Kneeling statue of Hatshepsut

The Female Pharaoh Hatshepsut

Maatkare Hatshepsut (ca. 1479–1458 b.c.) was not the only female

pharaoh in the history of ancient Egypt. Nitocris (at the end of

Dynasty 6), Nefrusobek (at the end of Dynasty 12), Tawosret (at

the end of Dynasty 19), and of course, Cleopatra VII also come to

mind. But Hatshepsut was arguably the most important woman

ever to occupy the throne of Egypt. Her ascension to power

initially came about because of the early demise of her husband

and half-brother Thutmose II, whose son by another wife (Isis),

Thutmose III, was still an infant. An ancient text described it thus:

[Thutmose II] ascended into heaven and united with the

gods, while his son (Thutmose III) stood [officially] in his

place as king of the two lands,… while his sister (actually,

aunt), the god’s wife, Hatshepsut, was conducting the affairs

of the country, the two Lands being in her care.

At first, Hatshepsut’s rule had indeed the character of a regency,

and during that time, she was usually depicted as a queen. Then,

step by step, attributes of male kingship entered the representations

of Hatshepsut. From about the seventh year (ca. 1473 b.c.) after

her husband’s demise, she appeared in the full regalia of a male

pharaoh and began to claim to be the actual daughter of the

supreme god of Thebes, Amun, as well as to have been chosen

by him through an oracle. Until the end of Hatshepsut’s days,

however, the young Thutmose III continued to function as the

junior partner on the throne.

Hatshepsut’s reign was, above all, a peak period for the arts in

Egypt. The last vestiges of Hyksos rule having been eliminated

by this time, goods and ideas flowed freely among all regions of

Egypt, and close relationships with neighboring countries opened

the gates to the outside world. In an eastern Delta royal palace

or stronghold, for instance, painters from the Aegean island of

Crete were employed to decorate walls according to their Minoan

style and iconography, while in Thebes, Egyptian artists initiated

the fine tomb decoration that became a glory of New Kingdom

art. By coordinating and aligning the sacred buildings along the

processional routes in the area of Thebes (present day Luxor),

Hatshepsut’s architects created an unprecedented example of

ancient spatial planning, and the temples at Karnak and Deir el-

Bahri gained a grandeur and beauty still admired today.

Hatshepsut’s reign saw military campaigns into countries south

and east of Egypt, but the female pharaoh appears to have been

most proud of an expedition she sent into the land of Punt

(perhaps in the region of modern Somalia), from which myrrh trees

and gold were brought back as offerings to the god Amun. The

expedition was depicted in narrative reliefs in her temple at Deir

el-Bahri, which also housed the sculptures exhibited in this room.

Credit: Rogers Fund, 1923