During the early 15th century BC, ancient Egypt began its third and final golden age after Pharaoh Ahmose the First, founder of the New Kingdom period, drove out the Hyksos invaders. Ahmose’s great-granddaughter, Pharaoh Hatshepsut, contributed greatly to this age of prosperity by expanding the empire’s trade routes and constructing one of ancient Egypt’s greatest architectural wonders. Despite her gender, Hatshepsut managed to become one of the most successful pharaohs in all of ancient Egyptian history.
Hatshepsut, whose name means “foremost of noble ladies,” was born in 1508 BC to Pharaoh Thutmose the First and Queen Ahmose. Hatshepsut was raised in the royal courts of Egypt, alongside her sister and two brothers, who all died early on in their lives. After her father’s death, Hatshepsut’s half-brother, Thutmose the Second inherited the throne.
As a lesser son to his father, Thutmose the Second needed a queen of 100% royal blood to legitimize his claim to the throne. Hatshepsut, then 12 years old, was the ideal candidate, so she married her 15-year-old half-brother and became the queen of Egypt. Thutmose the Second and Hatshepsut had only one child together; a girl by the name of Neferure.
With a lesser wife, he later had a boy named Thutmose the Third, who became heir to the throne. When Hatshepsut’s husband unexpectedly died at the age of 31 in 1479 BC, his son and heir was only three years old, leaving Hatshepsut to act as Queen Regent to the boy-pharaoh until he was old enough to rule. Being the daughter, sister, wife and mother of pharaohs gave Hatshepsut an incredibly powerful claim to the throne.
After seven years of acting as Queen Regent, Hatshepsut decided to fully leverage her compelling position by declaring herself pharaoh of Egypt. Although the strength of her bloodline was without question, her gender was a critical issue. To legitimize her position, Hatshepsut proclaimed that she was the daughter of Amun, the Egyptian god of air, and that it was he who intended for her to rule Egypt.
She explained that Amun had possessed her father’s body on the night of her conception and impregnated her mother. This was an extraordinarily risky move but it ultimately paid off, aided by the support of high-ranking officials, including a man named Senenmut, the overseer of royal works, who is also speculated to have been Hatshepsut’s secret lover. In addition to her exemplary bloodline, divine right and support from the aristocracy, Hatshepsut sought to further bolster her claim through propaganda, by depicting herself with a male body and a false beard in most sculptures and carvings.
Although she had risen to the level of pharaoh, it was still inconceivable for a woman to lead troops into battle, as her father and husband had done. Instead, Hatshepsut decided to use the empire’s military to explore new avenues of trade. She sent her forces on an expedition to the Land of Punt, a somewhat legendary kingdom at the time, where no Egyptian had ventured for over 500 years.
Punt’s exact location remains a mystery, but it is generally believed to have been located somewhere on the southern shores of the Red Sea or the Horn of Africa. The venture was an overwhelming success, bringing great wealth and prosperity to the empire. Egypt’s army returned with an abundance of riches, including gold, ivory, frankincense and myrrh.
Hatshepsut became the first ruler in history to successfully transplant trees from foreign lands. This was accomplished by using baskets to protect the roots of the trees on the journey back to Egypt. Hatshepsut is also credited with being the first person in recorded history to grind up charred frankincense and use the resin as eyeliner.
Among other trophies brought back were exotic animals, such as apes, panthers and giraffes. This remarkably fruitful expedition did wonders for the female pharaoh’s popularity and reputation. The vast increase in commerce provided financial support for another of Hatshepsut’s groundbreaking pursuits; architecture.
Hundreds of large-scale building projects were commissioned by Hatshepsut all throughout Upper and Lower Egypt. Among these were grand monuments erected at the Karnak Temple Complex, a popular construction site for many generations of pharaohs. Hatshepsut built enormous twin obelisks made of pink granite at the temple’s entrance and dedicated them to the god Amun.
One of these obelisks still stands, remaining the tallest surviving obelisk in Egypt, while the other has since fallen and lies broken in two. Hatshepsut ordered an even larger obelisk to be constructed, but the project was abandoned after cracks began to form in the granite. Still attached to the bedrock on its bottom side, the “Unfinished Obelisk” as it’s referred to, offers a rare glimpse into Egyptian stone-working techniques - with chisel marks and ochre-colored lines still visible today.
The uncontested jewel of Hatshepsut’s many building projects is the mortuary temple that she had built in her honor, known as “Djeser-Djeseru”, or “Holy of Holies”. Sculptures within the mortuary temple tell the tale of the female pharaoh’s divine birth and her lucrative expeditions to the exotic Land of Punt. The temple inspired subsequent pharaohs to build their own extravagant buildings of worship, but none ever surpassed the grandeur of Hatshepsut’s.
Her step-son Thutmose the Third later ordered the eradication of Hatshepsut from historical records. The reasons why her legacy was partially obliterated are up for debate. Some Egyptologists believe that it was done out of resentment towards the female pharaoh.
However, there is no evidence to suggest this. Hatshepsut did, after all, appoint Thutmose the Third as head of the empire’s army during her reign and he made no effort to overthrow her in a military coup. Additionally, it wasn’t until 20 years after her death that Hatshepsut’s image began to disappear from public buildings.
Some archaeologists theorize that her successors were merely trying to relegate her role as ruler of Egypt. Postulating that evidence of a successful female ruler might inspire other women to attempt to rule, which would upset the patriarchal system that had long featured a dominant male leader. The allowance of a female pharaoh might also have been regarded as an offense to Ma’at, the Ancient Egyptian goddess of balance, order, and morality.
Alternatively, it may have been done in an attempt to strengthen her step-grandson Amenhotep the Second’s claim to the throne, since he had no connection to Hatshepsut’s royal bloodline. In any case, attempts to erase her memory from history were ultimately unsuccessful. Egyptologists theorize that Hatshepsut accidentally poisoned herself to death by regularly applying carcinogenic ointment to her skin.
A CT scan of her mummy revealed that she suffered from bone cancer during the final years of her life and died in 1458 BC at the age of 50, after ruling Egypt for more than 20 years. Hatshepsut was the second pharaoh, after her father, to ever be buried in the Valley of the Kings, located on the west bank of the Nile River near the city of Thebes. The Valley of the Kings would eventually contain the mummies of over 60 New Kingdom pharaohs from Egypt’s 18th, 19th, and 20th dynasties.
Through an impeccable bloodline and brilliant strategy, Hatshepsut successfully rose to power, despite her gender, and went on to become one of the greatest pharaohs in ancient Egyptian history! Consider liking, commenting, subscribing, and clicking the bell icon below for more videos like this. Thank you!
