preview

The Effect Of Hatshepsut On The Metropolitan Museum Of Art, By Herbert E. Winlock

Decent Essays

In 1923, excavators from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, led by Herbert E. Winlock (Museum Egyptologist), found fragments of statues belonging to the time of Hatshepsut when they began clearing the area in front of the temples of Hatshepsut and Mentuhotep II. As a result further excavations of this area were undertaken by the Metropolitan Museum during the seasons of 1926-27, 1927-28, and 1928-29. These excavations were predominantly carried out in two important locations: a depression southeast of Deir el-Bahri temple (also called the “Hatshepsut Hole”) and a quarry northeast of the temple. [1] The Metropolitan Museum crew started to reassemble these fragments and by 1931 the reconstructions were complete and offered a rather large collection of statues and objects from Hatshepsut’s temple. More statues have survived of Hatshepsut than any other Egyptian Pharaoh. Ironically, this was due to the destruction of these statues a mere twenty years after they were created.
Hatshepsut ascended to the Egyptian throne in 1473 B.C and co-ruled with her stepson and nephew, Thutmose III. While Hatshepsut was not first woman in Egypt to be a king, she was nonetheless, the most important in terms of the influence of her reign on the culture of ancient Egypt. During her reign as Pharaoh there was an explosion of artistic creativity, which can be seen clearly in the reconstruction of her temple at Deir el-Bahri in western Thebes. Deir el-Bahri is considered to be one of the great

Get Access