No man is an entity solely of himself. Each man is a piece of the continent from which he came. And every man remains the prodigy of the woman who birthed him — the woman who gave him life… ©2007-Les’t We Forget!
Hatshepsut’s story, as told by Djehuty (Thoth), Egyptian God of Truth, Knowledge, Wisdom and Magic...
For many years — as a young woman — Hatshepsut (ca 1508 – 1458 B.C.) seemed to be content playing the support feminine role to male aristocracy among Egypt’s royals. But, after all, she was the daughter of a pharaoh (Thutmose I) and queen wife of another — her half brother, Thutmose II. When her husband died of sickness in 1479 B.C., her stepson, Thutmose III, was appointed heir and Hatshepsut as a regent mother dutifully took on the added responsibility of educating and training her stepson to rule.
Getty Image of egyptian-god-toth…
But as the years passed, Hatshepsut evolved to become the supreme overseer of Egypt. And as its rightful ruler, she referred to herself as “Lady of the Two Lands.” But, when Thutmose III neared the age of maturity, when he would assume rule of the lands, and be seated upon the throne, Hatshepsut “made a daring power play. She declared herself, pharaoh, adopting the emblems and titles associated with the title. She had herself portrayed in pictures as a man, with a male body and false beard. She even claimed the God Amun as her father and insisted that he meant for her to take charge of Egypt: “I acted under his command; it was he who led me.”
For Hatshepsut to assert ruling priority over Thutmose III was a radical move, indeed, in conservative Egyptian society. She could not have achieved it, though, without the support of high officials at court—including Senenmut, overseer of royal works. Both of these two women risked losing their power, if not their lives, if Hatshepsut had yielded to Thutmose III.
Making Her Name — Loosing Her Name…
But as the years went on, Hatshepsut couldn’t match her father’s conquests through leading troops into battle, a role strictly reserved for men. Instead, she took the military out of the equation. Rather than sending soldiers to war, she sent them on what became her proudest venture: a trading expedition to the fabled land of Punt, along the southern shore of the Red Sea, where no Egyptian had been for 500 years. As portrayed on the walls of Hatshepsut’s mortuary temple, the expedition returned laden with gold, ivory, live myrrh trees, and a menagerie of exotic animals, including apes, panthers, and giraffes. The successful campaign significantly enhanced her reputation and popularity.
Hatshepsut did not banish Thutmose III, who technically served as her co-ruler, but she clearly overshadowed him. Her 21-year reign—15 as principal monarch—was a time of peace and prosperity for Egypt. She undertook grand building projects, including two pairs of imposing obelisks at Karnak and at her mortuary temple, Djeser-Djeseru. Upon Hatshepsut’s death in 1458 B.C., Thutmose III at last got the throne to himself.
Hatshepsut’s groundbreaking reign remained a secret for centuries. Before his own death, Thutmose III moved to erase Hatshepsut from the historical record by defacing her monuments and removing her name from the list of kings. When archaeologists began deciphering the hieroglyphics at Deir el Bahri in 1822, and later found her tomb in 1903, Hatshepsut’s legacy as Egypt’s powerful female pharaoh was restored.