Hatshepsut – Female Pharaoh

[16] One possibility is put forward by Bradley: “Perhaps Hatshepsut assumed kingly powers because she was afraid that the young king [Thutmose III] might die in childhood (there was a high death rate among young royals) and she was anxious to secure the future for herself and her daughter.” (1999, p. 285).

[17] “Hatshepsut…took absolute power for herself, claiming that she was ruler by right as the heir of Thutmose I.” (Freeman, 1996, p. 34).

[18] Also: “Her [Hatshepsut’s] DNA had also been matched to Ahmose Nefertari, who Hawass described as Hatshepsut’s grandmother.” (Nichols, 2007).

[19] In the coronation reliefs, Hatshepsut relates an event that supposedly took place while her father, Thutmose I, was still alive. Hatshepsut claims that Thutmose I “…chose her has his heir and made her king.” (Barnier, et al., 1993, p. 128). Whether this incident actually occurred is not known; however, if the reliefs do refer to a genuine event, this could uncover at least some of Hatshepsut’s motivation for taking the throne.

[20] A stela inscribed during the reign of Hatshepsut’s husband, Thutmose II shows Hatshepsut standing behind Thutmose and the dowager queen, Ahmose. “…there is one interesting feature of this stela. It was inscribed during the reign of Thutmose II and yet the dowager queen, Ahmose, is referred to as King’s Mother.* Ahmose was the mother of Hatshepsut, not Thutmose II. This piece of evidence has contributed to the theory that perhaps Hatshepsut saw herself quite early on as having a legitimate claim to the throne.” (Bradley, 1999, p. 282).  *Note: King’s Mother in Egyptian is mwt nswt.

[21] B. Bryan, “The Eighteenth Dynasty before the Amarna Period,” in I. Shaw, eds., Oxford History of Ancient Egypt (Oxford University Press, 2000), p. 237.

[22] Note: the divine birth reliefs may only indicate Hatshepsut’s careful manipulation of kingly legends – many other kings before her claimed divine parentage: hence, the divine birth reliefs may not indicate any extraordinary devotion on Hatshepsut’s part. See Bradley, p. 289.

More convincingly, in the Speos Artemidos Inscription, Hatshepsut speaks of her kingship in relationship to the god Amun: “Hatshepsut’s thoughts upon becoming king center on the god Amun. She apparently perceives her elevation as the consequence of the deeds she had carried out previously…she also indicates…her intentions to expand the ‘order of Amun’ during her regency. In numerous inscriptions she states her devotion for Amun, whom she considered her spiritual and genetic father.” (Goedicke, 2004, p. 10).

[23] Bradley comments, “It is highly unlikely that the question of why she felt the need to become king will ever be answered.” (1999, p. 285). Even so, she herself states it was because Amun wanted a beautiful pharaoh that he wanted a woman. She was saying that he had decreed it.

[24] “Meanwhile, however, her ambition was by no means dormant, and not many years had passed before she had taken the momentous step of herself assuming the Double Crown.” (Gardiner, 1972, p. 183).There has also been the assumption that Thutmose III resented Hatshepsut’s ambitious rule: “It must have been much against his will that the energetic young Thutmose III watched from the side lines the high-handed rule of the pharaoh Hatshepsut…” (Steindorff and Seele, 1957, p. 46). Also:

“…it was not long before this vain, ambitious, and unscrupulous woman showed herself in her true colors.” (Hayes, 1959, p. 82).

[25] “The kings and nobles of the Archaic Period established the pattern of kingship which lasted for approximately 3000 years, set up the institutions of an efficient centralised state and prepared the way for the incredible accomplishments of the Old Kingdom.” (Bradley, 1999, p. 61).

[26] Hatshepsut means ‘Foremost of Women’.

[27] “In representing herself as male, Hatshepsut was not being deceitful; she was simply conforming to the conventions of royal representation. (Roth, 2005, p. 9).

[28] The pharaoh of Egypt held a national fertility status – this was the reason for his name as Mighty Bull. This was just one of the male elements of kingship that Hatshepsut had to tackle.

[29] “Hatshepsut is shown in a man’s kilt (and body!) wearing the king’s crown and the artificial beard; and she is also shown as a woman, with feminine dress and the queen’s crown. The dichotomy carries over into other spheres: two tombs, one in the Valley of the Kings and the other in a lesser spot; two sarcophagi, one for a king and one for a queen.” (Mertz, 1964, p. 168).

[30] Tefnin, in La Statuaire d’Hatshepsout.

[31] Bradley, p. 289. Previously, this traditional claim had only been made by male rulers.

[32] “In conceiving her kingly role and presenting herself to the people, she took three groups as models: male kings, King’s Mothers, and queens regnant. From her association with each of these groups, Hatshepsut derived her legitimacy as female pharaoh.” (Roth, 2005, p. 9).

[33] “That she [Hatshepsut] did not step down after her co-regent was of age has been taken as a sign of Hatshepsut’s ambition, but in fact it is hard to imagine how she could have done so. She was not a King’s Mother but a king, and once crowned, no known king ever ceased to be king…the prospect of this lifelong commitment may explain Hatshepsut’s hesitation to take on the burden of kingship during the early years of Thutmose III’s reign.” (Roth, 2005, p. 9).

[34] Bradley, p. 318.

[35] Many of these were men already associated with Amun, such as the famous Senenmut, (chief steward of Amun) and Hapusoneb (high priest of Amun). See Bradley, p. 318.

For a more complete listing of people in Hatshepsut’s support base, see http://www.maat-ka-ra.de/english/personen/pers_all.htm (7th August, 2007).

[36] Tetisheri, Ahmose and Ahmose Neferrari.

[37] The precedent was that Hatshepsut reigned so successfully and for so long. Not enough is known about other ruling women of Egypt (such as Merytneith, and the wife of Djedkare-izezi), however to determine to what degree this precedent was a new one.

[38] or cosmic order.

[39] “…Hatshepsut was not afraid to flout tradition…By year 7 Hatshepsut had been crowned king of Egypt, acquiring in the process a full titular of five royal names…” (Tyldesley, 2006, p. 95). After her death, however, it was only about twenty years until her monuments became the target of Thutmose III’s political campaign of defacement. In view of this, it seems her direct impact was considerably lessened soon after her death. In fact, she was largely unknown in ancient times, and the only reference to her dating from after her death  is found in Manetho’s king list, where a female ruler is mentioned, but named Amessis.

[40] Gardiner comments, “It is not to be imagined…that even a woman of the most virile character could have attained such a pinnacle of power without masculine support.” (1961, p. 184).

[41] This commitment was likely based on their own interests: “…if she fell, they fell with her.” (Tyldesley, 2006, p. 98).

[42] “As ruler, Hatshepsut inaugurated building projects that far outstripped those of her predecessors.” (Bryan, 2000, p. 238).

[43] Bryan, p. 239.This is mentioned in the Speos Artemidos inscription.

[44] Bradley, p. 305. In addition to the obelisks, Hatshepsut also added  to the Temple of Karnak “…two groups of chambers flanking a sanctuary for the sacred boat of Amen.” (Lawless, Cameron, Kenworthy, 2001, p. 95).

[45] Bryan, p. 241.

[46] Bradley, p. 297.

[47] Bryan, p. 240. This refers to Tomb KV 20: possibly the first royal tomb to be built in the valley.

[48] J. Lawless, K. Cameron, G. Kenworthy, Studies in Ancient Egypt: Periods and Personalities (Nelson, 2001), p. 89.

[49] “The literary confusion is one of the few signs we have which suggest the bafflement of Egypt at its female king.” (Mertz, 1964, p. 168).

[50] Lawless, Cameron, Kenworthy, p. 85. Bradley comments, “…there appears to have been a period after she became king when she either experimented with a new image suitable for a female king or deliberately proceeded slowly in the adoption of a kingly identity.” [Emphasis added] (1999, p. 286).

[51] Lawless, Cameron, Kenworthy, p. 86. (see figure 6.7). Nevertheless, this pose was a traditional one.

[52] Thutmose III’s campaign against Hatshepsut’s monuments “…could be explained by assuming that Hatshepsut had died naturally and that Thutmose felt no resentment against her. He might then have been reluctant to mutilate her monuments; but as time passed by, political expediency might have won over sentiment, and he might finally have agreed that all traces of the unnatural female king should be erased, since they did not conform with maat, the natural order of the world.” (Robins, 1993, p. 52). Note: it is now certain through the discovery of Hatshepsut’s mummy, that she died naturally, as Robins suggests. This gives additional credence to such possibilities as Robins outlines.

[53] Bradley, pp. 317 – 319.

[54] Thutmose IV, Amenhotep III and most famously Akhenaten.

[55] Despite mutilated statues and reliefs, the labours of various archaeologists in piecing together damaged statues and other evidence has ensured Hatshepsut’s legacy is not forgotten. In addition, though some reliefs are badly damaged, many are decipherable (the divine birth scenes at Deir el-Bahri, for example), and some have not been damaged at all. Thutmose III at some point during his sole reign embarked on a mission of destroying Hatshepsut’s monuments – some scholars believe this was an attempt to bolster his own position as pharaoh: “Thutmose was motivated not so much by a genuine hatred as by political necessity. His own legitimacy stood in need of demonstration, and his own links with his illustrious grandfather Thutmose I had to be emphasized.” (Redford, 1967, p. 87). Furthermore, in support of his new religion, the pharaoh Akhenaten “…at some point ordered the mutilation of the images of Amun.” (Bradley, 1999, p. 324).

[56] “It struck me how much more of Hatshepsut was alive in her texts, where even after so many thousands of years, you can still feel the flutter of her heart.” (Brown, 2009, p. 110).