Hatshepsut

Hatshepsut (/hɑːtˈʃɛpsʊt/ haht-SHEPP-sut; c. 1505–1458 BC) was the sixth pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt, ruling first as regent, then as queen regnant from c. 1479 BC until c. 1458 BC (Low Chronology) and the Great Royal Wife of Pharaoh Thutmose II. She was Egypt's second confirmed woman who ruled in her own right, the first being Sobekneferu/Neferusobek in the Twelfth Dynasty.

Hatshepsut was the daughter of Thutmose I and Great Royal Wife, Ahmose. Upon the death of her husband and half-brother Thutmose II, she had initially ruled as regent to her stepson, Thutmose III, who inherited the throne at the age of two. Several years into her regency, Hatshepsut assumed the position of pharaoh and adopted the full royal titulary, making her a co-ruler alongside Thutmose III. In order to establish herself in the Egyptian patriarchy, she took on traditionally male roles and was depicted as a male pharaoh, with physically masculine traits and traditionally male garb. She emphasized both the qualities of men and women to convey the idea that she was both a mother and father to the realm. Hatshepsut's reign was a period of great prosperity and general peace. One of the most prolific builders in Ancient Egypt, she oversaw large-scale construction projects such as the Karnak Temple Complex, the Red Chapel, the Speos Artemidos and most famously, the Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut at Deir el-Bahari.

Hatshepsut probably died in Year 22 of the reign of Thutmose III. Towards the end of the reign of Thutmose III and into the reign of his son Amenhotep II, an attempt was made to remove her from official accounts of Egyptian historiography: her statues were destroyed, her monuments were defaced, and many of her achievements were ascribed to other pharaohs.

Hatshepsut was born between 1505 and 1495 BC as eldest daughter of Thutmose I and his great royal wife, Ahmose. After her father's death, Hatshepsut was then married to Thutmose II, her half-brother and father's heir, when she was fourteen or fifteen years old. Thutmose II was of a similar age.

Upon the death of Thutmose II, the underage Thutmose III became the pharaoh of Egypt. Hatshepsut was thought of by early modern scholars to have only served as regent alongside him. However, modern scholars agree that, while she initially served as regent for young Thutmose III from his accession in c. 1479 BC, Hatshepsut eventually assumed the position of pharaoh alongside him by Year 7 of his reign, c. 1472 BC; becoming queen regnant, Hatshepsut shared Thutmose III's existing regnal count, effectively back-dating her accession as pharaoh to Year 1, when she had been merely regent. Although queen Sobekneferu and - possibly - Nitocris, have previously assumed the role of pharaoh, Hatshepsut was the only female ruler to do so in a time of prosperity, and she arguably had more powers than her female predecessors.

Retrospectively, Hatshepsut was described by ancient authors as having reigned for about 21–22 years, which included both her regency and her reign as queen regnant. Josephus and Julius Africanus follow the earlier testimony of Manetho (3rd century BC), mentioning a queen regnant called Amessis or Amensis, specified by Josephus as having been the sister of her predecessor. This woman was later identified by historians as Hatshepsut. In Josephus's text, her reign is described as lasting for 21 years and 9 months, while Africanus states it as 22 years, apparently rounding up. The latest attestation of Hatshepsut in contemporary records comes from Year 20 of the regnal count of Thutmose III; she is no longer mentioned in Year 22, when he undertook his first major foreign campaign. This is compatible with the 21 years 9 months recorded by Manetho and Josephus, which would place the end of Hatshepsut's reign in Year 22 of Thutmose III.

Dating the beginning of her reign is more difficult. Her father, Thutmose I, began his reign in either 1526 BC or 1506 BC according to the high and low estimates of her reign, although the length of the reigns of Thutmose I and Thutmose II cannot be determined with certainty. With short reigns, Hatshepsut would have ascended the throne 14 years after her father's coronation; longer reigns would put her accession 25 years after his coronation.

The earliest attestation of Hatshepsut as pharaoh occurs in the tomb of Ramose and Hatnofer, where a collection of grave goods contained a single pottery jar or amphora from the tomb's chamber, stamped with the date "Year 7". Another jar from the same tomb, discovered in situ by a 1935–36 Metropolitan Museum of Art expedition on a hillside near Thebes, was stamped with the seal of the "God's Wife Hatshepsut", and two jars bore the seal of "The Good Goddess Maatkare". The dating of the amphorae, "sealed into the [tomb's] burial chamber by the debris from Senenmut's own tomb", is undisputed, meaning that Hatshepsut was acknowledged as pharaoh of Egypt—and no longer merely regent—by Year 7 of her reign. She was certainly pharaoh by Year 9, the date of the Punt expedition, c. 1471 BC; her last dated attestation as pharaoh is Year 20, c. 1460 BC, and she no longer appears in Year 22, c. 1458.