Hatshepsut

Question

by A. Banerjee

Hatshepsut is considered the first major female ruler in history. She ruled Egypt for over 20 years during the fifteenth century BCE, becoming the longest reigning female pharaoh. Today, she is still considered one of the most successful Egyptian leaders.
Hatshepsut was born into a royal family. She was the daughter of the pharaoh Thutmose I and wife to another pharaoh, Thutmose II. When her husband died, his son was too young to rule, so Hatshepsut was appointed regent, or someone who makes decisions for future rulers until they are old enough. After about seven years, however, Hatshepsut proclaimed herself pharaoh.
In the past, historians believed that her declaration of power came from an ambition for power and control. More recently, evidence suggests that her decision may have been made in the midst of political crisis and meant to protect the throne for her stepson.
Either way, Egypt thrived under Hatshepsut's reign. As pharaoh, her main interest was economic prosperity. This set her apart from rulers before and after her, whose priority was gaining control over new territory. She began a huge program to renovate temples and monuments and build new ones, including a magnificent funerary temple for herself. Her building projects also allowed her to create monuments in which she depicted herself with a false beard, a detail only allowed on the portraits of a pharaoh. Probably as a way to assert her power, Hatshepsut also showed herself with a male body in the king's traditional clothing and crown.
When Thutmose III was old enough to rule, he quickly assumed control of the army. Perhaps because she feared an uprising, Hatshepsut dispatched the army on an expedition to the land of Punt, which is believed to have been somewhere on the northeast coast of Africa. Previous pharaohs had also sent expeditions to Punt. Hatshepsut's expedition succeeded in bringing back rare myrrh trees, gold, and ivory, among other treasures. This expansion of Egyptian trade is thought of as one of the greatest achievements of her reign.
Hatshepsut died around 1458 BCE and Thutmose III became pharaoh. Later in his rule, he had all the images of his stepmother removed from the buildings and temples she had built. Perhaps he wanted to stomp out her example of such a powerful and effective ruler from the people's memory and from Egypt's history. If this is true, his plan succeeded until 1822, when a group of scholars came across Hatshepsut's story in the ancient writing on a temple's walls. Fortunately, Hatshepsut and her prosperous reign have now been firmly carved back into Egypt's history.

Passage 2

adapted from The Woman Who Would Be King
by Caroline Kim-Brown

The story of Hatshepsut is a remarkable one. She led armies and trade expeditions, built one of the greatest monuments in Egypt, and switched her appearance from female to male in order to rule as pharaoh. In a male-dominated society, she ruled for nearly twenty years.
After her death, someone tried to erase the memory of Hatshepsut as king. She was left off lists of rulers; her statues were demolished; her image was erased; and her name on monuments and reliefs was covered over by the names of other kings. For nearly two thousand years, she was forgotten, and she may have remained that way except for the discovery of her mortuary temple.
In 1828, Jean Francois Champollion, famous for deciphering the Rosetta Stone, made his one and only trip to Egypt. Among the places he visited was Deir al-Bahri, where a nearby temple had been buried under centuries of desert sand and piles of rocks fallen. There he noticed a curious inconsistency. He discovered the partially erased name of a king, Amenenthe, accompanied by feminine titles. Pictorially, the king was shown as male, bearded and dressed as a pharaoh, but in writing, he seemed to be a she.
Puzzled, Champollion wrote: "I found the same peculiarity everywhere. Not only was there the name Amenenthe preceded by the title of sovereign ruler of the world, with the feminine prefix, but also his own name immediately following on the title of 'Daughter of the Sun.'"
Champollion did not know that Amenenthe and Hatshepsut were one and the same, and she was pharaoh of Egypt.
Daughter of a powerful king, Tuthmosis I, Hatshepsut became queen consort when she married Tuthmosis II. When he died a few years into his reign, succession passed to Tuthmosis III, a son by a lesser queen than Hatshepsut. Because of Tuthmosis III's young age, Hatshepsut became regent of Egypt.
In year seven of Tuthmosis III's reign, Hatshepsut declared herself king, depicting herself on monuments as male, wearing a false beard and the short kilt of a pharaoh. In images where both she and Tuthmosis III are represented, she is shown in the superior position in front of her stepson. Her motives for this are unknown.
While Hatshepsut showed herself in imagery as male, she did not do so to fool her subjects. Rather, it seems that appearing as male solved several problems, the most important being that she could maintain justice by continuing established traditions. She could also replace her stepson in state and religious rituals in which a king was necessary. And only a king could lead troops into battle. "We know that Hatshepsut, at least at one point, goes and campaigns in Nubia," says Cathleen Keller, professor of Near Eastern Studies at the University of California, Berkeley. "And in order to take that position, you have to be a king. You can't be a regent."
Keller believes that Hatshepsut appeared as male because she had to. "The appearances she makes in the arts in male guise are roles—her role both as a recipient of homage and as a donor of offerings. In order for her to be depicted performing these roles and these rituals, she has to be king."
Most likely, Hatshepsut's name was erased from monuments to strengthen Tuthmosis III's legacy as the rightful king of Egypt.

This article was first published in November/December 2005 issue of Humanities, which is published by the National Endowment for the Humanities.

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Type your response in the box.
Both passages describe Hatshepsut's reign as a pharaoh in ancient Egypt. Write an essay analyzing how Hatshepsut used her power in both "Hatshepsut" and "The Woman Who Would Be King." Use evidence from both passages to support your response.

Answer 1

Hatshepsut, the first major female ruler in history, utilized her power as a pharaoh in ancient Egypt in different ways, as depicted in both "Hatshepsut" and "The Woman Who Would Be King." In both passages, it is evident that Hatshepsut strived for economic prosperity for Egypt. However, the first passage focuses on her building projects and the expansion of Egyptian trade, while the second passage sheds light on her transformation into a male pharaoh and the symbolic significance behind it.

In "Hatshepsut," it is established that Hatshepsut's main interest as pharaoh was economic prosperity. She initiated an extensive program to renovate and build temples and monuments, which not only contributed to the improvement of Egypt's infrastructure but also showcased her power and authority. Furthermore, her building projects allowed her to depict herself with a false beard, symbolizing her status as a pharaoh. By defying traditional gender roles, Hatshepsut aimed to assert her power and establish herself as a strong and effective ruler.

On the other hand, "The Woman Who Would Be King" delves deeper into the reasons behind Hatshepsut's transformation into a male pharaoh. The passage suggests that Hatshepsut's appearance as male was not an attempt to deceive her subjects, but rather a strategic move to maintain justice, uphold established traditions, and take on the role of a king. By presenting herself as a male pharaoh, Hatshepsut was able to participate in state and religious rituals that required a king's presence, and lead the troops into battle. It can be inferred that she used her power to overcome societal barriers and effectively govern Egypt, regardless of her gender.

Furthermore, the second passage explains that after Hatshepsut's death, her stepson, Tuthmosis III, attempted to erase her memory as king. This suggests that Hatshepsut's reign was seen as a threat to the legitimacy of Tuthmosis III's rule. Her name was obliterated from monuments to reinforce Tuthmosis III's status as the rightful king. This indicates that Hatshepsut's use of power and authority had a profound impact on the political landscape of ancient Egypt, to the extent that her successor felt the need to erase any trace of her reign.

In conclusion, both "Hatshepsut" and "The Woman Who Would Be King" highlight Hatshepsut's role as an influential and successful pharaoh in ancient Egypt. While the first passage emphasizes her focus on economic prosperity through building projects and trade expeditions, the second passage delves into her transformation into a male pharaoh as a means to consolidate power and maintain established traditions. Hatshepsut's reign had a lasting impact on Egypt's history, and her story has since been rediscovered and celebrated as a testament to her strength and effectiveness as a ruler.