Hatshepsut

Egyptian queen (r. c. 1503-1482 b.c.e.)

• Born: c. 1525 b.c.e.
• Birthplace: Probably near Thebes, Egypt
• Died: c. 1482 b.c.e.
• Place of death: Unknown

Governing in her own right, Hatshepsut gave to Egypt two decades of peace and prosperity and beautified Thebes with temples and monuments.

Early Life

Hatshepsut (hat-SHEHP-sewt), or Hatshopsitu, was the daughter of Thutmose I and his consort (the Egyptian title was “great royal wife”) Ahmose. Little is known of Hatshepsut’s early life. Although Thutmose I was the third king of the powerful Eighteenth Dynasty, he was probably not of royal blood on his mother’s side; the princess Ahmose, however, was of the highest rank. During the period in Egyptian history known as the New Kingdom (from the Eighteenth to the Twentieth Dynasty; c. 1570-c. 1069 b.c.e.), royal women began to play a more active role in political affairs. Among her titles, the pharaoh’s chief wife was called the “divine consort of Amen” (Amen was one of the principal Theban deities). Being the wife of a god increased her status, and her children were given a certain precedence over the children of minor wives or concubines.

In addition to Princess Hatshepsut, at least two sons were born to Thutmose I and Ahmose, but both of them died young. The male line had to be continued through a third son, born to a minor wife, who was married to his half sister, Hatshepsut. Thutmose II’s claim to the throne was strengthened by this marriage; he succeeded to the throne around 1518.

A daughter, Neferure, was born of this union, but apparently no son was born. The ancient records are fragmentary and at times obscure, but there is evidence that Thutmose II was not very healthy and thus his reign was short, ending around 1504. Once more, there was no male of pure royal blood to become pharaoh; thus, the title passed to a son of Thutmose II by a concubine named Isis. This boy, also named Thutmose, was at the time of his father’s death between the ages of six and ten and dedicated to the service of the god Amen at the temple at Karnak. Because he was underage, the logical choice as regent was his aunt Hatshepsut, now the queen mother.

Life’s Work

Hatshepsut soon proved to be a woman of great ability and large ambitions. The regency was not enough for her; she wanted the glory of being called pharaoh as well as the responsibility for Egypt and the young king. To realize this desire, however, seemed impossible. There had never been a woman pharaoh—only a man could assume that title, take a “Horus name,” and become king of Upper and Lower Egypt.

For a time Hatshepsut looked for possible allies, finding them among the various court officials, the most notable being the architect and bureaucrat Senmut (or Senenmut) and among the priests of Amen. By 1503 her moment had come. Accompanied by young Thutmose, she went to Luxor to participate in one of the great feasts honoring Amen; during the ceremonies, she had herself crowned. There was no question of deposing Thutmose III, but he was, in effect, forced to accept a coregency in which he played a lesser part.

To justify this unique coronation, Hatshepsut asserted that she had been crowned already with the sanction of her father the pharaoh. To support this claim, an account was given of her miraculous birth, which was later inscribed at her temple at Dayr el-Bahrī on the west bank of the Nile River. According to this account, Amen himself, assuming the guise of Thutmose, had fathered Hatshepsut. With the approval of both a divine and a human parent, none could oppose the new pharaoh’s will, while Thutmose remained a child and the army and the priests supported her.

Hatshepsut did not merely assume the masculine titles and authority of a pharaoh; she ordered that statues be made showing her as a man. In the stylized portraiture of Egyptian royalty, the king is usually shown bare-chested and wearing a short, stiff kilt, a striped wig-cover concealing the hair, and a ceremonial beard. The number of statues commissioned by Hatshepsut is not known, but in spite of later efforts by Thutmose III to blot out the memory of his hated relative, several examples exist, showing Hatshepsut kneeling, sitting, or standing, looking as aloof and masculine as her predecessors.

Neferure, daughter of Hatshepsut and Thutmose II, was married to Thutmose III. This marriage served the dual purpose of strengthening the succession and binding the king closer to his aunt, now his mother-in-law. Hatshepsut then focused her attention on domestic prosperity and foreign trade, activities more to her personal inclination than conquest. Throughout Egypt an extensive building program was begun. At Karnak four large obelisks and a shrine to Amen were built. A temple was also constructed at Beni-Hasan in Middle Egypt. Several tombs were cut for her, including one in the Valley of the Kings. Her inscriptions claim that she was the first pharaoh to repair damages caused by the Hyksos, Asian invaders who had conquered Egypt in the late eighteenth through mid-sixteenth centuries b.c.e. with the aid of new technologies, such as war chariots pulled by horses. The usurpation of these foreign kings was an unpleasant and recent memory to the proud, self-sufficient Egyptians; Hatshepsut’s restorations probably increased her popularity.

The crowning architectural triumph of her reign was her beautiful funerary temple at Dayr el-Bahrī. Built by Senmut, her chief architect and adviser, it was constructed on three levels against the cliffs; the temple, a harmonious progression of ramps, courts, and porticoes, was decorated in the interior with scenes of the major events of the queen’s reign.

Probably the most interesting of the achievements so portrayed was the expedition sent to the kingdom of Punt, located at the southern end of the Red Sea. As the story is told, in the seventh or eighth year of her reign, Hatshepsut was instructed by Amen to send forth five ships laden with goods to exchange for incense and living myrrh trees as well as such exotic imports as apes, leopard skins, greyhounds, ivory, ebony, and gold. Pictured in detail are the natives’ round huts, built on stilts, and the arrival of the prince and princess of Punt to greet the Egyptians. The portrait of the princess is unusual because it is one of the rare examples in Egyptian art in which a fat and deformed person is depicted.

In addition to the voyage to Punt, Hatshepsut reopened the long-unused mines of Sinai, which produced blue and green stones. Tribute was received from Asian and Libyan tribes, and she participated in a brief military expedition to Nubia. Despite the latter endeavors, Hatshepsut’s primary concern was peace, not imperialistic expansion. In this regard, her actions were in sharp contrast to those of her rival and successor Thutmose III, who was very much the warrior-king.

It would not be sufficient, however, to explain Hatshepsut’s less aggressive policies on the basis of her sex. Traditionally, the Egyptians had been isolationists. Convinced that their land had been blessed by the gods with almost everything necessary, the Egyptians had throughout much of their earlier history treated their neighbors as foreign barbarians, unworthy of serious consideration. Hatshepsut and her advisers seem to have chosen this conservative course.

As Hatshepsut’s reign continued, unpleasant changes began to occur. Her favorite, Senmut, died around 1487. In addition to the numerous offices and titles related to agriculture, public works, and the priesthood, he had also been named a guardian and tutor to Neferure. No less than six statues show Senmut with the royal child in his arms. At the end of his life, he may have fallen from favor by presuming to include images of himself in his mistress’s temple. Most were discovered and mutilated, presumably during Hatshepsut’s lifetime and with her approval—her names remained undisturbed.

Princess Neferure died young, perhaps even before Senmut’s death, leaving Hatshepsut to face the growing power of Thutmose III. The king had reached adulthood: He was now the leader of the army and demanded a more important role in the coregency. His presence at major festivals became more obvious, although Hatshepsut’s name continued to be linked with his until 1482.

It is not known exactly where or when Hatshepsut died or whether she might have been deposed and murdered. That her relations with her nephew and son-in-law were strained is evident from the revenge Thutmose exacted after her death: Her temples and tombs were broken into and her statues destroyed. Her cartouches, carved oval or oblong figures that encased the royal name, were erased, and in many cases her name was replaced by that of her husband or even of her father. She was eliminated from the list of kings. Thutmose III ruled in her stead and did his best to see that she was forgotten both by gods and by men.

Significance

The nature and scope of Hatshepsut’s achievements are still subject to debate. Traditional historians have emphasized the irregularity of her succession, the usurpation of Thutmose III’s authority, and her disinterest in military success. Revisionist studies are more generous in assessing this unique woman, praising her for her promotion of peaceful trade and her extensive building program at home.

Her influence throughout Egypt, though brief and limited only to her reign, must have been profound. The considerable number of temples, tombs, and monuments constructed at her command would have provided work for many of her subjects, just as surely as the wars of her father and nephew provided employment in another capacity. Art, devotion to the gods, and propaganda were inextricably mingled in the architectural endeavors of every pharaoh. Hatshepsut’s devotion to the gods, especially the Theban deity Amen, and her evident need to justify her succession and her achievements enriched her nation with some of its finest examples of New Kingdom art.

Controversial in her own lifetime and still something of a mysterious figure, Hatshepsut continues to inspire conflicting views about herself and the nature of Egyptian royalty. She was a bold figure who chose to change the role assigned to royal women, yet at the same time, she seems to have been a traditionalist leading a faction that wanted Egypt to remain self-sufficient and essentially peaceful. Perhaps that was yet another reason that she and Thutmose III were so much at odds. His vision of Egypt as a conquering empire would be that of the future. She was looking back to the past.

In April 2021, Hatshepsut's mummy was one of four queens and eighteen kings to be transported from the Egyptian Museum to the new National Museum of Egyptian Civilization in an event called the Pharaohs' Golden Parade.

Bibliography

Aldred, Cyril. The Development of Ancient Egyptian Art from 3200 to 1315 B.C. Reprint. London: Academy Editions, 1973. The title indicates the focus of the work. There are more than fifteen plates depicting Hatshepsut, other members of her family, and her adviser Senmut. Detailed explanations accompany each picture, and there is also an index and a bibliography.

“Egypt Completes Repairs to Pharaonic Sites.” The New York Times, December 26, 2001, sec. A, p. 4. Describes the reopening in Egypt of part of the temple of Queen Hatshepsut, which contains reliefs of the pharaoh making offerings to the gods.

Gardiner, Sir Alan. Egypt of the Pharaohs. New York: Oxford University Press, 1969. Although a lengthy study, Gardiner’s work is engagingly written, with balanced views of both Hatshepsut and her successor, Thutmose III. Provides a good background for the less knowledgeable reader. Includes an index, a bibliography, and a comprehensive chronological list of kings. Illustrated.

Nims, Charles F. Thebes of the Pharaohs: Pattern for Every City. New York: Stein and Day, 1965. The city of Thebes was extremely important to Hatshepsut and her family as both a political and a religious center. This book is helpful because it places the queen in her environment.

Tyldesley, Joyce A. Hatchepsut: The Female Pharaoh. New York: Viking, 1996. In this biography, archaeologist Tyldesley dismisses speculative attempts made by some scholars to suggest that Hatchepsut was a transvestite. This book will be primarily of interest to specialists.

Wenig, Steffen. The Woman in Egyptian Art. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1969. This book is extremely well illustrated with both color and black-and-white photographs as well as drawings. The period covered is from c. 4000 b.c.e. to c. 300 c.e. Contains a chronology and an extensive bibliography and is written for the general reader.

Wilson, John A. The Burden of Egypt. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1951. This extensive study is both detailed and well written; it deals with the importance of geography to Egypt. Includes maps, a bibliography, illustrations, and a chronology of rulers. Wilson’s analysis of political theories and discussion of possible motivations of the pharaohs is very useful in understanding the conflict between Hatshepsut and Thutmose III.