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Hatshepsut and Ancient Egypt
Let us take a moment to review ancient eastern Mediterranean history. The earliest written records of the events of this area come from Mesopotamia1 and other lands between the Euphrates and Tigris Rivers2 and the lands around them. About the same time, civilization was rising in the land along the Nile, Egypt3. These events in Mesopotamia and ancient Egypt4 were as distant in time to the ancient Greeks and classical Romans as the ancient Greeks and classical Romans are to us. These civilizations are truly old and some of the earliest writing in the world comes from this region. During this period, Egypt5 was ruled by a Pharaoh, their name for their king.
According to the religion of ancient Egyptian aristocrats, including the Pharaoh, a person would not die as long as that person's body survived in recognizable form. Because the person's ka, her essence or her soul, would remain on earth as long as the body survived, the ka needed a place to live. This belief had two important results.
The art of embalming flourished in order to preserve the body and to keep the ka alive.
Pharaohs and other members of the upper class built huge and ornate palaces called mortuary temples6. The Pyramids are the best known mortuary temples. Mortuary Temples were uninhabited during the Pharaoh's life, but served as a home for the ka after the temple owner's death. At the death of the tomb's owner, the mortuary temple was filled with the finest objects ranging from every day household goods to golden caskets for the body, objects that would serve every need of the ka. Eventually these objects were augmented by drawings of the objects on the walls of the tomb. These tombs overshadowed the palaces of live Pharaohs, buildings which would be inhabited by the body for only a short time. Successive Pharaohs tried to out do the magnificence of earlier mortuary temples7, so succeeding mortuary temples8 became bigger, grander, more ornate. Priests did live in the temple complex to serve the needs of the ka, and to send the prayers of the deceased to the gods.
Hatshepsut is the only woman known to have ruled Egypt as Pharaoh until very late in ancient Egyptian history, the Greek and Roman periods.
Perhaps best known for her magnificent mortuary temple9 at Deir el Bahari10 in Thebes, Hatshepsut, the fifth ruler of the 18th Dynasty, was the daughter of Thutmose I and the beautiful Queen Ahmose. When Thutmose II, Hatshepsut's husband and half-brother, died in 1479 BCE, his son by a minor wife, Thutmose III, was appointed heir. Because of his youth, however, Hatshepsut was appointed regent. They ruled jointly until 1473 when she declared herself pharaoh 11. Assuming all of the regalia and ceremonies of a true Pharaoh and dressing in men’s attire, Hatshepsut administered affairs of the nation, with the full support of the religious leaders. As was the custom of the time, her mortuary temple12 at Deir el Bahari13 included reliefs of her divine birth as the daughter of Amon. Hatshepsut disappeared in 1458 B.C. when Thutmose III, wishing to reclaim the throne, led a revolt.
Her shrines, statues and reliefs were mutilated some 20 years after her death. Who and why her images were mutilated is not known. If Thutmose III wanted her images desecrated, why did he wait until 20 years after she died to do so?
Author: Sunny
For information on other aspects of Ancient Egypt, see these sites
Abu Simbel AmarnaAmenhotep IV (Akhenaten)
KarnakHome Page (narrative, few pictures)
Feature Stories (narrative, few pictures)
Temple (pictures only)
King TutankhamunGold death mask of Tutankhamun
LuxorLuxor (pictures only, includes pictures of The temple of Queen Hatshepsut)
References: Joyce Tyldesley, Hatchepsut: The Female Pharaoh, Viking Press, 1996
Footnotes:
1. British Museum: Mesopotamia, Sumer, Assyria
2. Map of Mesopotamia. The Nile River is in the lower left hand corner.
3. Tour of Egypt – University of Memphis
4. Discovery Channel: Ancient Egypt (mixture of narrative and pictures)
5. Life in Ancient Egypt: An online resource for students (for older students)
6. Egypt: Temples and Tombs, a mixture of narrative and pictures
7. Egypt: Valley of the Kings
8. National Geographic: Explore the Pyramids, a mixture of narrative and pictures
9. Temple of Queen Hatshepsut on the West Bank at Luxor, Egypt (one picture only, from front left, no narratives)
10. Mortuary temple of Hatshepsut, the Valley of the Kings, Luxor. Another distance picture, good view of the entire temple complex, from above on the right + one page narrative.
11. The best pictures available from this site of Hatshepsut's mortuary temple are in this collection of photos of Luxor, includes interior shots. Go about ½ way down the page.
12. The Temple of Deir el Bahari (18th Dynasty) (one picture only and a one paragraph narrative).
13. The Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut (picture only from a distance)
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last updated July 2003