Margaux Baum - Hatshepsut

A close-up relief of a part of the Roman Temple of Deir el-Hagar, in the Western Desert region near Dahkla Oasis, Egypt, shows the common motif of the bird.

The people werent actually allowed to venture very far inside these temples, but they certainly stood outside the front pylon gateways, which were covered in pictures. We also know that at Karnak they were allowed a little way into the temple, because one of the outer courtyards is called the court of the multitude. There are also examples of a hieroglyphic bird sign called a rekhyt carved onto the walls of the temple that represents the people of Egypt and indicates where they were allowed to stand there. Consequently, throughout the New Kingdom, pharaohs had images and statues of themselves placed in temples throughout the country.

REPRESENTATIONS OF HATSHEPSUT

During her time as wife of Thutmose II and as regent for Thutmose III, Hatshepsut had always been represented in such images as a conventional Egyptian princess and wife. However, the situation changed. The statues that she commissioned at the beginning of her reign still show her with a female face and body but wearing the traditional clothes of a male king, including a short kilt, a broad collar, a crown, a nemes headcloth, and a false beard. The nemes headcloth was a piece of striped cloth pulled tight across the forehead and tied at the back of the neck with two flaps on either side of the face. The false beard was another symbol of the divine nature of kingship and was a plaited beard often depicted as blue (like lapis lazuli) and tied onto the kings chin by a piece of cord.

Although these statues were not actual portraits in the sense that we think of them today, they do give some clues as to what Hatshepsut may have looked like. She had an oval face with almond-shaped eyes, a rather big nose, and a small chin. Her statues also sometimes show that she had high, arching eyebrows.

We also know she was quite vain. One of the stories carved onto the walls of her temple at Deir el-Bahri is a detailed representation of her conception and birth, with the god Amen as her father. The text also includes a description of her growing up: Her majesty grew beyond everything; to look upon her was more beautiful than anything... her form was like a god... her majesty was a maiden, beautiful, blooming.

Soon after her seventh year as regent, this style of representation was abandoned. From then on, Hatshepsut chose to be represented as a man both in statues and in illustrations on temple walls. Most likely this was because it was thought to be confusing, uncomfortable, and against tradition for people to think that their pharaoh was actually a woman. It was easier to just show her as a man.

There is no indication that anyone who knew about her was actually fooled by this. Indeed, many of the inscriptions that accompany male images of Hatshepsut still refer to her as a woman, or use feminine endings for words describing her. Interesting examples of this confusion include two identical sphinxes originally from the avenue leading to Djeser Djeseru. One, now in the Cairo Museum, is inscribed Maatkare, beloved of Amen, may he be given life for ever. Another, now in the Metropolitan Museum in New York, is inscribed Maatkare, beloved of Amen, may she be given life for ever.

A sphinx was a mythical creature usually made up of the body of a lion and the head of a human. From the Old Kingdom onward, statues of pharaohs as sphinxes had been used to represent the pharaohs royalness and strength. They also indicated the fighting nature of the king.

Many pharaohs had themselves immortalized in sphinx form for posterity. This limestone sphinx of Hatshepsut, resides at Deir el-Bahri.

TEMPLE RESTORATION

Sometime after her ninth year as regent (1471 BCE ), Hatshepsut decided that she would follow one of the traditions set by her ancestors and begin an ambitious program of construction in Egypt and Nubia. One of her motivations for this was to show everyone in Egypt that the country was in safe hands and nothing had really changed. On the front of one of her temples the boastful inscription reads, The altars are opened, the sanctuaries are enlarged... the desires of all gods; every one is in possession of the dwelling which he has loved, his ka rests upon his throne. The inscription goes on to state, The lands together are under my authority, the Black [Nile Valley] and the Red [Desert] are under my authority. My fame makes the great ones of the countries to bow down, while the uraeus is upon my forehead. The uraeus was a special symbol of kingship in the form of a rearing snake that protruded just above the forehead in royal crowns and headdresses. This snake represented the goddess Wadjet of Lower Egypt.

A lioness goddess called Pakhet (literally she who scratches) had been worshiped in an area of Middle Egypt since the Middle Kingdom onward. Hatshepsut built a temple to this goddess at a site known today as Speos Artemidos. Lionheaded goddesses such as Pakhet, Bastet (she of the city Bast), Sekhmet (the powerful), Matit (the dismemberer), and Mehit (the seizer) were thought of as fierce and dangerous. At the same time, however, they were also worshiped for their childbearing and nurturing instincts. Hatshepsut had already shown a preference for goddesses by choosing to place her memorial temple at a site of special significance to the goddess Hathor, and it is tempting to imagine she was again motivated by a desire to honor a powerful female figure.

AN ERA OF RELATIVE PEACE

There are very few records or inscriptions of any wars during the reign of Hatshepsut. This has led some scholars to believe that, unlike most other New Kingdom pharaohs, she did nothing to protect Egypt or to maintain her empire in Nubia and Syria. However, there is some evidence from her memorial temple that Hatshepsut did take part in campaigns in both regions. One scene shows the Nubian god Dedwen leading a group of captives toward the pharaoh. Another, badly damaged, inscription states that as was done by her father, the King of Upper and Lower Egypt Aakheperkare, who seized all lands... a slaughter was made among them, the number being unknown, their hands were cut off. There is also some evidence that she may have campaigned in Canaan or Syria, from an inscription reading that her arrow is among the northerners.