How did this female pharaoh survive being erased from history?

Hatshepsut ruled Egypt, first as co-regent and then as pharaoh, for a total of 21 years. She was one of the few women in Egyptian history to retain power for so long. She reigned during one of ancient Egypt’s golden ages, when Egypt was awash with wealth. Hatshepsut built monumental works all over the nation: a myriad of temples and shrines, four giant obelisks at the Temple of Amun at Karnak, and countless artworks celebrating her accomplishments and immortalizing her prayers.

But many of these works were defaced and destroyed after her death in 1458 B.C. Hatshepsut’s successor, Thutmose III, one of Egypt’s greatest pharaohs, led the charge to erase her name from history. Her likeness was chiseled away from monuments, and her statues and works destroyed. Nevertheless, following a major, 20th-century reconstruction, Hatshepsut’s massive temple at Deir el Bahri (Arabic for “northern monastery”) still stands today, sheltered beneath the red rocks of a cliff face. This architectural wonder captivated the ancient world with its beauty and is a testament to Hatshepsut’s glory and her devotion to the gods.

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The pharaoh’s gazeHatshepsut appears as a lion-headed sphinx. She donned the traditionally male symbols of a lion’s mane and a pharaoh’s false beard that indicate royalty.

Kenneth Garrett

Woman who would be king

Hatshepsut was born around 1507 B.C. to Thutmose I and his great royal wife, Queen Ahmose. Hatshepsut would marry her half brother and heir to the throne, Thutmose II, becoming his great royal wife. Thutmose II died young, leaving behind a two-year-old son (born to a secondary wife) as his heir. The child was too young to rule, so Hatshepsut, the boy’s aunt and stepmother, ruled for him.

Hatshepsut gradually transformed her role from queen regent to outright pharaoh. When Thutmose III was older he became her second-in-command, but he would not rule outright as pharaoh until after her death around 1458 B.C. His reign would be glorious, filled with triumphs all his own. But while he ruled, a systematic campaign attempted to erase Pharaoh Hatshepsut. Millennia later, archaeologists would put the pieces back together to restore Hatshepsut’s place in history.

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Thutmose III, Hatshepsut’s stepson and co-regent, is seen in a colored relief from Deir el Bahri from the mid-second millennium B.C.

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Million-year temples

In the New Kingdom period, Hatshepsut was one of the first pharaohs who built the so-called Temples of Millions of Years on the western bank of the Nile, opposite the city of Thebes (modern-day Luxor). Five centuries earlier, in Middle Kingdom times, Pharaoh Mentuhotep II had erected the first mortuary temple here. Perhaps inspired by Mentuhotep, Hatshepsut installed her massive complex at the foot of a cliff, a site now known as Deir el Bahri. The sacred location had been consecrated to the goddess Hathor, protector of the dead and an important funerary deity in Thebes.

The sanctuary of Hathor featured many stone reliefs of the Egyptian goddess, like this one, who was the traditional guardian of the Deir el Bahri area.

Scala, Florence

Hatshepsut’s temple had a sanctuary honoring the goddess Hathor, who was sometimes depicted as a cow. The exterior featured stylized capitals decorated with representations of the goddess, with horns and bovine ears.

Wolfgang Kaehler/Alamy/ACI

In these temples, pharaohs would be worshipped after their deaths. Their mummies, meanwhile, rested elsewhere, entombed in private underground chambers in the Valley of the Kings. As well as being used for royal funerals, the Temples of Millions of Years were the focus for other rituals: some related to royalty, others to deities including the Theban god Amun and the sun god Re. Of all the mortuary temples, Hatshepsut’s would become the main cult structure of the Theban complex.

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Senenmut, depicted in a circa 1475 B.C. block statue, oversaw construction of Hatshepsut’s temple.

BPK/Scala, Florence

Construction lasted some 15 years and was carried out under the supervision of Senenmut, a high official and favorite of the pharaoh. The imposing building incorporated ramps and courtyards like the nearby Mentuhotep temple, but Senenmut introduced a number of innovations to create a building of unequaled magnificence. It came to be known as Djeser-Djeseru: “holy of holies.”

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Most New Kingdom commemorative temples featured chambers separated by monumental gateways (pylons), like those that can still be seen at Luxor and Karnak. Hatshepsut’s temple, on the other hand, was arranged around a central ramp or causeway. Spread along this causeway at different heights were three large courtyards.

Today, the walls and courtyards of Hatshepsut’s temple might look somewhat plain. In her time they would have been filled with vibrant color, surrounded by lush gardens and pools and richly decorated with sculpture and reliefs. Each decorative element conveyed a religious or political message, in keeping with the ceremonial use of the building.

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The temples of millions of yearsIn 1955 National Geographic photographer David Boyer captured this splendid image of Hatshepsut’s temple at sunrise, more than 3,000 years after its construction.

David Boyer/National Geographic Image Collection

Sacred alignments

The layout of Hatshepsut’s temple was carefully designed. Most obviously, it was positioned to align perfectly with the Temple of Amun at Karnak, on the opposite bank of the Nile. In addition, the precise east-west alignment of its central causeway mirrored the daily path of the sun, or, according to the beliefs of the day, the path of the god Re.

The temple was also aligned with the Valley of the Kings, which lies to the west. This royal necropolis had been inaugurated by Hatshepsut’s father, Thutmose I. In fact, tomb KV20, the burial place of Hatshepsut and Thutmose I, lies in a straight line from the sanctuary of Amun, the innermost chamber of Hatshepsut’s temple. Some experts have suggested that the original plan was to connect KV20 with the sanctuary of Amun via a tunnel through the interposing cliff, but the poor quality of the rock prevented it.

Two illustrations show the temple at its height of grandeur. In one, a grand walkway leading to Hatshepsut’s temple was made for visitors, with the mortuary complexes of Mentuhotep II and Thutmose III next door. Then, a view of the temple at the foot of the cliff at Deir el Bahri. It was perfectly aligned with the Temple of Amun in Thebes, on the eastern bank of the Nile, as shown by an artistic reconstruction by Jean-Claude Golvin.

Balage Balogh/RMN-Grand Palais (Top) (Left) and Alamy/ACI (Bottom) (Right)

Stone balustrades flank the central ramp, guarded by imposing stone lions. A colonnade separates the first and second courtyards. To highlight Hatshepsut’s piety and devotion, reliefs depict two massive obelisks on their way to the Temple of Amun at Karnak.

Around the second courtyard are famous reliefs showing a trading expedition that Hatshepsut sent to the Land of Punt, believed to be located on the Horn of Africa. Myrrh trees were brought back from this expedition and planted in the temple complex. Their resin would later be used in temple rituals.

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Treasures from punt

Myrrh trees are represented in a relief on the portico of Punt at Deir el Bahri.

Kenneth Garrett

Splendid reliefs were carved on the portico of the second courtyard of the temple at Deir el Bahri. Some depict Hatshepsut’s expedition to the Land of Punt in the eighth and ninth years of her reign. The reliefs provide a glimpse of the terrain, fauna, flora, and inhabitants of this enigmatic land, perhaps located in the Horn of Africa or in the south of the Arabian Peninsula.                 
The expedition reached Punt by sailing along the shores of the Red Sea. The Egyptians loaded their ships with a cargo of ivory, cinnamon, incense, cosmetics, and animal skins. They also took home myrrh trees, which were planted in Hatshepsut’s temple complex. The relief on the portico highlights these myrrh trees and also depicts Hatshepsut presenting the cargo from Punt to the god Amun as an offering.

Other reliefs represent the divine birth of Hatshepsut, who, according to tradition, had been begotten by the god Amun-Re during a visit he made to Ahmose, the wife of Thutmose I. Her divine origin was an important tool in legitimizing Hatshepsut’s rule over Egypt. In the second courtyard there are also two sanctuaries: one dedicated to Hathor and the other to Anubis, a funerary god.

Twenty-four colossal Osirides—statues of Pharaoh Hatshepsut as Osiris, god of the after-life—flanked the entrance to the third courtyard. She wears the false beard (postiche) and the double crown of Upper and Lower Egypt (pschent), and she holds the symbols of royalty. This uppermost courtyard had sanctuaries dedicated to the royal cult, to the solar god Re-Horakhty, and to Anubis.

In the central part of this last courtyard stood the temple’s innermost chambers, a sanctuary dedicated to Amun-Re. Inside were three adjoining chambers decorated with scenes of Hatshepsut and the god Amun.

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Hatshepsut had several sacred spaces built within her temple at Deir el Bahri. Among the most famous is the sanctuary honoring Hathor, one of Egypt’s oldest goddesses. A splendid procession was held in Hathor’s honor, involving boats crossing the Nile loaded with sacred images and divine offerings. This festive procession was depicted on a four-panel relief in the sanctuary to Hathor, shown by this 1888 reproduction by Swiss Egyptologist Édouard Naville. These colorful panels were defaced after Hatshepsut’s reign and many figures scratched out. What remains nonetheless reveals the opulence and splendor during her rule. On the upper panels numerous oarsmen row many boats loaded with goods intended for the goddess. Smaller vessels served as escorts for the two main ships. Both boats feature a throne on deck for the pharaoh. Some scholars believe that where Hatshepsut would be expected to appear was indicated by the presence of large fans. The lower panel shows a colorful parade of men carrying various types of objects. Some bear weapons: axes, shields, and spears. Others carry branches, fans, and banners; they belonged to the pharaoh’s guard. Coming up in the rear are dancers as well as a leashed lion.

Heidelberg University Library

The sanctuary of Amun-Re was the main setting for a ceremony that was celebrated every year in Thebes: the Beautiful Festival of the Valley. The celebration dates back to the Middle Kingdom and reached new heights in Hatshepsut’s time. Badly deteriorated reliefs that run along the upper courtyard of Hatshepsut’s temple depict the festivities. During the second month of the harvest season (shemu) in early summer, the pharaoh would lead a procession bearing the image of Amun followed by a retinue of nobles, priests, dancers, and soldiers. They would begin at Karnak Temple, cross the Nile, and visit the mortuary temples.

After her death, Hatshepsut was intentionally consigned to oblivion by Thutmose III. He ordered the demolition of all statues, monuments, and representations of her, including depictions on her temple. Yet the building remained on the western bank of the Nile. Each year it still hosted the most dazzling festival of the Theban necropolis, standing strong through the millennia, a lasting testament to the pharaoh who built it.

(Meet the woman who helped save Egypt’s temples from certain doom)

Hatshepsut’s sarcophagus was discovered by Howard Carter in tomb K20 in the Valley of the Kings in 1903, but her mummy was not inside. The sarcophagus was reused for Hatshepsut’s father, Thutmose I.

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston/Scala, Florence

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