kA-></hiero> <br>'''Maatkare'''<ref name="names"/><br> Truth is the ] of ] | | |||
| Golden= '''Netjeretkhau '''<ref name="names"/> <br> Divine of appearance| | |||
| Nebty= '''Wadjrenput'''<ref name="names"/> <br> Flourishing of years| | |||
| Horus= '''Wesretkau '''<ref name="names"/> <br> Mighty of ]s| | |||
| GoldenHiero= <hiero>G5</hiero><hiero>-nTr-t-xa:Z2-</hiero> | | |||
| NebtyHiero= <hiero>M13-X1-M4-M4-M4</hiero> | | |||
| HorusHiero= <hiero>wsr-s-X1:D28-D28:D28</hiero> | | |||
| Reign=] to ]| | |||
| Predecessor= ]| | |||
| Successor= ]| | |||
| Spouse= ] | | |||
| Issues= ]| | |||
| Dynasty=] | | |||
| Father= ] | | |||
| Mother= ] | | |||
| Died= 1458 BC | | |||
| Burial= ] | | |||
| Monuments= ], ], <br />] | | |||
| }} | |||
| '''Hatshepsut''' (sometimes read as ''Hatchepsut'' and meaning ''Foremost of noble ladies'') was the fifth ] of the ] of ]. | |||
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| She is generally regarded by ]s as one of the most successful pharaohs, reigning longer than any female ruler of an indigenous dynasty. | |||
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| She was believed to have been co-regent from ] BC (years 7 to 21 of ]).<ref>Dodson, Aidan. Dyan, Hilton. <cite>The Complete Royal Families of Ancient Egypt</cite> Thames & Hudson, 2004. ISBN 0-500-05128-3. p.130</ref> She is regarded as the earliest known ] in history and only the second woman known to have assumed the throne as "King of Upper and Lower Egypt". The first was Queen ] of the 12th Dynasty. | |||
| ==Family and early life== | |||
| Hatshepsut was the eldest daughter of ] and ], the first king and queen of the Thutmosid clan of the 18th Dynasty. Thutmose I and Ahmose are known to have had only one other child, a daughter Akhbetneferu (Neferubity), who died in infancy. Thutmose I also married ], possibly a daughter of Ahmose I, and produced several half-brothers to Hatshepsut: Wadjmose, Amenose, ], and possibly Ramose, through that union. Both Wadjmose and Amenose were prepared to succeed their father, but neither lived beyond adolescence. In childhood, Hatshepsut is believed to have been favored by the ] over her two brothers by her father, a view promoted by her own propaganda. She apparently had a loving relationship with both parents, and produced a propaganda story in which her father Thutmose I supposedly named her as his direct heir (see below) Hatshepsut dressed like a man and wore a false beard to prove that she could be Pharoah and Egypt would have many years under her rule. | |||
| Upon the death of her father in ], she married ] and assumed the title of '']''. Thutmose II ruled for thirteen years, during which it has been traditionally believed that Hatshepsut exerted a strong influence over him, but he died and only had one son to take his place on the throne. But this was not Hatshepsut's son, as he was the son of a lesser wife named Isis. The boy's name was Thutmose III. | |||
| Thutmose II had one daughter with Hatshepsut: ]. Hatshepsut groomed Neferure as ], commissioning official portraits of her wearing the false beard and ]. Some scholars speculate that this is evidence that Hatshepsut was grooming Neferure for the throne; others that she was merely planning another Hatshepsut. Whatever her intentions were, they came to nothing as Neferure did not live into adulthood. | |||
| ==Dates and length of reign== | |||
| Hatshepsut is given a reign of about 22 years by ancient authors. ] writes that she reigned 21 years and 9 months, while ] states her reign lasted 22 years, both of whom were quoting ]. It is also at this point in time that Hatshepsut disappears, as is indicated by the fact that ]'s first campaign was dated to his 22nd year, which would also have been Hatshepsut's 22nd.<ref>Steindorff, George; and Seele, Keith. ''When Egypt Ruled the East.'' p.53. University of Chicago, 1942</ref> Dating the beginning of her reign is more difficult, however. Her father's reign definitively began in either 1506 or 1526 BC according to the low and high chronologies, respectively.<ref>Grimal, Nicolas. ''A History of Ancient Egypt.'' pp. 204. Librairie Arthéme Fayard, 1988</ref> However, the length of the reigns of Thutmose I and Thutmose II cannot be determined with absolute certainty. With short reigns, Hatshepsut would have ascended the throne 14 years after Thutmose I's coronation.<ref>Gabolde, Luc (1987).''La Chronologie du règne de Thoutmosis II, ses conséquences sur la datation des momies royales et leurs répercutions sur l'histoire du développement de la Vallée des Rois.'' SAK 14: 61–87.</ref> Longer reigns would put her ascension 25 years after Thutmose I's coronation.<ref>Grimal, Nicolas. ''A History of Ancient Egypt.'' p.204. Librairie Arthéme Fayard, 1988</ref> Thus, Hatshepsut could have assumed power as early as 1512 BC or as late as 1479. Older chronologies dated her reign from 1504 to about 1482.<ref>Steindorff, George; and Seele, Keith. ''When Egypt Ruled the East.'' p.40. University of Chicago, 1942</ref> Modern chronologists tend to agree that Hatshepsut reigned from 1479 to 1458, but there is no definitive proof. | |||
| == Rule == | |||
| Upon Thutmose II's death, the throne passed to ], and Hatshepsut—as the boy king's aunt and stepmother—was selected to be ] until he came of age. At first, it appears that Hatshepsut was patterning herself after the powerful female regents of Egypt's then-recent history, but as Thutmose III approached maturity it became apparent that she had only one model in mind: ], the last monarch of the ], who ruled in her own right. However, Hatshepsut took one step further than Sobekneferu and had herself crowned pharaoh around 1473 BC, taking the throne name ''Maatkare'', meaning "Truth in the soul of the sun." After she ascended the throne she changed her name from the feminine Hatshepsut to the male ''Hatshepsu''.<ref>Seawright.</ref> | |||
| Hatshepsut surrounded herself with strong and loyal advisors, many of whom are still known today: ], the High Priest of Amun, and her closest advisor, the royal steward ]. Because of the close nature of Hatshepsut and Senemut's relationship, some Egyptologists have theorized that they were lovers. Among the evidence they offer to support this claim is the fact that Hatshepsut allowed Senemut to place his name and an image of himself behind one of the main doors in ] (a rare and unusual sharing of credit), that Senemut had two tombs constructed near Hatshepsut's tomb (this was, however, a standard privilege for close advisors), and the presence of ] in an unfinished tomb, used as a rest house by the workers of her ], depicting a male and a hermaphrodite in pharaonic regalia engaging in an explicit sexual act. Although the belief that Hatshepsut and Senemut were lovers is well known, it is highly contested among Egyptologists;<ref>Tyldeseley pp. 189-193 and Wells pp 194-195, ''see sources below''.</ref> all that is agreed on is that the steward had ready access to the queen's ear. | |||
| As Hatshepsut reestablished the trade networks that had been disrupted during the ]' occupation of Egypt (the ]), the wealth of the 18th dynasty that has become so famous since the discovery of the burial of ] began to be collected. She oversaw the preparations and funding for a mission to the ]. The expedition set out in her name with five ships, each measuring seventy feet long, and with several sails; each ship accommodated 210 men, including sailors and thirty rowers. Many goods were bought in Punt, notably ], which is said to have been Hatshepsut's favorite fragrance. Most notably however, the Egyptians returned from the voyage bearing thirty-one live frankincense trees, whose roots were carefully kept in baskets for the duration of the voyage. This was the first ever recorded attempt to replant foreign trees. She reportedly had the trees planted in the courts of her Deir el Bahari mortuary temple. She had the expedition commemorated in relief at ], which is famous for its unflattering depiction of the Queen of ]. | |||
| Although many ]s have claimed that her foreign policy was mainly peaceful,<ref>Tyldeseley pp. 137-144, ''see sources below''</ref> there is evidence that she led successful military campaigns in ], the ] and ] early in her career. | |||
| Hatshepsut died, either as she was approaching or just entering ], in her twenty second regnal year;<ref>Tyldeseley pp. 210, ''see sources below''</ref> no record of her cause of death has survived, although both natural causes and ] have been proposed. Her ] is believed to be missing from the ], and has never been officially identified. An unidentified female mummy—found with Hatshepsut's wet nurse Sitre In and with her arms posed in the traditional burial style of pharaohs—has led to the theory that the unidentified mummy might be Hatshepsut.<ref>Tyldeseley pp. 213-214, ''see sources below''</ref> In March of 2006, ] claimed to have located the mummy of Hatshepsut, which was mislaid on the third floor of the Cairo Museum.<ref> Accessed August 20, 2006</ref> Further comment has not been released, however. | |||
| === Building project === | |||
| ] complex at ]. Designed by Senemut, the building is an example of perfect symmetry that predates the ].]] | |||
| Hatshepsut was one of the most prolific builders of ancient Egypt, commissioning hundreds of construction projects throughout both ] and ]. Under her reign, Egypt's trade networks began to be rebuilt following their disruption during the ] occupation of Egypt in the ]. | |||
| Hatshepsut was a ]. As pharaoh she initiated building projects that were grander and more numerous than those of any of her ] predecessors. She employed two great architects: ], who had worked for both her husband and father, and the royal steward Senemut. During her reign so much statuary was produced that almost every major museum in the world has a collection of Hatshepsut statuary; for instance, the ] in ]'s ] is solely dedicated to these pieces. Like most pharaohs she had monuments constructed at the ]. She had twin ]s, at the time the tallest in the world, erected at the entrance to the temple. One still stands today, as the tallest surviving ancient obelisk on earth; the other has since broken in two and toppled. Karnak's Red Chapel, or '']'', was intended as a ] shrine and may have originally stood between the two obelisks. She later ordered two more obelisks to be made to celebrate her sixteenth year as pharaoh. However, one of the obelisks broke while being made, causing a third to be made to replace it. The broken obelisk was left at its quarrying site in ], where it still is today, and has proven valuable in learning how obelisks were quarried.<ref> by Peter Tyson March 16, 1999 NOVA online adventure</ref> | |||
| The masterpiece of her building projects was her ] complex at ]. It was designed and implemented by Senemut on a site on the ] of the ] close to the entrance to the ]. The focal point was the ] or "the Sublime of Sublimes", a ]d structure of perfect harmony nearly one thousand years before the ]. Djeser-Djeseru sits atop a series of terraces that were once graced with ]s. Djeser-Djeseru is built into a ] face that rises sharply above it. Djeser-Djeseru and the other buildings of the Deir el-Bahri complex are considered to be among the great buildings of the ancient world. | |||
| === Official propaganda === | |||
| ].]] | |||
| Hatshepsut was an excellent ]{{Fact|date=February 2007}}, and while all ancient leaders used propaganda to legitimatize their rule, she is one of the most known for it. Much of her propaganda had religious overtones supported by the priests at the ].{{Fact|date=February 2007}} | |||
| In ancient Egypt, women had a higher status than they did elsewhere in the ancient world, including the court-protected right to own or inherit property. Yet having a female ruler in her own right was rare: only ], ] and possibly ] preceded her as ruling in their own name. Pharaoh was an exclusively male title; at this point in Egyptian history there was no word for a Queen regent, only one for Queen consort. Hatshepsut is unique in that she was the first woman to take the title of King regent or King in the absence of a word or title for ] regent. | |||
| Hatshepsut slowly assumed all of the ] and symbols of the Pharaonic office{{Fact|date=February 2007}}: the ] head cloth, topped with an ], the traditional false beard, and ] kilt. Many existing statues show her in both a feminine and masculine form. Statues portraying Sobekneferu also combine elements of traditional male and female iconography and may have served as inspiration for the works commissioned by Hatshepsut.<ref>Callender/Shaw p. 170 ''see sources below''</ref> However, after this period of transition ended, all depictions of her showed her in a masculine form, with all of the pharaonic regalia and with her breasts omitted. Her reasons for doing this are a topic of great debate in Egyptology. The traditional explanation is that her motivation for wearing men's clothing was sexual. However, most modern scholars believe in a more recent theory: that by assuming the exclusively male symbols of pharaonic power, Hatshepsut was asserting her claim to be King or Queen regnant and not "King's Great Wife" or Queen consort. Even after assuming the male persona, Hatshepsut still described herself as a beautiful woman, often the most beautiful woman, and although she assumed almost all of her father's titles, she declined to take the title "The Strong Bull".<ref> Part One, by Sameh Arab</ref> | |||
| While the queen-pharaoh had herself depicted in art wearing the masculine regalia of the king, such as the false beard, it is most unlikely that she actually wore such ceremonial decorations. Statues such as the ones at the Metropolitan Museum of Art depicting her seated wearing a tight-fitting dress and the nemes crown are a more accurate representation of how she would have presented herself. | |||
| One of the most famous pieces of her propaganda is a myth about her birth. In this myth, ] goes to Ahmose in the form of Thutmose I and awakens her with pleasant odors. At this point Amun places the '']'', a symbol of life, to Ahmose's nose, and Hatshepsut is conceived. ], the god who forms the bodies of human children, is then instructed to create a body and '']'', or corporal presence/life force, for Hatshepsut. Khnum and ], goddess of life and fertility, leads Ahmose along to a lion bed where she gives birth to Hatshepsut. | |||
| To further strengthen her position; the ] proclaimed that it was the will of Amun that Hatshepsut be Pharaoh. She publicized Amun's support by having endorsements by Amun carved on her monuments, for example: | |||
| :''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.''{{Fact|date=February 2007}} | |||
| She also claimed that she was her father's intended heir and that he made her crown prince of Egypt. Most scholars see this as ] on Hatshepsut's part, but one of her best-known biographers, ], takes her at her word. Propaganda supporting her claim was commissioned 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''{{Fact|date=February 2007}} | |||
| ==Burial complex== | |||
| ] | |||
| Hatshepsut had begun construction of a tomb when she was the Great Royal Wife of Thutmose II, but the scale of this was not suitable when she became "king", so a second tomb was built. This was ], which was possibly the first tomb to be constructed in the ]. The original intention seems to have been to hew a long tunnel that would lead underneath her mortuary temple, but the quality of the limestone bedrock was poor and her architect must have realized that this goal would not be possible. As a result a large burial chamber was created instead. At some point it was decided to inter her father, Thutmose I from his original tomb in ] into a new chamber below her own. Her original red-quartzite sarcophagus was altered to accommodate her father instead, and a new one was made for her. It is likely that when she died (no later than the twenty-second year of her reign) she was interred in this tomb along with her father.<ref>Maatkare Hatshepset: The Female Pharaoh, by Forbes, Dennis C. pp. 26-42, KMT, Fall 2005.</ref> | |||
| The tomb was opened in antiquity, the first time during the reign of Hatshepsut's successor, Thutmose III, who re-interred his grandfather Thutmose I to his original tomb, and then possibly moved Hatshepsut's mummy into the tomb of her wet nurse, In-Sitre, in ]). Though her tomb had been largely cleared (save for both sarcophagi still present when the tomb was fully cleared by ] in 1903) some grave furnishings have been identified as belonging to the female pharoah, including a "throne" (bedstead is a better description), a ] game board with carved lion-headed red-jasper game pieces bearing her kingly title, a signet ring, and a partial ] figurine bearing her name. In the Royal Mummy Cache at ] an ivory canopic coffer was found that was inscribed with the name of Hatshepsut and containing a mummified liver. However, there was a lady of the Twenty-first dynasty of the same name, and this could belong to her instead.<ref>Bickerstaffe, Dylan <cite>The Discovery of Hatshepsut's 'Throne'</cite>, pp. 71-77, KMT, Spring 2002.</ref> | |||
| == Changing image == | |||
| === In Egyptology === | |||
| ], ], and False beard have been stripped from the left image. Images portraying Hatshepsut as Pharaoh were destroyed, or vandalized within decades of her death.]] | |||
| After her death, many of her monuments were defaced or destroyed. Replacing the names on older monuments with the name of the current ruler was a common practice of pharaohs, but in some cases this is thought to have been an act of '']''—condemning a person by erasing him or her from recorded existence.<ref>Wells pp. 253-261, ''see sources below''</ref> Egyptologists have differing views on who defaced Hatshepsut's monuments and their possible motivations including resentment for the belief that a female ] was against ]. | |||
| The traditional belief is that ] was responsible, and view the act as revenge for being denied the throne for so long. However, researchers such as ] and ] have examined these erasures and found that those which can be dated were done after the forty-second year of Thutmose's reign, while ] suggests a more sympathetic and complex motivation: Thutmose's need to demonstrate his legitimacy. Redford notes that: | |||
| :''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.''<ref>Redford, p. 87.</ref> | |||
| Of interest on this topic is the recent discovery bearing the names of both Hatshepsut and Thutmose III near the obelisk at Hatshepsut's temple in Luxor. Further study may shed additional light on the question of their relationship and the eventual attempt to erase Hatshepsut from the historical record. | |||
| === In popular culture === | |||
| <!-- | |||
| ] computer game ].]] | |||
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| As the ] movement matured, prominent women from antiquity were sought out and their achievements became increasingly publicized. | |||
| Hatshepsut went from being one of the most obscure leaders of Egypt at the beginning of the 20th century to one of its most famous by the century's end. Biographies such as ''Hatshepsut'' by Evelyn Wells romanticized her as a beautiful and ] woman — "the first great woman in History". This was quite a contrast to the 19th-century view of Hatshepsut as a wicked step mother usurping the throne from ]. | |||
| The novel ''Mara, Daughter of the Nile'' by ], maintains the wicked step-mother view by casting Hatshepsut as the story's villainess. The plot revolves around the efforts of the slave girl Mara and various nobles to overthrow Hatshepsut and install the "rightful" heir, Thutmose III, as Pharaoh. They blame Hatshepsut's numerous building projects for the bankruptcy of the Egyptian state and she is depicted as keeping Thutmose III as a prisoner within the palace walls. | |||
| In ] a small ] ] discovered by ], ] and ] was named ] in her honor. There is a popular theory that states that Hatshepsut was the princess who found ] floating in the Nile, which has been largely debated by Egyptologists and Biblical scholars.<ref> Harbin, 122. ''see sources below''</ref> | |||
| At least three authors have written historical fiction novels featuring Hatshepsut as the heroine;'']'' by ], ''Child of the Morning'' by ] and ''Pharaoh'' by ], and the ] series of mystery novels is set during her reign. | |||
| Hatshepsut also figures into the plot of ], a comic play by ] (Colorado Tolston), in which Hatshepsut is supposed to have discovered the Elixir of Life. In this story, Hatshepsut's disappearance is attributed to her resulting immortality, although she is never directly seen as part of the play. | |||
| American ] ] wrote an essay on Hatshepsut which was published after his death in the book ''The Decline and Fall of Practically Everybody''. Regarding one of her wall inscriptions, he wrote, | |||
| ''<blockquote>For a general notion of Hatshepsut's appearance at a certain stage of her career, we are indebted to one of those wall inscriptions. It states that "to look upon her was more beautiful than anything; her splendor and her form were divine." Some have thought it odd that the female Pharoah should have been so bold, fiftyish as she was. Not at all. She was merely saying how things were about thirty-five years back, before she had married Thutmose II and slugged it out with Thutmose III. "She was a maiden, beautiful and blooming," the hieroglyphics run, and we have no reason to doubt it. Surely there is no harm in telling the world how one looked in 1514 B.C.<ref>Will Cuppy, The Decline and Fall of Practically Everybody; Barnes & Noble Books, New York, reprint 1992.</ref></blockquote>'' | |||
| In the live action children's show, ] (1975), the main character, Andrea Thomas, discovers an ancient Egyptian magic amulet and learns she is a descendent of Hatshepsut and heir to the powers of Isis. Hatshepsut is referenced in the opening narration. | |||
| In ] she is the Egyptian leader, replacing ] from ]. | |||
| ==See also== | |||
| * ] | |||
| * ] | |||
| * ] | |||
| * List of ]s | |||
| == References == | |||
| <div class="references-small"><references /></div> | |||
| ==Further reading== | |||
| * Donald B. Redford, <cite>History and Chronology of the 18th dynasty of Egypt: Seven studies</cite>, Toronto: University Press, 1967. | |||
| * Caroline Seawright, ''Hatshepsut, Female Pharaoh of Egypt'', , retrieved ], ] | |||
| * Ian Shaw, ''The Oxford History of ancient Egypt'', Oxford University Press, 2000, 512 pages, ISBN 0-19-280293-3 | |||
| **Gae Callender ''The Middle Kingdom Renaissance (Chapter 7)'' | |||
| * ], <cite><!--This is the spelling used in the book, please do not change it.-->Hatchepsut: The Female Pharaoh</cite>, Penguin Books, 1998, paperback, 270 pages, ISBN 0-14-024464-6 | |||
| * Evelyn Wells, <cite>Hatshepsut</cite>, Double Day, 1969, hardback, 211 pages, ] catalog card # 69-10980 | |||
| * Harbin, Michael, <cite>''The Promise and the Blessing''</cite>, Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Press, 2005. | |||
| ==External links== | |||
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