Hatshepsut Flashcards
“Stated briefly, ma’at is the order, the just measure of things, that underlies the world; it is the perfect state of things toward which one should strive and which is in harmony with the creator god’s intentions”
Hornung
While temples owned much of the land and High Priests were high ranking in the administration, they were subordinate to the king who was the sole link with the gods
O’Connor
To ensure a smooth transition, the god Amun was gradually combined with another god Re, to form a new god Amun-Re
Hornung
The Egyptians perceived kingship as fundamental to society and the cosmos. The main role of the king was to maintain ma’at (cosmic order) and prevent disarray or chaos.
O’Connor and Silverman
She oversaw the bureaucracy of state, was the theological leader of the country and chief officiant to the gods and commander-in-chief of the military .
Silverman
Royal women in ancient Egypt derived their importance from their relationship to the king.
Robins
It is possible Hatshepsut’s political power was derived in part from this priestly office (Gods Wife of Amun) and Thutmose III later deliberately reduced the importance of the office
Robins
Her father was not descended from the founding kings of the 18th Dynasty and may have had a military background.
Redford
Some historians believe Hatshesput’s mother was a sister of the previous King Amenhotep I.
Redford, Lawless
Some historians argue that the royal line was passed through the royal females – the so-called ‘heiress theory’ – so if Hatshepsut’s mother was an ‘Ahmosid’ then she had more royal blood and a greater claim to the throne than her brother.
Redford
The proper successor was the surviving first born son of the king regardless of the mother – thus Hatshepsut’s claim to the throne did not include having more ‘royal blood’ than her brother or her step-son Thutmose III (i.e. the Heiress Theory is not true).
Robins
It appears Thutmose II died prematurely. His mummy appears to be no more than 30 years old and has a ‘scaly’ appearance which could indicate he had been a sickly man.
Callender
The regency was unprecedented because Thutmose III was not her son – she was his step-mother and aunt.
Callender and Tyldesley
There is no evidence for Thutmose III ever marrying Neferure, but this Egyptologist believes they did.
Grimal
Most historians agree Hatshepsut probably ‘consolidated her position’ to become king during the regency.
Robins and Redford
The careful planning she shows during the regency indicates that she already had a group of people supporting her, including Senenmut, Ineni, Ahmose-pen-nekhbit and Hapuseneb.
Redford
The coronation scenes may have occurred before Thutmose II was born. If Thutmose I had no male heir at the time, he could have designated Hatshepsut as his successor. This would have been ruled out once he was born.
Callender
Hatshepsut was actually appointed coregent of Thutmose I. These historians point out that later NK kings use the same scenes it is accepted as historical, but these are assumed fictional because Hatshepsut was a woman.
Hornung and Helck
The Divine Birth and coronation scenes are “wholly fictitious”
Kemp
Hatshepsut and Thutmose III’s coregency lasted at least 13 years.
Lawless
The timing of her claim was “unconstitutional” as she delayed her assumption to the throne until after Thutmose III was legitimately crowned.
Callender
She “usurped the throne of a reigning king”
Callender
The Queen and queen mother had much influence over the heir presumptive and husband presumably in the 17th and early 18th Dynasties.
Redford
“The matriarchal streak is one of the most striking features of the early Eighteenth Dynasty. The stubbornness and driving ambition of the queens could not help but precipitate a conflict with the males of the family, at least if the women persisted in grasping after what logically mast have been the ultimate aspiration, viz. the crown”.
Redford
“Hatshepsut was made of the same fibre as her grandmother”.
Redford
She wanted to revive the line of queens and was outraged by the accession of Thutmose III. She clearly had supporters such as Senenmut behind her.
Redford
The early queens may have paved the way for Hatshepsut to claim the ultimate power. These queens had power via the ‘God’s Wife of Amun’ position first used by Ahmose-Nefertari.
Lawless
She seems to have wanted to make Neferure her direct heir to the throne and exclude from the succession Thutmose III and any children she might have. Neferure held the title ‘Lady of the Two Lands’ on her own and not because of marriage to Thutmose III (but Neferure died before her mother anyway…)
Bentley
She has to consolidate her position at the head of the administration first as regent, proving she could do a better job than her nephew.
Bentley
She may have used the title ‘King’ to prepare Egypt for a matrilineal succession and rule followed by Neferure as the next king.
Bentley
Thutmose II was only a ‘falcon in the nest’ when he became king. Might Hatshepsut have been designated heir apparent before his birth, but this was nullified after his birth? Then after his death she mulled over the opportunity that had been denied her and decided it was rightfully hers?
Callender
“There is no documentation indicating the reasons why Hatshepsut made her bid for the throne, and when exploring this avenue it must be realised that by doing so we enter the realm of speculation.”
Callender
“Hatshepsut’s accession, within a few years of his [Thutmose III] may have been as much a dynastic defence mechanism as an act of personal ambition.”
O’Connor
“We can never be sure why Hatshepsut defied tradition and became a king, nor why the male bureaucracy tolerated this aberration, but we can suggest some hypotheses”:
Robins
She probably possessed a strong character and made the most of the power she accrued as regent. She probably carefully chose the officials who served her, especially Senenmut—their fortunes became linked with hers.
Robins
She probably found the prospect of giving up power unpleasant, but could not prolong the regency when Thutmose III came of age.
Robins
She made the use of the institution of coregency.
Robins
In a scene at Karnak Hatshepsut stands behind Thutmose II in the traditional subordinate position for a queen.
Tyldesley
The regency was “customary”.
Lawless
Hatshepsut used the time as regent to consolidate her support in the administration.
Redford and Robins
The gradual erasure of feminising body and facial features from the statues of the queen occurred, and the numbers of male pharaonic attributes gradually increased.
Tefnin
Later in the reign, Deir el-Bahri statues and reliefs cover the full range of kingly iconography and further changes include alterations to the face of Hatshepsut—more asexual/ asensual image of ruler.
Tefnin
By causing herself to be depicted as a traditional pharaoh in the most regal and heroic form, Hatshepsut was making sure that this is precisely what she would become.
Hayes
“The evidence for foreign military campaigns is more plentiful than is sometimes thought; and it may well be that the reason there is not more is because Thutmose III destroyed it…”
Redford
Hatshepsut’s military actions were eclipsed by Thutmose III’s brilliant career after her death, but her campaigns are comparable with those before her.
Redford
During the co-reign of the kings the Third Cataract region of Nubia was finally made stable and Egyptian control was extended as far as the Fourth Cataract.
O’Connor
“Hatshepsut was not blind to the need of bolstering Egypt’s economy”
Redford
Her expedition to Punt, the ‘God’s Land’, in year 9 of the co-regency was very significant to her, possibly the most important event of her reign.
Bentley
The main purpose of the Punt expedition was to bring back incense for the Temple of Amun, Thebes in leaf form and full-grown trees for the gardens.
Bentley
Through her ex[edition to Punt Hatshepsut would honour Amun, open up trade and possibly reward the support of the Amun priesthood.
Bentley
“Ideology needs architecture for its fullest expression.”
Kemp
“We must conclude from her repeated references to it that a building program had top priority”
Redford
“It is unfortunate that the evidence for Hatshepsut’s full building program is so sketchy. It is obvious she made considerable changes to the temple at Karnak and that her mortuary temple was like no other. Fragments of evidence suggest an active building program all over Egypt, but so much of her work was later altered or damaged it is very difficult to make an accurate assessment”
Lawless
Deir el Bahri was a platform on which she installed her ideas about the cosmos and her place within it.
Callender
The Hypostile hall at Deir el Bahri was an original concept.
Callender
The three terracesat Deir el Bahri wer created to be an explicit expression of three key aspects of the nature of Amun-Re as defined by Hatshepsut’s theological innovations.
Alison Roberts (drawing on Assman’s work)
Hatshepsut’s reign was the “starting point of the revolutionary changes that occurred in the religious history of the New Kingdom.”
Jan Assman
The concept of Amun-Re: Hatshepsut defined new aspects of Amun-Re including Amun-Re the city god, ruler god, primeval god, creator god, sun-god and ethical authority. Offering prayers express these in as epithets eg. the offering prayer to Amun-Re on the tomb stela of Amenemhat.
Jan Assman
The worship of Amun not only included the outward display of ritual but also conscious inner devotion – it required moral behaviour and personal integrity.
Jan Assman
Religious aspects of the ideology of kingship: later pharaohs also claimed to be directly chosen by Amun-Re. Amenhotep III and Rameses II even copied her Divine Birth Scenes. Hatshesput seems to have wanted to strengthen the relationship between the king and Amun-Re, thus developing the ideology of kingship. Her actions were not just about stressing her legitimacy.
Jan Assman
The merging of Isis and Hathor went on to be a popular theme in the ideology of kingship under later kings of the 18th and 19th Dynasties.
Roberts
Under the earlier kings of the 18th Dynasty, Amun/ the Amun cult became a possessor of vast riches due to the kings’ donation of all booty to the state god.
Redford
The Amun Priests were always subordinate to the king and could never undertake politically disturbing theological initiative.
O’Connor
Hatshepsut would have also inherited some of her supporters from her father’s and husband’s administrations, such as Ineni and Ahmose-pen-Nehkbet.
Redford
The number of titleholders associated with the cult of Amen-Re (including women as well) increased sharply during her reign.
Bryan
The Amun priesthood was the backbone of Hatshepsut’s administration, especially Hapuseneb.
Callender
Hapuseneb gained considerable power over the civil administration when he became overseer of all prophets.
Lawless
Hatshepsut relied on the cult of Amun to strengthen her position.
Redford
Temple establishments were on the whole more subject to political manipulation and exploitation, rather than initiators of such activity. The high priests of Amun were undoubtedly high-ranking and influential figures but “we must not exaggerate their political importance”.
O’Connor
The king was the chief channel of divine power and guidance. The priests could not undertake politically disturbing ideology.
O’Connor
Hapusoneb was Hatshepsut’s most influential supporter and must have lent considerable support.
Redford and Bradley
Hapusoneb took charge of her monuments at Karnak.
Callender
The formation of the priesthood of all of Egypt into a coherent organisation under a single individual for the first time probably meant that all the priesthood were on Hatshepsut’s side.
Breasted
Hapusoneb He controlled the civil bureaucracy. However, he may have been appointed to this later in the reign.
Bradley
“The backbone of her administration lay in the powerful priesthood of Amun”
Callender
Hatshepsut carefully chose officials and built up a “political support system”. Their careers and fortunes became linked to hers.
Robins
Hatshepsut could not have ruled without strong male advisors to aid her.
Gardiner
Hatshepsut needed a skilled and huge bureaucracy, but not because she was female and ‘incapable’—all kings needed one! Also, there is no evidence for the two opposing ‘parties’ of officials argued by some Egyptologists.
Lawless
There were two opposing ‘parties’ of officials—those who supported Thutmose III and those who supported Hatshepsut.
Wilson
Senenmut “appears to have been something of a power behind the throne”. He was one of the officials among her “circle of favourites”. Most of these were “new men”.
Redford
Senenmut was Hatshepsut’s main advisor and gained enormous power and influence.
Lawless
Senenmut was a man of low origin but also the power behind the throne.
Redford
Senenmut was the most famous of all her officials, but it is unlikely he has a sexual liaison with her.
Callender
Senenmut enjoyed privileges and prerogatives never before extended to a mere official.
Hayes
Senenmut is a “controversial figure”.
Bradley
Senenmut was a competent administrator and financial manager.
Callender
Senenmut was allowed to represent himself at least 70 times in out-of-the-way places in Deir el-Bahri worshipping Amun and Hatshepsut
Hayes
Senenmut quarried and executed a sarcophagus of a royal type and built a tomb similar to Hatshepsut’s own under the forecourt of her Deir el-Bahri temple
Hayes
It is unlikely that Senenmut’s memory was reviled by the sovereigns he served. There is a statue of him which still stands in Thutmose III’s mortuary temple.
Dorman
This relationship has intrigued historians because Senenmut (a) arguably ‘enjoyed privileges never before extended to a mere official’
Hayes
Senenmut rose from the ‘middle class’ and held various positions under Thutmose I to Thutmose II.
Callender
Under Hatshepsut, Senenmut was appointed steward and tutor to her daughter Neferure and by Year 7 Steward of the property belonging to Neferure and Hatshepsut.
Callender
Hatshepsut would have despised his inferior birth and believed she had a right to the throne as daughter of the King’s Great Wife.
Redford and Bentley
Hatshepsut eventually intended to begin a matrilineal line of kings with Neferure.
Bentley
The erecting of the two obelisks was a kingly prerogative.
Robins
Thutmose III could have easily used his control of the military against Hatshepsut if he desired her removal.
Tyldesley
Neferure disappears from the record having probably died before her mother.
Murnane
Recent research on the Red Chapel has shown that Thutmose III did not begin Damnatio Memorare until Year 42 of his reign. Twenty years is too long to hold a grudge.
Nims
Thutmose III felt Hatshepsut’s name and image (Damnatio Memorare) had to be removed for political expediency because her rule had not been in accordance with ma’at.
Robins
Hatshepsut’s relationship with Thutmose III was “fundamentally amicable”.
O’Connor
Hatshepsut despised Thutmose II’s inferior birth and therefore his son’s.
Bentley
Hatshepsut was “outraged by Thutmose III’s succession, but she waited for her moment to strike”. There may have even been an agreement between Hatshepsut and Thutmose II on the succession of Neferure.
Redford
As regent, Hatshepsut took on the customary role. She was depicted on official monuments behind Thutmose III. It all seemed reasonable until Thutmose III came of age.
Bradley
Hatshepsut departed from queenly precedents in some ways during the regency (iconography; erected obelisks etc).
Robins
The coregency was “unconstitutional”. She ‘usurped’ the crown and she was the dominant partner until he was about the age of 30.
Callender
“There was no opposition (from Thutmose III). Why should there be? Thutmose was allowed to retain the outward show of kingship, and his aunt even allowed him to appear behind her in reliefs… It is not at all improbable that Thutmose III was thrust into the army as a child at the queen’s behest,
Redford
Hatshepsut came to an unnatural end in a coup by Thutmose III.
Steindorf and Seele
Some of Hatshepsut’s supporters went over to the side of Thutmose III towards the end of the coregency, he killed her and even destroyed her mummy.
Mertz
At the beginning of his sole rule Thutmose III started a ferocious campaign to efface Hatshepsut’s memory, his motives being vengeance and fury
Gardiner and Wilson
