Queen Hatshepsut

Episode 16 Queen Hatshepsut

The History of Ancient Egypt

Professor Robert Brier

Film Review

Queen Hatshepsut ruled Egypt from 1479-58 BC. For the first six years, she ruled as regent of her son Tuthmosis III. At that point she declared herself “king” and ruled in her own right. A legitimate daughter of king Tuthmosis I and his chief wife, at age 12 she married her half-brother by a lesser wife. Marrying into the royal family qualified him to assume the throne a Tuthmosisis II.

After ruling 20 years, he died, leaving the throne to his six-year-old son Tuthmosis III. Ruling as his regent, Hatshepsut declined to step down when he came of age.

From inscriptions on the walls of her spectacular mortuary temple at in Deir-el Bahari (near the Valley of the Kings), we know she started wearing a false beard to designate herself as pharaoh, as well as sending a trading expedition to Punt (Eritrea) to bring back giraffes,* ivory and frankincense and myrrh trees in baskets. This would be the first portrayal in history of Sub-Saharan  Africa. The inscriptions depict image of both the queen of Punt and her daughter (who had elephantiasis), as well as houses on stilts with thatched roofs. There’s also an inscription regarding Hatshepsut’s birth, occurring after the god Amun visits her mother to impregnate her.**

Hatshepsut also built four obelisks at the Karnak temple east of Thebes made of granite quarried in Aswan.

She is buried in the same tomb as her father in the Valley of the Kings. Obscene graffiti workmen left on the wall of her tomb suggest she was lovers with Senmat, a bachelor to whom awarded numerous titles: royal tutor (of Hatshepsut’s daughter), overseer of the royal palace, overseer of the granaries of Amun and overseer of public works.

Her son, who took the throne in 1458 BC following her death, omitted her name from most kings lists, replacing it with that of Tuthmosis I, II or III.

*Queen Hatshepsut would start the world’s first zoo.

**According to legend, Knu (the ramheaded god) created pharaohs and  their ka (spirit) on a potters wheel, which is how they became divine.

Film can be viewed free with a library card on Kanopy.

https://www.kanopy.com/en/pukeariki/watch/video/1492791/1492828