Hatshepsut ruled Egypt, first as co-regent and then as pharaoh, for a total of 21 years. She was one of the few women in Egyptian history to retain power for so long. She reigned during one of ancient Egypt’s golden ages, when Egypt was awash with wealth. Hatshepsut built monumental works all over the nation: a myriad of temples and shrines, four giant obelisks at the Temple of Amun at Karnak, and countless artworks celebrating her accomplishments and immortalizing her prayers.
But many of these works were defaced and destroyed after her death in 1458 B.C. Hatshepsut’s successor, Thutmose III, one of Egypt’s greatest pharaohs, led the charge to erase her name from history. Her likeness was chiseled away from monuments, and her statues and works destroyed. Nevertheless, following a major, 20th-century reconstruction, Hatshepsut’s massive temple at Deir el Bahri (Arabic for “northern monastery”) still stands today, sheltered beneath the red rocks of a cliff face. This architectural wonder captivated the ancient world with its beauty and is a testament to Hatshepsut’s glory and her devotion to the gods.
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Woman who would be king
Hatshepsut was born around 1507 B.C. to Thutmose I and his great royal wife, Queen Ahmose. Hatshepsut would marry her half brother and heir to the throne, Thutmose II, becoming his great royal wife. Thutmose II died young, leaving behind a two-year-old son (born to a secondary wife) as his heir. The child was too young to rule, so Hatshepsut, the boy’s aunt and stepmother, ruled for him.
Hatshepsut gradually transformed her role from queen regent to outright pharaoh. When Thutmose III was older he became her second-in-command, but he would not rule outright as pharaoh until after her death around 1458 B.C. His reign would be glorious, filled with triumphs all his own. But while he ruled, a systematic campaign attempted to erase Pharaoh Hatshepsut. Millennia later, archaeologists would put the pieces back together to restore Hatshepsut’s place in history.
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Million-year temples
In the New Kingdom period, Hatshepsut was one of the first pharaohs who built the so-called Temples of Millions of Years on the western bank of the Nile, opposite the city of Thebes (modern-day Luxor). Five centuries earlier, in Middle Kingdom times, Pharaoh Mentuhotep II had erected the first mortuary temple here. Perhaps inspired by Mentuhotep, Hatshepsut installed her massive complex at the foot of a cliff, a site now known as Deir el Bahri. The sacred location had been consecrated to the goddess Hathor, protector of the dead and an important funerary deity in Thebes.
In these temples, pharaohs would be worshipped after their deaths. Their mummies, meanwhile, rested elsewhere, entombed in private underground chambers in the Valley of the Kings. As well as being used for royal funerals, the Temples of Millions of Years were the focus for other rituals: some related to royalty, others to deities including the Theban god Amun and the sun god Re. Of all the mortuary temples, Hatshepsut’s would become the main cult structure of the Theban complex.
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Construction lasted some 15 years and was carried out under the supervision of Senenmut, a high official and favorite of the pharaoh. The imposing building incorporated ramps and courtyards like the nearby Mentuhotep temple, but Senenmut introduced a number of innovations to create a building of unequaled magnificence. It came to be known as Djeser-Djeseru: “holy of holies.”
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Most New Kingdom commemorative temples featured chambers separated by monumental gateways (pylons), like those that can still be seen at Luxor and Karnak. Hatshepsut’s temple, on the other hand, was arranged around a central ramp or causeway. Spread along this causeway at different heights were three large courtyards.
Today, the walls and courtyards of Hatshepsut’s temple might look somewhat plain. In her time they would have been filled with vibrant color, surrounded by lush gardens and pools and richly decorated with sculpture and reliefs. Each decorative element conveyed a religious or political message, in keeping with the ceremonial use of the building.
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Sacred alignments
The layout of Hatshepsut’s temple was carefully designed. Most obviously, it was positioned to align perfectly with the Temple of Amun at Karnak, on the opposite bank of the Nile. In addition, the precise east-west alignment of its central causeway mirrored the daily path of the sun, or, according to the beliefs of the day, the path of the god Re.
The temple was also aligned with the Valley of the Kings, which lies to the west. This royal necropolis had been inaugurated by Hatshepsut’s father, Thutmose I. In fact, tomb KV20, the burial place of Hatshepsut and Thutmose I, lies in a straight line from the sanctuary of Amun, the innermost chamber of Hatshepsut’s temple. Some experts have suggested that the original plan was to connect KV20 with the sanctuary of Amun via a tunnel through the interposing cliff, but the poor quality of the rock prevented it.
Stone balustrades flank the central ramp, guarded by imposing stone lions. A colonnade separates the first and second courtyards. To highlight Hatshepsut’s piety and devotion, reliefs depict two massive obelisks on their way to the Temple of Amun at Karnak.
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Around the second courtyard are famous reliefs showing a trading expedition that Hatshepsut sent to the Land of Punt, believed to be located on the Horn of Africa. Myrrh trees were brought back from this expedition and planted in the temple complex. Their resin would later be used in temple rituals.
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Treasures from punt
Splendid reliefs were carved on the portico of the second courtyard of the temple at Deir el Bahri. Some depict Hatshepsut’s expedition to the Land of Punt in the eighth and ninth years of her reign. The reliefs provide a glimpse of the terrain, fauna, flora, and inhabitants of this enigmatic land, perhaps located in the Horn of Africa or in the south of the Arabian Peninsula.
The expedition reached Punt by sailing along the shores of the Red Sea. The Egyptians loaded their ships with a cargo of ivory, cinnamon, incense, cosmetics, and animal skins. They also took home myrrh trees, which were planted in Hatshepsut’s temple complex. The relief on the portico highlights these myrrh trees and also depicts Hatshepsut presenting the cargo from Punt to the god Amun as an offering.
Other reliefs represent the divine birth of Hatshepsut, who, according to tradition, had been begotten by the god Amun-Re during a visit he made to Ahmose, the wife of Thutmose I. Her divine origin was an important tool in legitimizing Hatshepsut’s rule over Egypt. In the second courtyard there are also two sanctuaries: one dedicated to Hathor and the other to Anubis, a funerary god.
Twenty-four colossal Osirides—statues of Pharaoh Hatshepsut as Osiris, god of the after-life—flanked the entrance to the third courtyard. She wears the false beard (postiche) and the double crown of Upper and Lower Egypt (pschent), and she holds the symbols of royalty. This uppermost courtyard had sanctuaries dedicated to the royal cult, to the solar god Re-Horakhty, and to Anubis.
In the central part of this last courtyard stood the temple’s innermost chambers, a sanctuary dedicated to Amun-Re. Inside were three adjoining chambers decorated with scenes of Hatshepsut and the god Amun.
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The sanctuary of Amun-Re was the main setting for a ceremony that was celebrated every year in Thebes: the Beautiful Festival of the Valley. The celebration dates back to the Middle Kingdom and reached new heights in Hatshepsut’s time. Badly deteriorated reliefs that run along the upper courtyard of Hatshepsut’s temple depict the festivities. During the second month of the harvest season (shemu) in early summer, the pharaoh would lead a procession bearing the image of Amun followed by a retinue of nobles, priests, dancers, and soldiers. They would begin at Karnak Temple, cross the Nile, and visit the mortuary temples.
After her death, Hatshepsut was intentionally consigned to oblivion by Thutmose III. He ordered the demolition of all statues, monuments, and representations of her, including depictions on her temple. Yet the building remained on the western bank of the Nile. Each year it still hosted the most dazzling festival of the Theban necropolis, standing strong through the millennia, a lasting testament to the pharaoh who built it.
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