Personalities In Their Time – Hatshepsut
■Historical Context
Geography
●The main geographical features include the Nile, The Red and Black Sea, extensive desert areas and surrounding oceans.
●The Nile was a resource for a lot of the area, supplying the people with food sources such as fish and mollusks; it also supplies an easy mode of transportation.
●Egypt has periods of inundation and relinquishment, after the flooding of the Nile the surrounding banks are covered in silt, this helpful for growing crops, as it provides nutrients.
●If there were no crops the countries economy would decline, they would have no food for locals, and nothing to help with trade.
●The extensive desert areas help with the protection of the country as the barren desert is tough to journey through due to the hot climate.
Overview of the Social, Political, Military and Economic Structures of the Early New Kingdom
●Political Structures - Male-dominated women were allowed a significant amount of freedom and legal rights compared to women in other ancient societies. These rights enabled a number of queens to gain some influence over the kingdom of Egypt as regent. During the new kingdom, under Thutmose III, ancient Egypt became the world’s strongest and wealthiest nation. Thutmose III reestablished Egyptian control over Kush and surrounding Nubia that were important sources for slaves, copper, gold, ivory and ebony.
●Social Structures - According to Laura Kuster Ancient Egyptian society was basically divided into four classes. The upper class included the government officials, nobles, and priests. The middle class included the scribes, skilled craftsmen, trades people, teachers, artists, and soldiers. The peasants mostly farmers, labourers, and servants made up the lower class, which was the largest class. Lastly, the slaves made up the bottom class.
●Military Structures - At the beginning of the 18th dynasty, Egypt developed a permanent army that used horse drawn chariots, bows and arrows which was introduced by the Hyksos’ invasion.
●Economic Structures - Egyptian women were allowed to own property, hold official positions and to inherit money from their parents or late husbands. Egyptians had to extend the trade outside of Egypt; this forced them to take such expeditions like the one to Punt where they would gain goods.
Overview of Religious Beliefs and Practices of the Early New Kingdom Period
●Pharaoh has the status of a god, and so received both a cult during their life and their after death.
●They maintained divinity because of specific kingship rituals, the coronation was clearly the most important where the Pharaoh was transformed into a god by means of his union with the royal soul.
●Ancient Egypt was a very polytheistic society and hosted approximately 700 gods and goddesses.
●Their religion was strongly influenced by tradition; Egyptians did not question the beliefs which had been handed down to them as they did not like changes.
●One of the very strong traditions was that of Divine Kingship. Divine Kingship is the belief that the Pharaoh was not only the King but also a god.
●Due to their beliefs, the Pharaoh held an immense amount of power.
●The cult which grew most prominently in the New Kingdom was the Amen-Re cult.
●Egyptians believed that the body was the link to a spiritual existence in the afterlife, and so practiced mummification in order to preserve their body for the afterlife.
■Background and Rise to Prominence
Family Background
●Hatshepsut was the daughter of Thutmose I and Queen Ahmose. When the Pharaoh died (Thutmose the first) she married her stepbrother Thutmose II and was known as The King’s Great Wife (Queen Consort).
●Hatshepsut had one daughter with Thutmose II, Neferure.
●Some archaeologists believed that Thutmose II died of a skin disease two years after they wed. He left behind only one son, a young ThutmoseIII to succeed him.
●The next in line was her nephew Thutmose III. He was still just a child when they "married" and they ruled together in a co-regency.
●Hatshepsut’s first title was Crown Princess because she would marry the next Pharaoh, Thutmose II. She then became The King’s Great Wife (Queen Consort) while simultaneously taking the great religious role of being God’s Wife of Amen.
●After the death of Hatshepsut’s husband Thutmose II, Hatshepsut was to become Co-Regent, so she was the Senior Pharaoh.
Mutnofret
Thutmose I
Ahmose
Isis
Thutmose II
Hatshepsut
Thutmose III
Neferure
Claim to the Throne and Succession
●Hatshepsut justified her actions to succeed the throne through emphasising her filial relationship with Amen (Divine conception and birth), rewriting her past by Thutmose I selecting her as his heir, associating herself with her father and ignoring the reign with her husband Thutmose II.
●Tyldesley suggested that it was a “gradual evolution” and that the “political manoeuvre…might not have been apparent to anyone but her contemporaries.”
●Her assumption of power is somewhere before the seventh year and possibly as early as the second year of Thutmose III’s reign; this theory is supported by Hayes and Redford.
●Hatshepsut probably felt the need to become Pharaoh before Thutmose III reached an age where he could rule alone.
●There is no evidence to suggest that Thutmose III made any attempt to challenge her authority.
●Hatshepsut was crowned with full pharaonic powers and with that she adopted the full male regalia and titulary of a Pharaoh, she was known as the Female Horus.
●Hatshepsut is both referred to in feminine and masculine forms. When the scribes wrote about militaristic maters they tended to use the masculine form.
●Gardiner comments that it was a “wholly new departure for a female to pose and dress as a man.”
●The kingship was represented by a male in full regalia, so they would be wearing the royal shendyet kilt, ceremonial false beard, the nemes headdress and various royal crowns.
●Only in such a guise could the Pharaoh be shown communicating with the gods and of course there was no exception for Hatshepsut.
●Tefnin suggests that Hatshepsut experimented with a new image suitable for a female Pharaoh. As there are a number of statues which were found in Deir El-Bahri that show Hatshepsut with feminine characteristics but still wearing the full male regalia.
●There is a limestone statue of her as king wearing male regalia, but without the artificial beard. She also appears to be slim, graceful and has breasts.
●Tyldesley suggested that this new image maybe be an “asexual mixture of both female and male strengths”.
●There is also another statue of her made from red granite where she is shown in full female regalia but a feminine titulary was inscribed on the ureus. At the back of the statue there is an image of Taweret who was the goddess of childbirth.
Propaganda
●Propaganda was used to justify her position as Pharaoh through her divine conception by the god Amen and she rewrote her history so that she was seen as the legitimate successor of her father, Thutmose I. These are depicted on the walls of her mortuary temple in Deir El-Bahri.
●Wherever she could she emphasised her relationship with both her heavenly and earthly fathers and recorded the things that she had done for them.
●Divine conception and birth: Hatshepsut claimed a theogamous birth by her father Amen-Re
●Amen prophesised the birth of Hatshepsut at a council of the gods. Amen then took the guise of Thutmose I and Queen Ahmose recognised that it was the smell of a god as “…all his odours were from Punt” which linked her to her expedition to Punt.
●Amen holds the ankh to Ahmose’s nose and mouth so that she can breathe in the divine essence and conceive the god’s child.
●He then told her to name the child Hatshepsut and that she will “exercise the excellent kingship in this whole land.”
●Amen instructed Khnum the creator of flesh to make the baby and its ka his potter’s wheel.
●Queen Ahmose is then led off by Khnum and Heket to give birth. The newborn child was seen as the symbols of life, power and protection and presented to her ‘father’ Amen.
●The coronation relief:is where Hatshepsut claimed that she was chosen by Amen and her father Thutmose I as his only legitimate successor and crowned by him to share a co-regency.
●The first scene shows the child Hatshepsut being purified where Amen shows her to all the gods and when she grew and became more godlike.
●She then accompanied her father on a journey to attend all the shrines in Egypt where all the gods welcomed her as the future Pharaoh. She is then crowned by Atom and then Amen.
●The next inscription is her alleged coronation by Thutmose I where he says that “…she is my successor”. Breasted and Gardiner believe that this is purely propaganda as it ignores Thutmose II and prior to her regency she was only referred to as the King’s Great Wife.
●She continued her propaganda through the erection of two obelisks at Karnak where she furthered her claim to the right of the throne by emphasising her relationship with Amen and Thutmose I.
Political and Religious Roles of the King and Queen in the New Kingdom Period
●Egyptian kings were thought to be divine, incarnations of the god Horus.
●Pyramids and the tombs in the Valley of the Kings at Thebes were built to ensure the survival of the king's influence after his death.
●The pharaoh would be given a name at birth consisting of a god’s name, nebty name, throne name and a birth name.
●The main role of a Pharaoh was to govern the country by: directing battles, ensuring the countries economic stability and changing the religion of the country to suit their propaganda.
●‘Gods Wife of Amen’, suggests that while Hatshepsut was still only regent she “used titles modeled on those used by kings”
■Career
Support Structure/Bureaucracy
●Hatshepsut would not have been able to govern the land without the support of a number of loyal officials from the civil, religious and military bureaucracy.
●Thutiy was the treasurer and the overseer of the double gold and silver houses.
●Nehsy was the chancellor who led the expedition to Punt.
●Inebni was the Viceroy of Kush.
●Useramen was vizier from year 5 onwards.
Key Personalities
●Senenmut was her closest advisor who was regarded as being responsible for Hatshepsut’s success. He was first Neferure’s steward and tutor.
●Senenmut was probably a highly competent administrator and financial manager. So he controlled the estate of Amen, the royal household and the Pharaoh’s estate.
●He was also the controller of works where he was able to organise and supervise the construction of many of Hatshepsut’s buildings.
●He was also the overseer of the storehouse of Amen where he was closely associated with the great trading expedition to Punt. He would have collected and stored the products which were brought back from Punt and dedicated them to Amen.
●Thutmose III was Hatshepsut’s stepson and nephew, they shared a co-regency. Even though Hatshepsut was the senior Pharaoh she showed Thutmose III the respect he deserved.
●Later in Hatshepsut’s reign he appears to have taken a more prominent role in public affairs.
●He was also given leadership of the armies and led the campaigns in Nubia and possibly Gaza.
●Thutmose III did not challenge the authority of Hatshepsut.
●Neferure is Hatshepsut’s eldest daughter and some scholars had suggested that Hatshepsut was planning for Neferure to succeed her as Pharaoh.
●Redford supports this view because there are several statues of Neferure depicted as a crown princess wearing the artificial beard and through her title ‘Lady of the Two Lands’.
●When Hatshepsut became Pharaoh she gave Neferure the title of God’s Wife of Amen. She may have played the part of consort in participating in religious rituals.
●Hapusonebwas the High Priest of the Amen-Re priesthood and was her most influential supporter.
●It is believed that he may have been appointed as her vizier; this would give him control of the civil bureaucracy.
●This powerful official combined both secular and sacred authority.
Building Program
●Hatshepsut’s building policy involved restoring the monuments such as temples, chapels and sanctuaries which had been damaged and neglected because of the domination of the Hyksos.
●The details of some specific temple rebuilding were given such as the restoration of the temple of Hathor and another god whose name has been lost.
●Breasted states that “she made them as her monuments for her father, Amen.”
●Breasted believed that in doing so Hatshepsut “re-established regular worship at these cult centres”.
●Hatshepsut also constructed many monuments such as Djeser-djeseru, which was her mortuary temple in Deir El-Bahri.
●The temple was built not only for the purpose of carrying out daily offerings to Hatshepsut after her death, but as a dedication to the god Amen, a mortuary temple for her father Thutmose I and as a place of worship for many other deities.
●Inscriptions and reliefs on the walls of her temple justify her claims to the throne and advertise her major achievements.
●Buildings which Hatshepsut had constructed in Karnak included repairing the Middle Kingdom temple, adding a great pylon, erecting four obelisks and constructing a red granite sanctuary for the barque of Amen known as the Red Chapel.
●Hatshepsut erected four giant red granite obelisks to Amen. On one of her obelisks Hatshepsut states: "I was sitting in the palace and I remembered the One who created me; my heart directed me to make for him two obelisks of electrum...”
●The obelisk inscriptions focus on three major themes: Hatshepsut’s right to the throne, the glorification of Amen and her relationship with her father Thutmose I.
●Hatshepsut inscribed on the entrance of Speos Artemidos in Beni Hasan, denouncing the ‘Asiatics of Avaris’ (the Hyksos) who had invaded Egypt.
●In the lengthy text the Queen describes the chaos of the Hyksos rule and praises the benefits of her own reign and her restoration of the damage they caused.
●Originally Hatshepsut’s tomb was being constructed in the Valley of the Queens, however when she usurped the role of Pharaoh she began to build her tomb in the Valley of the Kings, Thebes.
●Hatshepsut’s building program not only expressed her devotion to the gods but also reflected the general prosperity of her reign.
●Tyldesley proposes that Hatshepsut’s massive stone buildings “served as a constant reminder that there was a powerful pharaoh on the throne”
Economic Policies
●Although the expedition to Punt was regarded by Hatshepsut as one of her greatest achievements, the evidence reveals that she promoted trade in other areas as well.
●Hatshepsut considered this expedition so significant that it was recorded in detail on the walls of her mortuary temple.
●Hatshepsut claimed that in sending this expedition to Punt she was responding to an instruction which was given by Amen in the form of an oracle.
●Through this expedition Hatshepsut had hoped to further her honour to Amen and maintain the support of his priesthood as well as open up peaceful trade in this area.
●From Punt they brought back incense resins, fragrant woods, ebony, live animals, animal skin, ivory and precious metals such as gold.
●It was believed that there were five ships which contained wine, beer, cloth and gifts to exchange when they arrived in Punt.
●The items offered by the Egyptians seem to be of markedly lower value than the goods which were presented by the Puntites.
●However, in the inscription the goods offered by the Puntites are not described as items of trade but rather as tribute to Hatshepsut. The Egyptian items are referred to as offering for the goddess Hathor who was the lady of Punt.
●This propaganda may have intended to associate this expedition with a successful military campaign, which usually resulted in the defeated leaders paying tribute to the victors.
●Hatshepsut is depicted offering the products to Amen with words saying that she had done everything he had commanded her to do.
●The inscriptions continue with a speech by Amen praising Hatshepsut and promising success for future expeditions.
●Her trading expeditions included : Byblos for timber, Sinai for turquoise and to the mysterious land of Punt for incense