Hatshepsut - The Queen Who Would Be King

Hatshepsut in kingly regalia

Hatshepsut was the daughter of Thutmose I and wife of Thutmose II; when this last Pharaoh died in ca.1504BCE her stepson, the future Thutmose III was still underage and after only about 6 years of co-regency, she declared herself to be Pharaoh and even had herself depicted in traditional kingly garb and wearing the kingly regalia including the royal false beard.

The design of this temple, her ‘Mansion of Millions of Years’ is attributed to Senenmut, Royal Steward of the god Amun. This truly lovely building is set in a natural amphitheatre at Deir el Bahari and consists of three courts separated by colonnades and connected by sloping ramps. 

Hatshepsut

Hatshepsut said that she built the temple as a garden for her father Amun and the first level was once lined by trees and shrubs brought from the land of Punt, (thought to be southern Sudan or Eritrea). The remains of these plants have been identified.

The colonnades on the north side of the first court have finely done reliefs, depicting in the so-called obelisk colonnade the bringing to Luxor of the red granite for the two great obelisks that she had erected for herself at Karnak temple on the east bank; one still stands. On the other side is the ‘hunting’ colonnade and here the reliefs are of hunting and fishing.

Leaving the first court and ascending the first ramp, one enters the second court where to the left is the South colonnade, famously depicting what are called the Punt reliefs; this entire area is filled with reliefs and inscriptions that tell of the famous journey to the fabulous Land of Punt in about Year 8 of her reign. The texts describe the whole journey from the Red Sea to the shores of Punt, and the reliefs depict scenes from there; the native houses standing on stilts, local animals and plants, gifts offered to King Parakhu and Queen Aty of Punt, the loading of the ships with all the precious goods of the region; some of those listed are living myrrh trees with roots wrapped in huge bags, ebony, ivory, gold, live animals, natives of Punt as well as animal skins. One of the most famous reliefs is of the obese queen of Punt.

The Queen of Punt

In the North colonnade is another very important scene; this is called the ‘birth’ colonnade and here the divine birth of Hatshepsut is represented as if she had been conceived by the god Amun in the shape of her father Thutmose I. Her mother Queen Ahmose is shown being visited by the god Amun while nearby some of the deities of birth wait (the ram headed god, Khnum, and the frog-headed goddess, Heket, accompanied by seven Hathors as godmothers). This ‘conception and birth scene’ was to emphasize the fact that she had been especially chosen to be the next monarch of Egypt by Amun himself.

The Anubis Chapel

On the same level and on the extreme right and left are chapels dedicated to (right) the funerary god Anubis and (left) the cow headed goddess Hathor. This area was long sacred to this goddess and the columns in the Hathor chapel vestibule are topped with Hathor- heads showing the distinctive cow’s ears. The inner rooms contain scenes of Hatshepsut with Hathor and even a small representation of Senenmut, the favourite, almost hidden in a corner; it’s as if he also wanted to be part of the secret rituals of the cult of the cow headed goddess. Reliefs in the chapel include a fine depiction of Hathor as a cow with a two-plumed headdress enclosing a sun disc. The entrance to the shrine has particularly fine painted decorations with colours in quite good condition still.

Hathor-head Column

Senenmut is supposed by some scholars to be the father of Hatshepsut’s daughter, Neferura whose tutor he also was apparently.

While visiting this side of the temple take a look downwards to the ruins of a much earlier temple - that of the 11th dynasty Pharaoh Nebhepetre Montuhotep II; it’s very ruined and not open to the public, but it’s believed to have been the inspiration for the design of the Hatshepsut temple.

Hatshepsut's journey to Punt

In the smaller Anubis chapel to the right is the astronomical ceiling, the twelve-columned hall is of interest, and the columns themselves are multi faceted.

Ascending the second ramp onto the Upper court (this has only recently been opened to the public) is the most important part of the temple. Here the squared columns were originally decorated with Osiride statues of Hatshepsut, most of which have been destroyed but the remaining ones portray her in a white mummiform body, crossed arms holding the symbols of Osiris, the ankh and ‘was’ sceptre. A pink granite doorway leads to a court encircled by columns; on the left side is a chapel dedicated to the royal cult, that is the worship of Hatshepsut herself and her father Thutmose I.

Hatshepsut's Temple

To the right is another chapel but this one is dedicated to the solar or sun cult. A tiny chapel attached to this one is believed to have been for the cult of Hatshepsut’s parents. At the very back and cut into the cliff face was the main focus of the temple – that is the rock sanctuary of the great god Amun; this sanctuary held the sacred barque of Amun during the annual festival called ‘The Beautiful Feast of the Valley,’ when Amun, in his sacred barque, was brought to the west bank by his priests to visit the gods of the west (that is, the funerary gods) and the deceased kings in the valley. The culmination of the visit was at Hatshepsut’s temple where his barque was housed in this sanctuary until it went back to Karnak at the end of the festival.

Hatshepsut died in ca.1483BCE, and her burial place is unknown although a mummy recently discovered in the crowded basement of the Cairo museum has been suggested to be of this royal woman. It’s also been suggested that her patient stepson had a hand in causing her death; certainly many of her monuments were defaced after her death, including parts of this temple. But the greatest humiliation suffered by this female Pharaoh was to be omitted from the king lists. Her stepson, Thutmose III, went on to become one of the greatest of the Egyptian Pharoahs, his military exploits earning him the modern title of the Napoleon of Ancient Egypt.

To find out how you can visit these fascinating sites, please contact us on +27 11 678 4777 or +27 11 478 2884 or email us on: info@egyptandbeyond.co.za.

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