Throughout history, women have been depicted as lesser human beings who are unworthy to be in a position of power or status. However, shifts in power can be recognized at the beginning of the New Kingdom in Egypt. In the eighteenth dynasty, the wife and mother of King Ahmose showed growing signs of power as many cults proclaimed dedication towards them. Shortly afterwards, the New Kingdom produced the “rarity” of a “ruling queen” (Freeman 64). Queen Hatshepsut was a great example of how formidable and influential a woman could be when serving in a position of power.

Hatshepsut was the daughter of King Thutmose I and when her father died, she married her half-brother, King Thutmose II. When her husband died, his son Thutmose III (who was only a boy at the time), ruled the throne and Hatshepsut was accepted as co-regent. However, she quickly assumed absolute control over the Egyptian empire by “claiming that she was ruler by right as the heir of Thutmose I” (Freeman 64). Her rise to power defied the patriarchal views set in place by the men in power and set a new precedent for the roles women led.

Hatshepsut is historically significant for a number of reasons. During the time in which she ruled, her reign was peaceful, successful, and stable because “for the first time in the New Kingdom a ruler had effective control over Middle Egypt” (Freeman 65). One of her greatest achievements was the campaign she led into the land of Punt which resulted in many exotic goods such as aromatic plants, cattle, and ebony. Hatshepsut commemorated this expedition in stone. It has since become a celebrated relief as well as a depiction of her power.

Socially and politically, Hatshepsut’s reign can be considered controversial. Politically, she undermined the entire Egyptian structure by being a ruling queen. Her presence threatened and alienated a system that was highly male dominated. She disrupted the framework to such a degree that when Thutmose III became king again, he systematically erased her name from monuments. Egyptian history shows these attempts made to erase her. Socially, Hatshepsut went around and masqueraded herself as a male in images and statues. She retained false images because she was not what was considered traditional for an Egyptian ruler. She did what any other male ruler did which was to create a misrepresented image that was known to the public but highly different then their actual appearance. It was all a game of power and status. Her manipulation of her identity is another reason why she is important.

Hatshepsut proved to be a difficult mummy to identify because identifying mummies is difficult within itself. Firstly, male leaders tried to destroy the legacies of those that threatened their hierarchy (as noticed when Thutmose III greatly erased Hatshepsut’s name from history). Secondly, it was very easy for mummies to be “misplaced or misidentified” (Hawass 2). Mummies tended to be moved at night and it was easy for a mummy to be placed in a coffin that it wasn’t meant for. Identification is made even harder because “some mummies have no identification at all associated with them any more” (Hawass 2). Finally, it was hard because “the latest scientific technology had not yet been used” to study mummies (Hawass 1). The identification of Hatshepsut’s mummy encountered many of these problems.

There are known to be two tombs belonging to Hatshepsut. One is the actual tomb she built for her father and herself and a second one where she was found in a “small, undecorated tomb” (Hawass 3). It is believed that her mummy was moved from her actual tomb to the one she was found in. The tomb of discovery was not labeled and did not possess any identifications of any sort. Also, no scientific technology had yet been applied to her mummy. Hatshepsut was only correctly identified when a CT-scan showed her as missing a tooth and as luck would have it, a tooth had been discovered in one of her canopic jars. The tooth matched her mummy and so through scientific technology, it was finally possible to identify Queen Hatshepsut.

Votive images existed only to portray rulers in the ways in which they wanted people to see them. For every image that existed, there was a reason behind it. The votive images belonging to Hatshepsut are contrastingly different than the descriptions of her mummy as being “obese” (Hawass 3). Understandably, Hatshepsut had no wish to compromise her position of power and so she used temple reliefs to show herself as a male with “a pharaonice beard” (Freeman 64). Hatshepsut had statues erected showing her with a sun disc upon her head to represent her divine ancestry to Amun. Her images existed to act as a parallel with her declaration of being a son of Amun which is how she proclaimed her legitimacy to the throne. The fact that she was female and “obese” was purposefully left out of her votive representations. There are differences because votive images were symbols of power and status and this suggests that all votive images of pharaohs are false and do not accurately represent how rulers really looked. In other words, it was all propaganda and that just because something was shown one way doesn’t necessarily mean that was how it really was.

I believe Hatshepsut was a significant figure in Egyptian history because as Freeman pointed out, she created a “successful and stable reign” despite all the masquerading she had to do (65). She also gained control over middle Egypt, built new temples, expanded trade, and helped the Egyptian economy improve. Even though she had to hide her real identity, she provided a level of inspiration for women. There was suddenly the hope that women could ascend to a higher level and have some power. Hatshepsut went against the ideals of her time and still managed to rule and be successful at it. She was a woman (beard or no beard), who survived in a male oriented world and caused change. That in my opinion would make anyone a figure worth remembering.

Sources

Freeman, Charles. Egypt, Greece, and Rome: Civilizations of the Ancient Mediterranean.

Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004.

Hawass, Zahi. The Search for Hatshepsut and the Discovery of her Mummy. June 2007.

Alfred University. 07 October 2007.

< http://guardians.net/hawass/hatshepsut/search_for_hatshepsut.htm>