Archaeologists identify Temple of Hatshepsut, the female Pharaoh the ancients tried to erase

Ancient Origins

King Thutmose III, sixth Pharaoh of the 18^th Dynasty in Ancient Egypt, tried to erase all memory of Hatshepsut, the “Woman Who Was King”, but he was unsuccessful as traces of this powerful female Pharaoh have remained. Now more evidence of her reign has been found, as archaeologists have discovered a temple with inscriptions to Hatshepsut.
Polish archaeologists were working at a temple in the ancient Gebelein complex 30 kilometers (18.6 miles) southwest of Luxor, when they identified a temple dedicated to Hathor and possibly Amun-Ra, which appears to have been commissioned by Hatshepsut. According to a new report at Science & Scholarship in Poland, the temple has been known for some time but archaeologists have eschewed studying it until now, perhaps because of the deteriorated condition of the artworks.
The archaeologists, led by Wojciech Ejsmond, believe it is possible the temple was built during Hatshepsut’s reign in the 15^th century BC.
It is somewhat amazing that any indications of gods invoked earlier than the reign of Pharaoh Akhenaten of the 14^th century BC survived because he went on an iconoclastic spree to instead promote his favorite god—Aten, the sun god. Also, kings would hammer out previous rulers’ names and instead have their own names and attributes carved into rock surfaces of temples and other buildings. This was true especially for Hatshepsut, whose stepson Thutmose III (also known as Tuthmosis III), tried to erase her from history. However, the attempt to eradicate her from memory only fueled the desire of modern civilizations to know more about her.

“Images of many deities were destroyed in antiquity,” the report states. “Pharaoh Akhenaten … promoted the worship of one god, whose symbol was the solar disk. Depictions of other gods who did not have solar aspects were destroyed during his rule. The Goddess Hathor was associated with the sun, so her depictions were spared. … ‘The most puzzling was the lack of royal names in the temple. Rulers of ancient Egypt loved to put their names on the walls of temples exposed to the public view. Sometimes they would destroy the names of previous kings to put their own in these places,’ added Wojciech Ejsmond.”

Hathor is the cow-headed goddess at right in this image from the ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead. (Wikimedia Commons)

The scholars believe the construction of the temple happened during Hatshepsut’s reign. Fragments of hieroglyphs with feminine word endings and placement of a cartouche indicate the temple was hers, the article states.
Hatshepsut was the longest reigning female pharaoh. Egypt’s economy flourished during her rule. She was known as “The Woman Who Was King” and directed the construction and repairs of many buildings, memorials and temples.

Gebelein is a complex of archaeological sites known for many years. This relief from Gebeline showing the jackal-headed-god Wepwawet and the earth-deity Geb was acquired by Henry Walters in 1925. (Wikimedia Commons)

Born in 1508 BC, Hatshepsut was the only child of Egyptian king Thutmose I and his principal wife and queen, Ahmose. When Hatshepsut was 12, her father died. She married her half-brother Thutmose II and assumed the role of principal wife and queen.  She remained Thutmose II’s queen until he died 15 years later, leaving Hatshepsut a widow at 27. Hatshepsut and Thutmose II had one child together – a daughter named Neferure. Thutmose II also had a son, his heir Thutmose III, born to a concubine. Thutmose III was an infant upon Thutmose II’s death, so Hatshepsut served as his regent.
This was highly unusual. Egypt’s gods had supposedly decreed that the king’s role could never be fulfilled by a woman ruling on her own. But Hatshepsut refused to submit to this and in around 1437 BC, she had herself crowned as pharaoh, changing her name from the female version Hatshepsut—which means Foremost of the Noble Ladies—to the male version, Hatshepsu.

"At present it is believed that the situation was more complicated. The Queen Hatshepsut ruled together with young Tuthmosis III in order to ensure the stability of Egypt, and many of her actions led to strengthening the position of the young king,” Ejsmond says in the article at Science & Scholarship in Poland. "Perhaps many years after her death, due to a complicated dynastic situation, Tuthmosis III was afraid that another ambitious queen might take over and push his own son away from power? This could lead to his decision to remove references to Hatshepsut as a pharaoh, according to the principle, if it is not engraved in hieroglyphics, it never happened."

Twenty-two years after taking reign, in around 1458 BC, Hatshepsut died in her late 40s. She was buried in a tomb in the Valley of the Kings, in the hills behind Deir el-Bahri. Thutmose III ruled for 30 years. He demanded that evidence of Hatshepsut’s rule be eradicated and ordered her image removed from temples and monuments. Thutmose III likely wanted to remove evidence that Egypt had been ruled by a strong woman. For this reason, scholars knew very little of Hatshepsut’s existence prior to 1822 AD, when hieroglyphs on the walls of Deir el-Bahri were deciphered.
The excavations of the temple are part of a multi-discipline study of the Gebelein complex, which was on ancient Egyptian maps and may have had a capital of one of the early Egyptian states 5,000 years ago that led to the rise of the pharaohs’ civilization, the article states.
Featured image: Hatshepsut by catch22/deviantart

By Mark Miller

Life of the Week: Hatshepsut

History Extra

Hatshepsut was one of the longest-reigning and most prominent female pharaohs of ancient Egypt

A statue of Hatshepsut in the Metropolitan Museum, New York, US. (Credit: © M.Flynn / Alamy)


Hailed as one of the most politically minded pharaohs to ever rule ancient Egypt, until the 19^th century surprisingly little was known about her reign.
In a new series beginning this week on BBC Two, Dr Amanda Foreman reveals the remarkable stories of women who made their mark on history, including Hatshepsut. Here, we explore the life of one of ancient Egypt’s most successful rulers…
Born: c1508 BC
Died: c1458 BC
Remembered for: Being one of the most prominent female pharaohs in ancient Egyptian history. Hatshepsut is praised for taking a great interest in the administration of her kingdom, and for constructing some of Egypt’s most famous buildings, including the temple of Deir el-Bahri, located on the west bank of the Nile.
Until the 19^th century, historians were unaware of Hatshepsut’s reign, as all traces of her rule were destroyed under the commands of her successor – her stepson, Thutmose III. Any images, inscriptions or monuments relating to her were ordered to be demolished.
Family: Hatshepsut was the daughter of King Thutmose I, a pharaoh of ancient Egypt. Her mother, Ahmose, was an Egyptian queen.
Thutmose I had another wife, Mutnofret, and together they had a son who succeeded as the pharaoh Thutmose II after Thutmose I’s death in around 1492 BC. Upon her father’s death, Hatshepsut married her half-brother when she was around 12 years old, and together they had one daughter named Neferure.
Her life: Hatshepsut was born into one of the most famous dynasties of ancient Egypt – the 18^th dynasty. This dynasty produced the some of the most prominent pharaohs in history, including Tutankhamun.
Despite being of royal descent, Hatshepsut was never expected to become a pharaoh of Egypt. In order to protect the dynasty’s lineage from rivaling noble families, heirs were encouraged to marry their siblings and close family members. In around 1492 BC, Hatshepsut was married to her half-brother Thutmose II.
In approximately 1479 BC, Hatshepsut’s husband died, leaving his young son from another marriage to inherit the throne. As was customary at the time, Hatshepsut acted as a regent on behalf of her stepson, Thutmose III, who was around three years old.
However, in around 1486 BC, after holding the position of regent for nearly seven years, Hatshepsut demanded more political power. Consequently, she was promoted to the position of co-ruler alongside Thutmose III. Despite being equal rulers, some historians have argued that Hatshepsut dominated political decisions throughout their joint rule, and that the young Thutmose III was not as involved in governmental decisions.

_{A depiction of Hatshepsut's trading expedition to the Land of Punt on the walls of the mortuary temple at Deir el-Bahri. (Credit: Universal History Archive/Getty Images)}
Historians are also divided on Hatshepsut’s motive for taking control of the throne. While some have argued she did so out of sheer ambition, more recent historians have suggested there might have been a threat to the throne from a rivaling branch of the royal family at the time, and that Hatshepsut became a co-ruler in order to secure and protect her family’s control of the throne.
Determined to demonstrate her authority as a legitimate pharaoh, Hatshepsut developed Egypt’s economy through the expansion of trade. Early in her reign, she launched an expedition to the Land of Punt, one of Egypt’s traditional trading allies. The ships brought back masses of gold and ivory, along with numerous myrrh trees. This great expedition was so significant at the time that it was later commemorated on the walls of the temple of Deir el-Bahri.
Hatshepsut also made her mark on the landscape of Egypt. She rebuilt many buildings, created impressive temples, and restored the Temple of Karnak that her father, King Thutmose I, had built. Hatshepsut also expanded the temple by building a chapel and assembling two obelisks that towered at nearly 100 feet.
Hatshepsut is believed to have died in around 1458 BC, though archaeologists are unsure of the precise date. Hatshepsut was laid to rest at the mortuary temple at Deir el-Bahri. Her father’s sarcophagus was reinterred with her in her tomb – Hatshepsut had requested that it be moved there after her death.
Following Hatshepsut’s death, her stepson, Thutmose III, became the sole pharaoh of Egypt and ruled for around another 30 years. During the later years of his reign, Thutmose III attempted to destroy any evidence of Hatshepsut’s rule. Originally, historians argued that Thutmose was motivated by animosity towards his stepmother’s overriding power during their joint reign. However, historians have since suggested that Thutmose was faced with the threat of usurpation from rivaling family members at this time, and so he ordered Hatshepsut’s name to be eradicated in order to strengthen his position on the throne and secure his heir’s succession.

_{The Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut in Egypt. (Credit: Reinhard Dirscherl/ullstein bild via Getty Images)}
With traces of Hatshepsut’s reign demolished, until the 19^th century there was very little evidence available of her rule. In the 1800s, archaeologists began to translate the hieroglyphics that adorn the walls of the temple of Deir el-Bahri. These revealed Hatshepsut’s position as a pharaoh and her success as a female ruler.
Howard Carter, the British archeologist who later discovered the tomb of Tutankhamun, located the first of Hatshepsut’s sarcophaguses in 1903, but it was found to be empty. In 1904, two additional sarcophagi were found in the Valley of the Kings.
More than a century later, in 2007, Hatshepsut’s mummy was finally discovered in the Valley of the Kings in Egypt. It is now held at The Museum of Egyptian Antiquities in Cairo.

Submitted by: Jessica Hope