WomensStuff

Rise to Power

Hatshepsut was born ~1504BCE as the daughter of Pharaoh Thutmose I and his Queen Ahmose. She was married to her half-brother, Thutmose II, strengthening her royal influence. Upon her husband's death, she took on the regency for her stepson, Thutmose III, who was a child. After several years as Thutmose III's regent, she declared herself pharaoh ~1473BCE, adopted full royal titulary, and co-ruled with her stepson instead. To help legitimize her rule in a strongly male-dominated society she had herself depicted in artworks as a man, often shown with the traditional postiche beard and masculine attire. Inscriptions would refer to her both in feminine and masculine terms to convey the idea she was both father and mother to the realm.

Hatshepsut Rules

Hatshepsut ruled as co-regnant for about twenty years—~1478-~1458BCE—making her one of the longest-ruling female pharaohs and her reign one of the most stable of that set. Her reign was marked by prosperity, peace, and internal stability, as well as by a sharp reduction in military campaigns and conquests. In addition she refined Egypt's governance, shifting from arbitrary (nearly whimsical) decisions of rulers to a more organized, bureaucratic system.

Trade & Diplomacy

Hatshepsut favoured trade neworks and diplomacy over military dominance; soft power over hard power, in effect. She reestablished trade networks disrupted during the Hyksos occupation and then expanded them. A sponsored expedition to the "Land of Punt" (probably Eritrea or Ethiopia these days) brought back gold, ebony, ivory, spices, incense trees, and many other luxury goods. Initiating trade with Byblos, the Sinai, Nubia, and Canaan further increased Egypt's wealth and access to exotic goods. Even with her later erasure (foreshadowing!) her trade policies and diplomacy were so important to Egypt they were kept even as her existence was erased.

Public Works

As one of the most prolific builders in Egyptian history, Hatshepsut commissioned hundreds of construction projects across Upper and Lower Egypt both. Two of her most important projects included:

• the mortuary temple at Deir el-Bahri, an architectural marvel with multiple terraces, colonnades, and more than 100 statues of herself in various poses and positions (with some even as sphinxes);
• added monumental structures to the Karnak Temple Complex including two 100-foot obelisks (one still standing), the "Red Chapel", and the restoration of the Precinct of Mut, the ancient goddess whose temples had been destroyed under the Hyksos.

For all of her monumental works she employed prominent architects and officials, most notably Ineni and her chief minister Senenmut, to over see the projects. As a result her building programs raised Egyptian architecture to a standard rivaled only by later classical civilisations.

Over and above major projects like the two examples above, Hatshepsut also commissioned vast amounts of statuary and reliefs depicting her as both male and female, reinforcing her dual role as king and queen. Her mortuary temple at Deir el-Bahri became a model for subsequent royal construction and ritual practice. So important a figure was she that many of her statues and monuments are now housed in major museums worldwide.

Legacy

Hatshepsut's reign set a precedent for female rulership (and not only in Egypt), though her example was rarely followed; Egypt would not see another comparably powerful female ruler until Cleopatra, 1,400 years later. She changed the relationship between king, god, and dynasty, emphasizing divine mandate and ritual legitimacy over mere political power. Her reign is often cited as one of the most successful and peaceful in Egyptian history, marked by economic growth, monumental art, and cultural flourishing.

Erasure

After her death in ~1458BCE, a systematic campaign began under Thutmose III and his successor Amenhotep II to erase her from the historical record. Her images and cartouches were chiseled off monuments, statues destroyed or buried, and her achievements ascribed to other pharaohs, especially her husband Thutmose II and stepson Thutmose III. Methods of erasure included defacement, replacement, smoothing, and covering of reliefs and inscriptions, particularly at Deir el-Bahri and Karnak.

There are several possible motives for this erasure:

• to legitimize Thutmose III’s direct succession;
• to diminish the precedent of female kingship;
• to reinforce traditional gender norms;
• to erase the memory of a successful female pharaoh, which may have threatened patriarchal structures.

Despite these efforts, many of her monuments survived, and modern archaeology has restored Hatshepsut’s reputation as one of Egypt’s greatest rulers. Hatshepsut’s legacy endures as a testament to her ambition, skill, and the enduring impact of her reign, despite later attempts to erase her from history.