Hatshepsut

Ruler of Egypt 1503-1482 BC.

    Hatshepsut was the daughter of *Tuthmosis I and Queen Ahmose, who was probably the younger sister of *Amenophis I. *Tuthmosis I's heir, his son *Tuthmosis II by a secondary queen Mutnefer, was married to Hatshepsut to strengthen his claim to the throne. *Tuthmosis II ruled Egypt for some eight years, dying prematurely in 1504 BC. His heir (whom he may have associated with him as co-regent) was his child by a concubine Isis, and perhaps to consolidate the boy's claim, he was married to Neferure, the daughter and apparently the only child of *Tuthmosis II and his chief wife Hatshepsut.

    Because this boy, *Tuthmosis III, was very young on his accession, his stepmother Hatshepsut acted as his regent and at first she claimed only the titles she had used as *Tuthmosis II's principal queen—'King's Daughter, King's Sister, God's Wife and King's Great Wife'—but in Year 2 of *Tuthmosis III's reign (1503 BC), she became joint pharaoh and was crowned as a king with full powers, titles and regalia. She was able to exercise power for almost twenty years, and although *Tuthmosis III was retained as her co-ruler, she was the senior pharaoh and held complete control. She was able to do this partly because of her stepson's youth, partly because she had the support of powerful officials including the priests of the god Amen-Re, and partly because of her own royal lineage which was greater than that of either her husband or her stepson.

    Her claim to rule as the legitimate pharaoh was supported by fictitious scenes on the walls of her funerary temple at Deir el Bahri, where her divine birth is shown, as the offspring of the god Amen-Re (identified with her human father, *Tuthmosis I) and Queen Ahmose. Another ruler of this dynasty—*Amenophis III—had his divine birth similarly depicted on wall-scenes in the Temple of Luxor. Hatshepsut also preserved another fiction—that she was crowned while her father was still alive; these scenes again attempt to justify her reign as *Tuthmosis I's chosen heir. As pharaoh, particularly in Amen-Re's temple at Karnak, she was frequently shown in the pose and dress of a male ruler and the masculine forms of pronouns were often used in inscriptions which referred to her.

    During the Queen's reign, the military policy of her forebears was suspended, and there is a reference only to one insignificant raid in Nubia. Instead, Hatshepsut concentrated on domestic policy and trading ventures, sending expeditions to *Byblos for timber, to Sinai for turquoise and to *Punt for incense. She also pursued an active building programme: an inscription in her small temple, the Speos Artemidos, states that she restored the sanctuaries of Middle Egypt which had been neglected since the *Hyksos period, while at Thebes, she honoured her patron god, Amen-Re.

    Hatshepsut's chief courtier, *Senenmut, was the architect responsible for her Theban buildings and especially for the planning of the magnificent terraced funerary temple at Deir el Bahri. Here, as well as the scenes of the Queen's divine birth and coronation, the famous expedition to *Punt was recorded and also the transportation of the two obelisks by river from Elephantine to Karnak.

    Senenmut had entered the royal employ in the reign of *Tuthmosis II and he became the Queen's favourite courtier and the tutor to her daughter. His ambition and support were undoubtedly important factors in Hatshepsut's own political ascent. Eventually, *Tuthmosis III was fully grown and no longer willing to accept a subordinate role; he overthrew Hatshepsut's power and from 1457 BC he became sole ruler. The Queen may have died from natural causes, having outlived both *Senenmut (who died in or before Year 19) and her daughter Neferure (who died before Year 11). When she was merely principal queen, she had prepared a tomb in the cliff area near Deir el Bahri, but as a pharaoh, she had become eligible for a tomb in the Valley of the Kings, and this was excavated by Howard Carter in 1903. It was found to contain two sarcophagi, one of which was intended for her own burial while the other had been altered to receive the body of her father *Tuthmosis I, which she planned to transfer from its own original tomb. It is unlikely however, that she was ever buried in this tomb.

    Tuthmosis III, as sole ruler, now set out to reconquer possessions in Syria which had drifted from Egypt's influence during Hatshepsut's reign, and he also tried to obliterate all trace of his hated stepmother. Her statues were destroyed, walls were built around her obelisks at Karnak to conceal them, and her name was systematically erased from monuments. Later king-lists continue this denial of her reign by omitting her name from the records.

BIBL. Edgerton, W.F. The Thutmosid Succession. Chicago: 1933; Naville, E. The Temple of Deir el Bahari. (seven vols) London: 1894-1908; Sethe, K. Das Hatschepsut-Problemnoch einmal untersucht. (Abh. Berlin, 1932, Nr. 4). Berlin: 1932.

Biographical Dictionary of Ancient Egypt by Rosalie and Antony E. David

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(reigned c. 1472–1458 BC)

   Throne name Makare. Queen-regnant of Egypt. She was the daughter of Thutmose I and QueenAhmoseand married her half brother, Thutmose II, by whom she had at least one daughter, Nefrure. Hatshepsut became regent for her stepson, Thutmose III, but she soon ascended the throne in her own right, although the date for this act is disputed. She claimed that she had been designated as heir to the throne by her father. Hatshepsut built her mortuary temple at Deir el-Bahri with scenes showing the great events of her reign, including an expedition to Puntand the erection of an obelisk. The work was supervised by her chief architect, Senenmut, whose relations with the queen have been the subject of much speculation.

   Her reign ended after 21 years, presumably upon her death, and her stepson became sole ruler. Hatshepsut initially built her tomb as king’s wife in the Wadi Gabbanat al-Qurud. Her sarcophagus from this tomb is now housed in the Cairo Egyptian Museum. She appears to have been buried with her father in a joint tomb (KV20) built later in the Valley of the Kings. Thutmose III later attempted to expunge all mention of his aunt, although he appears to have been on relatively good terms with her during her reign. Her mummy was identified in 2007 as one of two women found in KV60.

   See also Nefrubity; Women.

Historical Dictionary Of Ancient Egypt by Morris L. Bierbrier