Hatshepsut: The First Female Egyptian Pharaoh
HATSHEPSUT: THE FIRST FEMALE EGYPTIAN PHARAOH 2
Hatshepsut
King/Queen Hatshepsut (the Foremost of Women) was the first female Egyptian pharaoh. Hatshepsut influenced people's reactions toward how they think about women in power, both in her time and in the history of the world. After all her hard work in changing peoples' perspective, once Hatshepsut passed away her step-son (Thutmose III) destroyed her proposal for women's rights and most of the information about Hatsheput's rule or existence. Hatshepsut’s significant achievements in architecture and the artistic progress made Ancient Egypt one of the most successful world civilizations. The story of Hatshepsut’s birth was a divine and unique birth. Amen-Re was the most famous God of the eighteenth century B.C.E. One day he told twelve of the less high powered gods that he was going to father a child who will receive “all lands and all countries” (Dell, 2009, p. 25). Amen-Re took the form of Hatshepsut's father (Thutmose I) and walked into Ahmose's room (Hatshepsut's mother). As Ahmose and Amen-Re (Thutmose I) (Dell, 2009) were talking Amen-Re breathed breath into Ahmose mouth and a child was conceived; Amen-Re (Thutmose I) named the baby Hatshepsut Khnement-Amen “joined with Amen, Foremost of Noblewomen” (Dell, 2009, p. 25). Amen-Re (Thutmose I) told Ahmose that the child just conceived is “destined to be king” (Dell, 2009). When Hatshepsut was only twelve years old she and her half-brother Thutmose II married to keep the royal family intact after Thutmose I's death. Hatshepsut's marriage was normal at the time to keep the royal family intact. After Hatshepsut and Thutmose II married, they had two daughters together (Cooney, 2014). One was named Neferure; the other one died at a young age and was never really spoken or known of. Hatshepsut and Thutmose II also conceived a boy that Hatshepsut denied. Thutmose II had
HATSHEPSUT: THE FIRST FEMALE EGYPTIAN PHARAOH 3 another child by Isis (a goddess) who they named Thutmose III. About after four years of marriage with Hatshepsut, Thutmose II died. After Thutmose II died, Thutmose III was only an infant when he took the throne. Isis, Thutmose III's mother, was supposed to take the throne but did not want that much authority. Hatshepsut saw an opportunity and offered to take throne until Thutmose III was old enough to rule on his own (Cooney. 2014). Hatshepsut was only sixteen years old at the time when she ruled unofficially on behalf of Thutmose III (who was a mere toddler king). After ruling for about twenty years Hatshepsut passed away. Although historians really do not know how Hatshepsut died, theories say she died of a blood infection. Hatshepsut was buried next to her father Thutmose I in the Valley of Kings tomb. After Hatshepsut died, her step-son Thutmose III took revenge on Hatshepsut. Thutmose III emphasized his relationship with his father Thutmose II and did not even emphasize that his step-mother was Hatshepsut. After Hatshepsut had been dead for twenty years, Thutmose III wiped out most of the evidence to even show that Hatshepsut was King or had even been born. Thutmose III believed that Hatshepsut was a wicked step mother who had tried to take the throne away from him (Nguyen, Bridges, 2010). The historical context of the era that Hatshepsut ruled it was very hard to please everyone because she was a women ruler. Women were not eligible to take throne. The people of Egypt did not believe that a women could do what a man could. “The social ladder was hard to get to the top” (“Ancient History,” 2014), but as Hatshepsut was the daughter of the king she was already at the top. So getting the people of Egypt to like her was not so hard to do. The people of Egypt had strict religious beliefs about what a pharaoh should do while he was