She was buried in the Valley of the Kings (also home to Tutankhhamum), located in the hills behind Deir el-Bahri. ![]() Hatshepsut probably died around 1458 B.C., when she would have been in her mid-40s. Another great achievement of her reign was a trading expedition she authorized that brought back vast riches–including ivory, ebony, gold, leopard skins and incense–to Egypt from a distant land known as Punt (possibly modern-day Eritrea). ![]() Her greatest achievement was the enormous memorial temple at Deir el-Bahri, considered one of the architectural wonders of ancient Egypt. Some have suggested Senenmut might also have been Hatshepsut’s lover, but little evidence exists to support this claim.Īs pharaoh, Hatshepsut undertook ambitious building projects, particularly in the area around Thebes. Hatshepsut surrounded herself with supporters in key positions in government, including Senenmut, her chief minister. In other images, however, she appeared in traditional female regalia. She sought to reinvent her image, and in statues and paintings of that time, she ordered that she be portrayed as a male pharaoh, with a beard and large muscles. Knowing that her power grab was highly controversial, Hatshepsut fought to defend its legitimacy, pointing to her royal lineage and claiming that her father had appointed her his successor. Though past Egyptologists held that it was merely the queen’s ambition that drove her, more recent scholars have suggested that the move might have been due to a political crisis, such as a threat from another branch of the royal family, and that Hatshepsut may have been acting to save the throne for her stepson.īuilding Egypt's Largest Pyramids Hatshepsut as Pharaoh Cleopatra, who also exercised such power, would rule some 14 centuries later.Īfter less than seven years, however, Hatshepsut took the unprecedented step of assuming the title and full powers of a pharaoh herself, becoming co-ruler of Egypt with Thutmose III. ![]() According to custom, Hatshepsut began acting as Thutmose III’s regent, handling affairs of state until her stepson came of age.ĭid you know? Hatshepsut was only the third woman to become pharaoh in 3,000 years of ancient Egyptian history, and the first to attain the full power of the position. Thutmose II died young, around 1479 B.C., and the throne went to his infant son, also born to a secondary wife. After her father’s death, 12-year-old Hatshepsut became queen of Egypt when she married her half-brother Thutmose II, the son of her father and one of his secondary wives, who inherited his father’s throne around 1492 B.C. Hatshepsut was the elder of two daughters born to Thutmose I and his queen, Ahmes.
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