Hatshepsut
From ArchaeoWiki
Hatshepsut was the sixth and only female ruler of the Eighteenth Dynasty in the New Kingdom period of ancient Egypt. The eldest daughter of Thutmose I, she was half-sister and subsequently became the wife of Thutmose II. As a consequence, Hatshepsut was both aunt and step-mother to the child pharaoh Thutmose III and acted as regent after his accession for two years, before arrogating the throne of Egypt to herself as Pharaoh and initiating a period of joint rule in which she appears to have maintained a dominant position until her death.
As the only female ruler of the Eighteenth Dynasty, Hatshepsut has attracted considerable modern interest and ancient opprobrium—some two decades after her death, a concerted campaign (not wholly successful) was mounted within Egypt to negate her existence and and either reattribute or downplay her achievements, which were considerable.
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Administration and Officials
An important figure during the reign of Hatshepsut was her chief steward Senenmut, who also acted as tutor to her daughter Nefrure.
Achievements of the Reign
Religious Affairs and Temple Buildings
Considerable effort was made by Hatshepsut to stamp her influence on the religious landscape of Thebes. She sought, for example, to embellish the Great Temple of Amun at Karnak by adding the Chapelle Rouge as the central barque shrine within the temple and by erecting several monumental obelisks.
Hatshepsut was responsible for the restoration of several smaller cult centres in Middle Egypt in areas allegedly ravaged by the Hyksos. Perhaps the best known of these was the shrine of Speos Artemidos, close to the Middle Kingdom necropolis of Beni Hasan, and dedicated to the lion-goddess Pakhet.
Without doubt Hatshepsut's greatest impact, however, was made at Deir el-Bahari, her chosen site for the construction of her mortuary temple.
The Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut (Deir el-Bahari)
The Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut at Deir el-Bahari constitutes the most impressive visual physical relic of the queen, capturing Hatshepsut's vision of her kingship and providing a rich source of graphic and textual information for the reign.
Death and Burial
Preliminary Tomb Contruction
In her former role as Great Royal Wife to Thutmose II, Hatshepsut had inspired the construction of a preliminary tomb. Neither its location, nor its size, seem to have suited the later ruler, who transferred construction efforts elsewhere in the Theban West Bank—significantly, it would prove, both for her and her successors on the throne.
KV 20: The Valley Tomb
Hatshepsut was eventually interred in KV 20, probably the oldest royal tomb in the Valley of the Kings, together with her father Thutmose I. It seems, therefore, that Hatshepsut initiated a pharaonic burial tradition within that location that would stand largely unbroken between her reign and the end of the New Kingdom period. Located in the easternmost (most distant) arm of the Valley of the Kings, its entrance cut into a high cliff face, KV 20 is of an exceedingly unusual design when compared to succeeding tombs in the royal valley. The axis of the tomb, for example, curves clockwise from the east towards the south before turning west away from the cliff bay at Deir el-Bahari[1].
Bodily Remains
Until recently, Hatshepsut's body—presumably mummified—was deemed either absent from, or unidentified amongst, the surviving royal corpses of the New Kingdom period. A preserved liver or spleen was, however, found in TT 320 in a box decorated with her cartouches; it was considered possible that the organ might well have once belonged to the queen.
In late June 2007, however, the Chairman of the Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities Zahi Hawass controversially and publicly asserted that Hatshepsut's body was to be identified with the mummified body of an obese woman from KV 60.
Notes
- ↑ This configuration arguing against an erstwhile theory that the tomb was originally intended to link with Hatshepsut's mortuary complex.
Bibliography
- Allen, James P. [2002], "The Speos Artemidos Inscription of Hatshepsut", BES 16 (2002), pp.1-17, pls.1+2.
- Dorman, Peter F. [1988], The Monuments of Senenmut: Problems in Historical Methodology", London: Kegan Paul International, 1988. ISBN 0710303173
- [1991], The Tombs of Senenmut. The Architecture and Decoration of Tombs 71 and 353, New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1991. ISBN 0870996207
- [2001], "Hatshepsut: Wicked Stepmother or Joan of Arc?", Oriental Institute News and Notes 168 (Winter 2001). pdf
- Goedicke, Hans [2004], The Speos Artemidos Inscription of Hatshepsut and Related Discussions, Baltimore: Halgo, 2004.
- Habachi, Labib [1957], "Two Graffiti at Sehel from the Reign of Queen Hatshepsut", JNES 16.2 (1957), pp.88-104.
- Ockinga, Boyo [1995], "Hatshepsut's Election to Kingship: The Ba and Ka in Egyptian Royal Ideology", BACE 6 (1995), pp.89-102.
- Ratié, Suzanne [1979], La reine Hatchepsout: sources et problèmes, [Orientalia Monspeliensia 1], Leyden, 1979.
- Roehrig, Catharine H. [2005], "The Two Tombs of Hatshepsut", in Roehrig, C.H., Dreyfus, R. and Keller, C.A. (eds) [2005], Hatshepsut: From Queen to Pharaoh, New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art / New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2005, pp.184-189. ISBN 0300111398
- Roehrig, Catharine H., Dreyfus, Renée and Keller, Cathleen A. (eds) [2005], Hatshepsut: From Queen to Pharaoh, New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art / New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2005. ISBN 0300111398
External links
- Introduction to the Statue of Hatshepsut: Video clip - Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
- Dorman, Peter F. [2001], "Hatshepsut: Wicked Stepmother or Joan of Arc?", Oriental Institute News and Notes 168 (Winter 2001). pdf
