During the New Kingdom there was a shift from building massive pyramids to rock cut tombs in the sides of cliffs. During her reign Hatshepsut built many monuments in both Egypt and Nubia and is even credited with the first well preserved royal mortuary temple of the New Kingdom. Hatshepsut, a name meaning “the foremost of noble ladies”, held the title “God’s Wife of Amen” and became co-regent for her nephew and stepson Thutmose III until he came of age (Manuelian and Loeben, 1993).Īfter two years, Hatshepsut deemed herself pharaoh, and crowned herself sole ruler of Egypt. Hatshepsut and Thutmose II reigned as king and queen for fourteen years and at Thutmose II’s death left he left only an eleven year old son as a possible heir to the throne. Researchers said that one of the blocks shows that her name has been etched out and another shows her image as a female replaced by a different king.According to Kathryn Bard’s An Introduction to the Archaeology of Ancient Egypt, royal women became increasingly more important during the 18th dynasty of the New Kingdom.
Researchers from the German Archaeological Institute discovered carved blocks that may have belonged to an unknown building during Hatshepsut’s reign on the Island of Elephantine in the River Nile. However, archaeologists now believe that they might have found some rare relics of Hatshepsut that give proof of her reign. There were speculations that Egyptians at the time felt that the idea of a female Pharoah was not natural and perhaps wanted to cover up the fact that one ever existed. Her statues were smashed and buried her pictures were removed from temple walls, and so on. People did not really mind about her reign until 20 years later after her death when rulers attempted to remove her from their history. She was buried in a tomb in the Valley of the Kings, in the hills behind Deir el-Bahri. Hatshepsut died 22 years later after taking her reign as pharaoh, in around 1458 BC. Hatshepsut’s greatest building accomplishment was a mortuary temple built in a complex at Deir el-Bahri, located on the West bank of the Nile. Her buildings were seen as much grander than her predecessors, to the extent that many of her successors tried to claim those buildings as theirs. The economy flourished during her time as Pharoah, as she ordered the construction and repairs of many buildings, temples, and memorials. She was also dressed in the traditional king’s kilt and crown.
She was often depicted in a male form during her reign, with a beard and a male body. She even changed her name from the female version of Hatshepsut – which means Foremost of the Noble Ladies – to the male version, Hatshepsu. Hatshepsut, however, paid deaf ears to this and around 1437 BC, she had herself crowned as pharaoh. This was because the gods of Egypt at the time had decreed that the King’s role could not be fulfilled by a woman ruling on her own. And since there was nobody to hand down the title of King to, after her husband Thutmose II passed away, she naturally took his title. The boy was an infant upon Thutmose II’s death, so Hatshepsut served as his regent. However, Thutmose II had a son Thutmose III with a concubine. She and her late husband had a daughter named Neferure. She married her half-brother Thutmose II, and subsequently became the principal wife and queen. She remained queen until her husband, Thutmose II passed away 15 years later. Hatshepsut’s father, however, died when she was twelve years old. Hatshepsut was the only child born to her parents – Egyptian king Thutmose I and his principal wife and queen, Ahmose.