Contacts

( )

( )

Volume 7 issue 6 June 2007

ANCIENT EGYPT explores the WORLD WIDE WEB ...

HATSHEPSUT & THUTMOSE III

This month’s NETFISHING continues its look at the history of Egypt by seeing what the World Wide Web has to say about the famous Queen Hatshepsut and the great warrior pharaoh, her step-son, Thutmose III.

The unexpected death of Thutmose II brought his son (by a secondary wife), Thutmose (or Tuthmosis) III, to the throne, but the king’s death also promoted his newly-widowed queen, Hatshepsut (the Great Royal Wife of Thutmose II), to power, as she was appointed to act as regent for the young Thutmose III, a “Horus in the nest”. A text from the tomb of Ineni (TT81) describes the situation:

“… the God’s Wife Hatshepsut governed the land. The Two Lands were under her control; people worked for her, and Egypt bowed its head to her …”

Indeed, Hatshepsut proved herself a most capable ruler, known even today for her great monuments and achievement; but perhaps the acquisition of power proved too tempting, for Hatshepsut failed to relinquish power on Thutmose III’s majority and instead made herself a co-ruler alongside the young king. So Egypt had two kings on the throne – and Hatshepsut was duly shown as a pharaoh of Egypt, wearing male attire and a false beard. She wanted to be a pharaoh, and there being no template for a Queen Regnant for the artists to follow, it was as a ruling king that she was depicted. As first among equals the rightful king was pushed aside and is shown in reliefs offering to his stepmother, Hatshepsut, the “truly beloved one” of Amun.

Many web sites outline Hatshepsut’s eventful reign, some more accurate than others; refer:

http://touregypt.net/historicalessays/hatshepsut.htm

http://www.touregypt.net/magazine/mag02012001/magf1.htm

http://www.richeast.org/htwm/Hat/hat.html

http://ib205.tripod.com/hatshepsut.html

Images of the queen can also be found at: http://www.metmuseum.org/special/hatshepsut/slideshow/slide.asp?item=0&ss=play

Her most famous monument is of course her great Mortuary Temple at Deir el Bahri, refer:

http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/bahri.htm

http://www.egyptsites.co.uk/upper/luxorwest/temples/hatshepsut.html

http://ib205.tripod.com/hatshepsut_temple.html

whilst her expedition to the fabled land of Punt was perhaps one of the greatest achievement of her reign:

http://touregypt.net/featurestories/punt.htm

http://www-ocean.tamu.edu/Quarterdeck/QD3.1/Elsayed/elsayedhatshepsut.html

Another of her building works was the Red Chapel, built as the new, grander, sanctuary for “her father” the god Amun at Karnak, refer:

http://touregypt.net/featurestories/redchapel.htm

In addition, one of her greatest achievements was the erection of a pair of 97½ feet-high red granite obelisks at Karnak, refer:

http://www.sacredsites.com/africa/egypt/obelisk.html

Less well known is her rock-cut temple at Speos Artemidos in Middle Egypt, a forerunner of the great rock-cut temples at Abu Simbel, refer:

http://www.egyptsites.co.uk/middle/minya/antar.html

On her death, after some twenty years on the throne, her step-son and co-ruler eventually came into his own. At this time Hatshepsut was treated as a proper “king” of Egypt and was buried with all due ceremony. Her monuments were completed by her successor, but, as if to remove himself from the shadow of the woman who had usurped his throne, Thutmose III immediately embarked upon a military policy of restoring Egypt’s might and power upon the world stage. This meant conducting some seventeen campaigns, on an almost annual basis, to consolidate the empire. All the Eastern Mediterranean was subdued, and Thutmose III, in his eighth campaign and his thirty-third year, even managed to cross the Euphrates and carve his victory stela at Carchemish, alongside the stela of his illustrious grandfather Thutmose I. Turning south, Thutmose III extended Egypt’s empire deep into Nubia, reaching as far south as the Fourth Cataract of the Nile. Numerous web sites give accounts of his military victories, refer:

http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/tuthmosis3.htm

http://ib205.tripod.com/tuthmosis_3_1.html

http://www.homestead.com/wysinger/tuthmosisIII.html

http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/tuthmosis3vt.htm

At the end of his reign, having achieved so much, Thutmose considered the beginnings of his reign, when Hatshepsut had ruled. Wanting to rewrite history “as it should have been, rather than as it was” he undertook a campaign to obliterate the name of his usurper. Her name and image were expunged from monuments, her obelisks bricked up and her Red Chapel replaced. Even Hatshepsut’s burial place (KV20) was opened and her father, Thutmose I, removed from her polluting presence – to be reburied in a specially-constructed tomb, KV38, in the Royal Valley. Hatshepsut was omitted from the king lists, and her name forgotten for some three thousand years – Tuthmosis III had finally had his revenge. Refer:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/egyptians/hatshepsut_01.shtml

Back to Ancient Egypt Magazine - Volume 7 Issue 6 contents

( )

Return to Home 

e- mail to: [email protected]

with questions or comments about Ancient Egypt Magazine.

or for sales, subscriptions, back numbers and advertising