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Maat-ka-re Hatshepsut (c.1504 BC–1458 BC) was the fifth Pharaoh of the Eighteenth dynasty of Egypt. She is regarded variously as the earliest known queen regnant in history, as the first known female to take the title Pharaoh, and the first great woman in history, though all of these claims are contested. Hatshepsut is generally regarded by modern Egyptologists as one of the most successful pharaohs; ruling longer than any female leader of Egypt, except Cleopatra. She was one of the most prolific builders in Ancient Egypt, commissioning hundreds of construction projects throughout Egypt. She also began rebuilding Egypt's trade networks which had been disrupted by the Hyksos occupation of Egypt during the Second Intermediate Period.

She is believed to have ruled from 1473 BC to 1458 BC. Josephus quotes Manetho as stating that she reigned 21 years and 9 months, while Africanus (who was also quoting Manetho) states her reign lasted 22 years. Her name is sometimes spelled Hapshepsut, Hatchepsut, or Hat-shep-set.

Her rule

Upon Thutmose II death, Hatshepsut— as Thutmose III's aunt and stepmother— was selected to be regent until the boy king came of age. At first it seemed that Hatshepsut was patterning herself after the powerful female regents of Egypt's then recent history, but as Thutmose III aproached his majority it became apparent that she had only one model in mind: Sobeknefru, the last monarch of the Twelfth dynasty, who ruled in her own right. However, Hatshepsut took one step further than Sobeknefru and had herself crowned Pharaoh around 1473 BC, taking the throne name Maatkare.

Hatshepsut surrounded herself by strong and loyal advisors, many of whom are still known today: Hapuseneb, the High Priest of Amun; Nehsi a Nubian general, and her closest advisor— the royal steward Senemut. Because of the close nature of Hatshepsut and Senemut's relationship some egyptologists have theorized that Hatshepsut and Senemut were lovers; citing that Hatshepsut allowed Senemut to place his name and an image of himself behind one of the main doors in Djeser-Djeseru (a rare and unusual sharing of credit), that Senemut had two tombs constructed near Hatshepsut't tomb (a standard privalidge for close advisors), and the presence of graffiti in an unfinished tomb, used as a rest house by the workers of Hatshepsut's mortuary temple, depicting a male and a hermaphrodite in pharaonic regalia engaging in an explicit sexual act. Although the belief that Hatshepsut and Senemut were lover is well known, it is highly contested among egyptologist; all that is agreed on is that they were close friends.

As Hatshepsut reestablish the trade networks disrupted during the Hyksos occupation of Egypt durign the Second Intermediate Period, the wealth of the 18th dynasty —that has become so famous since the discovery of the burial of Tutankhamun— began to be collected. Hatshepsut oversaw the preparations for and funded a mission, led by Nehsi, to the Land of Punt. The expedition set out in her name with five ships, each measuring seventy feet long, and with several sails; each ship accommodated 210 men, including sailors and thirty rowers. Many goods were bought in Punt, most notably myrrh, which is said to have been Hatshepsut's favorite fragrance. She had the expedition commemorated in relief at Deir el-Bahri, which is famous for its unflattering depiction of the Queen of Punt.

Although many Egyptologists have claimed that her foreign policy was mainly peaceful, there is evidence that she led successful military campaigns in Nubia, the Levant, and Syria early in her career.

Death

Hatshepsut disappeared with no record of her death,although both natural causes and murder have both been proposed as causes. Her mummy is believed to be missing from the Deir el-Bahri Cache, and has never been officially identified. An unidentified female mummy found with Hatshepsut's wet nurse Sitre In had her arms posed in the traditonal burial style of pharoahs, has lead to the theory that the unidentified mummy might be Hatshepsut.

After her death, many of her monuments were defaced or destroyed. Replacing the names on older monuments with the name of the current ruler was a common practice of pharaohs, but in some cases this is thought to have been an act of damnatio memoriae— condemning a person by erasing him or her from recorded existence. Egyptologists have differing views on who defaced Hatshepsut's monuments and their possible motivations including resentment for the belief that a female Pharaoh was against Maàt.

The traditional belief is that Thutmose III was responsible, and view the act as revenge being denied the throne for so long. However, researchers such as Charles Nims and Peter Dorman have examined these erasures and found that those which can be dated were done after the forty-second year of Thutmose's reign, while Donald B. Redford suggests a more sympathetic and complex motivation: Thutmose's need to demonstrate his legitimacy. Redford notes that:

"here and there, in the dark recesses of a shrine or tomb where no plebeian eye could see, the queen's cartouche and figure were left intact ... which never vulgar eye would again behold, still conveyed for the king the warmth and awe of a divine presence."

Names

praenomen or throne name nomen or birth name
Hatshepsut in hieroglyphs
Era: New Kingdom (1550–1069 BC)

As with most pharaohs, Hatshepsut had a number of names. Her birth name, or nomen, was Hatshepsut, to which she suffixed the epithet Khenmetamun, and prefixed the praenomen, or throne name Maat-ka-re. Her names are written as shown in Egyptian hieroglyphs on the right; Maat-ka-re to the top and Hatshepsut to the bottom.

Maat-ka-re means "Maàt is the ka-spirit of Ra" and Hatshepsut means "Foremost of distinguished women, Joined with Amun". Together they mean "Maàt is the ka-spirit of Ra, Foremost of distinguished women, Joined with Amun". After she ascended the throne she changed her name from the feminine Hatshepsut to the male Hatshepsu.

The names are technically transliterated as m3‘t-k3-r‘ ḥ3t-špswt–hnmt-ỉmn.

In popular culture

Hatshepsut went from being one of the most obscure leaders of Egypt at the beginning of the 20th century to one of the most famous by the century's end. As women gained more equality with men, women in history were sought out and reclaimed. Biography's such as Hatshepsut by Evelyn Wells romanticized her as beautiful and pacifistic woman — "the first great woman in History". This was quite a contrast to the 19th-century view of Hatshepsut as a wicked step mother usurping the throne from Thutmose III.

Authors Moyra Caldecott and Pauline Gedge have both written historical fiction novels featuring Hatshepsut as the heroine. In 1960 a small main belt asteroid, 2436 Hatshepsut, was discovered by Cornelis Johannes van Houten, Ingrid van Houten-Groeneveld and Tom Gehrels; and was named for her.

Hatshepsut is one of the known AI leaders featured in the upcoming turn-based strategy computer game Sid Meier's Civilization IV and her mortuary temple was replicated in the computer game Serious Sam. To date no film has been made featuring Hatshepsut, but a screenplay named Daughter of Ra has one awards, and is being lobbied for online. In the first decade of the 21st century Hatshepsut was one of the most popular and recognized leaders of Ancient Egypt.

Template:Pharaoh

Sources

• Joyce Tyldesley, Hatchepsut: The Female Pharaoh, Penguin Books, 1998, paperback, 270 pages, ISBN 0140244646
• Evelyn Wells, Hatshepsut, Double Day, 1969, hardback, 211 pages
• Caroline Seawright, Hatshepsut, Female Pharaoh of Egypt, touregypt.net, retrieved June 15, 2005

Fiction

• Moyra Caldecott, Hatshepsut: Daughter of Amun, Mushroom, eBook and paperback, 244 pages, ISBN 1843192632
• Pauline Gedge, Child of the Morning, Soho Press, 403 pages, ISBN 0939149850

External links

• Hatshepsut, the Queen who would be King
• Maatkare.com fansite
• Maat-ka-ra.de fansite (in German)
• Daughter of Ra Screenplay
• Poetry honoring Hatshepsut

See also

• List of Pharaohs

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