Hatshepsut Research Paper

An amalgamation of Amun and Re, this powerful deity was acknowledged as the source of Hatshepsut’s kingship and, through his role in her divine conception, crucial to her very existence, (Allen, 2005-p.83). The blending of two powerful gods, Re with ancient connections to Heliopolis, an important religious and administrative centre which became the model for New Kingdom Thebes, and Amun, a Theban deity, ‘hidden but present in the heart’, created a significant source of Hatshepsut’s dynastic legitimacy, (Quirke, 2001-p.8,p.73; Allen,

The Kneeling Statue of Hatshepsut is from the Eighteenth Dynasty of Ancient Egypt, located in Deir el-Bahri, and is dated around 1473-1478 BCE. This statue is 8’ 6’’ tall and is completely made of red granite. The statue shows Hatshepsut kneeling on both knees with each hand holding a sphere. However, Hatshepsut is known as a female ruler, but this statue and including other statues, she is represented as a male ruler. Upon closer inspection, her shoulders are broad, she is wearing a linen headdress, and a fake beard which is typical for a male ruler to wear. Also, the inscription, or hieroglyph, use a feminine form to identify her as a female ruler because there’s was no word for king. Adapting to the visual forms of kingship, the Kneeling Statue of Hatshepsut can demonstrate the cultural, religious, and political environment of Ancient Egypt.

Hatshepsut was born around 15th century B.C., she is the daughter of Tuthmose the first and his wife, Aahmes. When king Tuthmose I died, queen Aahmes married her half-brother, King Tuthmose II. King Tuthmose II died after a short rule and the throne was supposed to be passed down to his son Tuthmose III but he was considered far too young to rule so Hatshepsut ruled in his stead as a regent. Information about Hatshepsut varied a bit, some articles speculated Hatshepsut was the 4th female pharaoh while others say she was the 6th. But without a doubt she was considered one of the greatest pharaohs of all time, even amongst the male counterparts. As a pharaoh, Hatshepsut did things like reestablishing trade routes that has been long lost due to past invaders. By doing this, Hatshepsut was able to turn the economy around and lead Egypt into a period of wealth and prosperous trade. Her allowing an expedition to the land of Punt also wielded excellent results. In total she sent 5 ships accommodating 210 sailors and 30 rowers most likely slaves. They bought back 31 live myrrh tree roots and were the first recorded attempt to plant foreign

While there are several notable Egyptian temples, monuments, and tombs; this paper will focus on the analysis and evaluation of the Mortuary Temple of Queen Hatshepsut at Deir el-Bahri, C. 1458 BC. First and foremost, it is important to identify the historical figure who influenced this construction of this temple. Queen Hatshepsut ascended to the throne of Egypt after her son’s passing and was the first and only female pharaoh in about 1473 BC; nearly a thousand years after the construction of the Pyramids at Giza. The

Hatshepsut is not only known for being a rare woman ruler during this archaic time period, but also for the representation of her in art- blending imagery of a male king with presentations of herself as a woman. During the early years of her reign, Hatshepsut had herself portrayed in the traditional garb of a woman. However, in the seventh year of Thutmose III’s reign, the year that Hatshepsut took over, she began to be portrayed in male attire, still attempting to further her legitimacy as Egypt’s ruler. The surviving representation in art varies on this masculine and feminine

The female pharaoh, Hatshepsut, is arguably one of the most influential people of ancient Egypt. For thousands of years, the workings of Hatshepsut have been subject to multiple interpretations, from both her time and the modern day. An evaluation of the effectiveness of her reign can be resolved from the reliability and validity of evidence presented today, both primary and secondary.

During her reign, Hatshepsut had started trading expeditions from Punt (present-day Eritrea) that brought ivory, ebony, gold, leopard skins and incense into Egypt. When Hatshepsut was trading with Punt, she utilized trade as a technique to give herself a chance to expand the economy of her country. In order for trading to be accomplished, Hatshepsut had established vital trade routes to aid in implementing exchange with other countries. As a result, Hatshepsut became the first monarch in the New Kingdom to trade with Punt. Through her action of expanding trades with trade routes, she demonstrated that she is an influential leader because she was not afraid to try new ways of making her country better and more prosperous. Along with trading with Punt, Hatshepsut had also traded with countries in west Asia which are in east of Egypt through her vital trade routes. Thus allowing boats filled with goods to be imported back to Egypt. In addition to expanding trade to help her country prosper, Hatshepsut had also built many great monuments such as the Palace of Ma’at, Gebel el Silsila, Chapelle Rouge, and the Deir el Bahri that exhibits the immense growth of her country. These tremendous monuments displayed that Egypt under Hatshepsut’s rule had prospered because it proves that the economy of that time was great since Hatshepsut was able to afford

The Large Kneeling Statue of Hatshepsut is a magnificent piece of art located in the Egyptian section next to many other statues of the great pharaoh Hatshepsut. Out of all the statues of Hatshepsut, the Large Kneeling Statue of Hatshepsut was kept in the best shape and caught a lot of attention from the people in the room. Its great size is something truly remarkable, considering it was built in the New Kingdom of Ancient Egypt. More importantly, this statue is the first structure in art that depicts a woman leader. Not only is it a truly unique piece of work, but also it is a piece that is revolutionary for its time. The massive size of this statue leaves one wondering if women have always been just as powerful as men, if not more.

Hatshepsut’s building programs played a major role in her reign as is shown through the praise they still receive from the future generations. Hatshepsut main focus seemed to be her building programs as she constantly refers to them. Once she acquired the role of pharaoh she started repairing buildings that were neglected during the Hyksos occupation such as the temple of Hathor at Cusae, a temple for Min and the temple of Thoth at Hermopolis. Her building programs consisted of completing Thutmose II due to his short reign and constructing new buildings. Her new building programs consisted of her mortuary temple at Deir el-Bahri; the Red Chapel, obelisks and pylon at Karnak; the barque sanctuary at Luxor and the cliff temple dedicated to the lion goddess, Pakhet at Beni Hassan. Her building programs were important to further enhance her relationship with the Amun- Re cult. Through her buildings she reinforced her relationship with Amun, using it as propaganda to prove that she has the right to claim the throne.

Senenmut, an excellent architect within Ancient Egypt who came from a large educated family, was appointed by Hatshepsut to oversee any royal works, as well as overseeing slaves, fields, and gardens. It is said by some Egyptologists that he initiated a very personal relationship with her—he was even a tutor for Hatshepsut’s daughter. This suggests that Hatshepsut befriended Senenmut for her own advantage, in order for her building plans to be carried out as she pleased. Not only did she effectively choose a skilled architect, but she kept high standards for the location for her memorial tomb. This was at a natural bay near the Theban Mountains, facing the entrance to the Amen-Re Temple at Karnak. This location was especially chosen because it was the existing tomb of her father, and had great importance as it was previously a cult center for Hathor (goddess of ruling kings). A new entrance was created with a staircase leading to a new burial hall carved out of rock. Although her choice called for those extensive alterations of the existing tomb, Hatshepsut wanted to be remembered as a highly regarded leader and appointed Senemut to carry out with those building plans. Hatshepsut’s choice resulted in one of the most beautiful temples in Egypt, known as Djeser Djeseru, meaning holiest of the holy. This specific project displayed Hatshepsut’s creativity

She was responsible for many famous buildings such as the enormous memorial temple at Deir el-Bahri. It is considered one of the architectural wonders of ancient Egypt. The temple Deir el-Bahri is a testament to the accomplishments of Queen Hatshepsut. By building many significant projects she left a huge legacy behind for historians and archaeologists to

Envision a world where the single purpose in life was to obey the gods who indirectly controlled people through your king. Rituals, duties, and praising were all part of a manifest to pass the tests of the Underworld to achieve eternal life after death. While this may seem like a radical lifestyle to us, this was how the real world was for the civilians during the Ancient Egyptian times. To truly express their fondness and devotion to the gods, people constructed works of art to represent this; remembrances of their collective significant figures in their locality were highly practiced in order to please them. In particular, the State of Khafre was created to honor their deceased king who held significant power in their society as a part of their funeral liturgy. It epitomized the repercussion he held over his nation and the respect he had acquired. The Statue of Khafre did not just illustrate a polytheistic community, but it also prompted the civilians to be respectful towards their god whom were expressed with kings through their practice of rituals, and additionally exhibited how their religion was ultimately integrated as an essential part of life.

Thutmose III, however, was too young to do much good so he made Hatshepsut his regent, and handed management of the country over to her. After a few years, she decided to name herself pharaoh of Egypt, she made many great architectural designs, such as the temple of Hatshepsut

Tell el-‘Amarna, the city built by Heretic Pharaoh Akhenaten was located between Luxor and Cairo along the Nile. The city was occupied during the reign of Akhenaten and abandoned after his death by his son, Pharaoh Tutankhamun. Although the city was along occupied for a short period of time, archaeologists have been able to reconstruct a fairly accurate representation of the city. However, because the city was associated with Aten and the religion of the heretic king, the city was partially destroyed and nearly all evidence of the culture during the reign of Akhenaten was destroyed. Although the Egyptian people attempted to erase this pharaoh from history, the city tells the story of the time through the few pieces of art, the tombs, and the city plans. The articles written by Croker and one of the ones written by Kemp discuss the value of architecture and how it related to status within the society of the time. The other articles written by Ikram, and Kemp, Stevens, Dabbs, Zabecki, and Rose discuss the art, religion, and ritual practices. The city of Amarna was created on the basis of abandoning the old gods in favor of the worship of a single god, Aten. Societies in ancient history were based primarily on religion, and while archaeologists try to use Amarna as a basis for the study of New Kingdom Egypt because the religions changed Amarna should not be used as a template. Akhenaten aimed to abandon the old ways

Within the society of ancient Egypt, having a good Pharaoh was considered to be absolutely vital for the functioning of the country; and it was for this reason that Egypt had been ruled by these supposedly half gods half humans for over three thousand years. The position of the Pharaoh was auspiciously passed down through the royal family and traditionally to the eldest son when his father died. Hatshepsut was a significant individual who thwarted this convention by depicting herself as a male so that after her husband/brother Thutmosis II died suddenly she could become Pharaoh instead of the rightful successor, who was Thutmosis III. Because of the male-governed society of which she had lived in, Hatshepsut had to indeed subvert the