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Home , Ahmose (queen), Akhenaten, Amun, Ay, Hathor, Hatshepsut

Bridgewater Review

Volume 20 | Issue 2 Article 7

Dec-2001 : A Female King of and her Architecture Roger Dunn Bridgewater State College, [email protected]

Recommended Citation Dunn, Roger (2001). Hatshepsut: A Female King of Egypt and her Architecture. Bridgewater Review, 20(2), 10-14. Available at: http://vc.bridgew.edu/br_rev/vol20/iss2/7

This item is available as part of Virtual Commons, the open-access institutional repository of Bridgewater State University, Bridgewater, Massachusetts. HATSHEPSUT: A FEMALE KING OF EGYPT AND HER ARCHITECTURE ROGER DUNN by aCART grant.For anarthistorian, works ofartand 2001,madepossible tourofEgyptinJanuary mentary templeduringaresearch anddocu- visited herfunerary Hatshepsut’s eternalexistencebythushonoringher),I Fulfilling agoalIhadformyself(whilehelping toassure of theking,assuringhiseternityinafterlife. impressiveness thecontinuedmemory wouldpreserve long aftertheking’sdeath.Anditspermanenceand going ritualstothedivinekingandfavored ,even temple providedaplacefortheon- , thefunerary failed toinsure.somedistanceawayfromthe Located treasures whichtheprominentearlypyramids had ofThebes,seekingasecurityforthemummyand in thecliffsonwestsideofNilefromcapital power. Incontrast,royaltombswere nowhiddenaway to communicateposteritytheirimportanceand sought anenduringmonumentoftemplearchitecture effect. EgyptiankingsintheNewKingdomperiod quite likeitinarchitecture initsdesign,sitingand whetherbuiltbyafemaleormale.There isnothing ry patron aspecialroleinEgyptianandarchitecturalhisto- ple, hergreatest visiblelegacy. Itwouldhaveearnedits - This isexpressed aswellinHatshepsut’sfunerary be mistakenforanythingbutalegitimatepharaoh. depictsherasasphinx.Shemadesure notto regal attire wouldhaveleftherchestbare. Theother , withchinbeard, kiltandlinenheaddress. This New York, oneshowingherinthetraditionalguiseof two ofherattheMetropolitanMuseumin 1504-1483 b.c.e.Ihadviewedonseveraloccasionsthe the importanceofherreign, whichlastedfromabout to jects. Sheleftbehindanumberofartifactstestifying female patronoflarge-scaleartandarchitecturalpro- andthefirstrecordedrecorded femalerulerinhistory king andappeared inpublicasone.Sheisthefirst woman whocametothethroneundertitlesofa more fascinatedbythepharaohnamedHatshepsut,a co-teach withMercedesNuñez,Ibecamemore and developing thecourse coursesthatcoverancientEgypt,andlaterin survey During myyearsofteachingtheartandarchitectural THE PILGRIMAGE A Female Kingof Egypt andherArchitecture Women intheVisual Arts , whichI Hatshepsut by Roger Dunn king toanotherthroughconnection tothelineofroyal Pharaoh).” Title andpowerwere passedonfromone title “’sWife or“MotheroftheGod(the ofAmun” women asconsortsofAmun,whosometimesbore the the great godgaveenormousimportancetotheroyal man. However, thisbeliefthatthepharaohwassired by Egypt toonewhowasa torical andreligious traditionsthatrestricted theruleof remarkable womanwhoovercamethelong-revered his- to holdthispositionfortwodecades,istestamenta Hatshepsut’s risetotherankofpharaoh,andherability ROYAL WOMENANDKINGSHIP honor? putting herselfinpositiontocreate suchworksinher placed herselfonthemalethroneofkingEgypt, tographs ofthetemple.ButhowcouldHatshepsuthave I neverhaveseenthemeffectivelydepictedinpho- withthecowgoddess’head, but each beautifullycarved chapelare lennia. AsequenceofcolumnsinHathor’s predate thefamousGothiconesbytwoandahalfmil- asrainspoutsand the -head“gargoyles”thatserve “read” andunderstand.There were discoveries,suchas and otherproduce,were remarkably colorfulandeasyto as thepaintingsofheapedupsacrificesbulls,grain meaningful whenviewedintheircontext.Details,such the kingandHatshepsutgreeting Hathorwasmore the royalcoupleoflandPunt bringingofferingsto impact. To seethemuch-reproduced paintedreliefs of scale andsequenceofspacesremain andhavetheir losses there are intermsoforiginaldecorativeeffect,the from thevastflatdeserttosoaringgrandeur. Whatever ascending therampstowards thecliffsisoneofmoving The templedidnotdisappoint.experienceof edge andenthusiasmfortheworksthanbefore. then becommunicatedtostudentswithgreater knowl- is especiallytrueofarchitecture. Suchdirect studycan description replace theexperienceofworkitself. This importantbecausenoreproduction andtext very be abletoviewfirst-handtheworksoneteachesaboutis documentsofresearch.architecture To are theprimary son of thegodAmun,hencea females. For a man born into the royal family, this legiti- vives in which , fearing for her situation, mate rule usually came from his if she was a asks the king of the , the enemies of Egypt, to queen, though otherwise he might derive his authority— send her a prince. In it she states she would marry him or further enhance it—through marriage to another royal and he would become king of Egypt. This plan was woman, including his sister, half-sister, aunt, niece, or foiled with the assassination of the prince enroute, and even his own daughter. Such incestuous unions are Ankhesenamun was married to her elderly grandfather documented in Egyptian history, though some scholars , who then became king. Upon his not long still dispute the concept of matrilineal succession. Even afterwards, she was wed to the general , a so, history records a number of instances in which a non- non-royal who became pharaoh simply through this royal male attained kingship of Egypt by marrying a marriage. Thus through marriage she had validated the royal woman. kingship of four men, and had promised it to another who was not even Egyptian. A good example of how royal women could legitimize a man’s right to be king is found about a century after It is no surprise then that, even though women rarely Hatshepsut in Ankhesenamun (originally ruled directly, they often exercised great authority with- Ankhesenpaaten), one of seven daughters of the heretic in the court. Within this context Hatshepsut’s story is pharaoh and Queen , the pharaoh’s still exceptional. Her father was I, a non- first cousin. When abandoned by his queen, who royal general who became king by marrying the previ- have sided with the priesthood in overthrowing him, ous pharaoh’s sister, . Hatshepsut’s abilities as a Akhenaten married his daughter, who was perhaps no leader and administrator were apparently so evident as a more than eleven years old. During their marriage she young woman (perhaps only aged 15), that she was bore her father a daughter. At his death, Ankhesenamun named co-regent by her father toward the end of his was married to Tutankhamen (King ), who may have reign. To assure the passage of power to one of the been her uncle, nephew, or brother. He came to the pharaoh’s own sons, she was married to her half-broth- at the age of nine and died nine or ten years later, er, the son of a minor wife, who thus succeeded their so she was a few years older than he was. Within the father to rule no more than three years as Thutmose II famous contents of his tomb is a throne whose back sup- until his own death. This union begat the princess port is adorned with a scene in hammered of , but no male heir. Thus the chosen successor of Ankhesenamun her husband. This is more Thutmose III was his three-year-old son born of a con- than a tender image of the couple, as sometimes interpreted, for it depicts a ritual whose significance relates to the object it appears on and its symbolic location where it supports the king’s “upright” position on the throne. Other items within the tomb similarly depict scenes of her favor toward him and her support of his rule. Such images of a queen embracing or anoint- ing her husband are not uncommon in dynastic Egyptian art. When Tutankhamen died due to uncer- tain causes ( is suspected), there was a power struggle in the court, and Ankhesenamun remained a pawn of the priesthood and powerful members of her family, particularly her grand- mother Queen Tiy. A document sur- Funerary Temple of Hatshepsut

BRIDGEWATER REVIEW DECEMBER 2001 11 HATSHEPSUT: A FEMALE KING OF EGYPT AND HER ARCHITECTURE ROGER DUNN her successor, perhapsresenting themanyyearswhen reign andlifeended.We cansuspecttheworst,because throw her, thoughnothingisknownofexactlyhowher III becameoldenoughandpowerfultoover- exotic newgoodsfromdistantlands.IntimeThutmose for Egyptiangoodswhilebringinginluxuriousand were aimedatexpandingtrade,creating new markets order andincreased prosperity, inwhichherefforts Hatshepsut’s reign wasoneofrelative peace,internal king. Inscriptions refer toherasmaleandusethetitlesof as sphinxandintheformofOsiris,GodDead. physique. Aswithotherkings,shealsowasportrayed ditional colorformen,andsheisdepictedwithmale ously noted.Inpaintingsherskinisred-brown, thetra- traditional roleandappearanceofthepharaoh,asprevi- temple.Hatshepsuttookcare tofollowthe her funerary Thutmose Iare toldinthereliefs andhieroglyphicsof andthatofHatshepsutbeingcrownedaskingby story queen’s husband—’s usual husband—Amun’s queen’s result ofavisitfromAmun, takingtheguiseof , Hatshepsutwasconceivedbyhermotherasa A mythologywasspuntoreveal that,aswithother reign. it isknownthatshedidnotoutlivehermother’s ofNeferure isuncertain, Neferure. Thoughthehistory upon him,themostimportantwastutortoprincess tion. Ofthemanytitlesandareas ofauthorityheaped became themostpowerfulmemberofheradministra- Amun, ,amansheelevatedtohighrankwho important supporterwastheChiefSteward ofthegod priesthood. Infactan court andamongthe had achievedwithinthe and supportshealready reveals thelevelofpower Thutmose III.Thisact nominally co-rulerwith pharaoh herself, though title andfullauthorityof regent, thenassumedthe ashis she firstserved her nephewandstepson, Thutmose III,whowas herdaughterto marrying imized thischoiceby that Hatshepsutlegit- Though itseemslikely woman ofroyalblood. cubine—obviously nota modus operandi . This ing 320tons.Theywere originally gold-leafedontheir wasofasinglestone88-1/2 feethighandweigh- hypostyle hallbuiltbyherfather, ThutmoseI.Each (onestillstanding)placedwithinthesmall ing totheTemple wife),andtwo ofMut(Amun’s (entrancefacade)alongthesouthernroutelead- fromhercontributionstothistempleare a Surviving most importantreligious centerinallofEgypt. pharaohs includingHatshepsut.Karnakhadbecomethe pantheon andwho,ofcourse,wasthefatherall importancewithintheEgyptian had risentoprimary , thecenterofcultAmun,asungodwho Particularly importantwasthegreat temple complexat ble rulersecuringthebestforEgypt. self andherpeople;sheprovedthatwasaresponsi- Hatshepsut assured divinefavorandprosperityforher- architectural patron.Throughthesebuildingprojects, to thecommitmentandprideshefeltinthisroleof fromHatshepsut’sreign attest Inscriptions thatsurvive and addingtothetemplesbuiltbytheirpredecessors. addition, pharaohsearnedpraisebyrestoring, adorning names, images,andlistsofachievementsthroughout.In adorned theirmonumentsrichly, andinscribed their ness inthislifeandthenext,pharaohsbuiltgrandly, To assure thecontinuationoftheirexistenceandgreat- PATRON OFARCHITECTURE The commandwasonlypartiallycarriedout. andintheafterlife. existence, bothinearthlymemory temple.Inthiswayhewoulddestroyhervery funerary sculpted imagesandmonuments,includingherown later inhisreign thathernameberemoved fromall he waskeptfromcomingtopower, commandedmuch from hertemple. Hatshepsut asOsiris of pyramidal peaks, and gold would have also embellished the temple, each faced with double colonnades. the hieroglyphics on all four sides of each tapering shaft. (Though most descriptions refer to these as “colon- As was typical, the hieroglyphs on these obelisks express nades,” in fact many of the supports here are square Hatshepsut’s self-praise for her generous gift to the god, piers.) The piers of the outer colonnade of the upper ter- along with the expectation that the gift would assure race were fronted by painted limestone statues of the perpetuation of her memory into eternity. The Hatshepsut standing in mummiform pose with arms inscription reads as follows: crossing her torso in the pose of , God of the Dead. Some of these still sur- [These obelisks] are of hard granite from the vive, though mostly quarries of the South; their tops are of fine gold fragmentary and with- chosen from the best in all foreign lands. They out their original paint. can be seen from afar on the river; the splendor of their radiance fills the Two Lands, and when The approach from one the solar disk appears between them it is truly as to another is by if he rose up into the horizon of the sky.... You means of ramps that fol- who after long years shall see these monuments, low the processional who shall speak of what I have done, you will route into the cliff face. say, “We do not know, we do not know how At the end of the ramps they can have made a whole mountain of gold.”... a ceremonial gate gives To gild them I have given gold measured by the entrance to a colonnad- bushel, as though it were sacks of grain,…for I ed courtyard, which is knew that Karnak is the celestial horizon of the surrounded on three earth (Translation from Will Durant, Our sides by sanctuaries usu- Oriental Heritage). ally attributed to the Amun, , , However, Hatshepsut is best known in architecture for , and of course her funerary temple, built on the west side of the Hatshepsut herself as across the river from Amun’s temple and aligned with it well as a chapel to her on a west-east axis, establishing a close connection with father, . the critical to the legitimacy of her reign. Her tem- Some of these are within ple is next to the funerary temple of the earlier pharaoh the cliff. As previously Nebhepetra , built more than five centuries noted, her connection to before during the Middle Kingdom period. Once Thebes, the deity Amun is today the location is known as Deir Bahari. Both tem- further established by ples were built against the cliffs, with sanctuaries carved the alignment of her into the cliff rock. The site adds dramatically to the with temple with that of Amun at Karnak head of Hathor; effect of the architecture. While they follow a thousand across the river. It was intended that funerary temple year old tradition of cliff built by provincial gov- of Hatshepsut yearly the small solid gold of ernors and other nobles, Hatshepsut’s funerary temple is Amun journey from his sanctuary at much grander and shows a particularly sensitive Karnak to cross the river and be placed approach of the architectural design strongly related to in his chapel in Hatshepsut’s temple, a site. The vertical projections and crevices of the cliffs are ceremony called the Festival of Wadi. echoed in the pattern of dark and lights created by the Under Thutmose III, the temple remained a cult center colonnades on the three terraces. The ascent of the of Amun-Ra and Hathor, and the Festival was continued ramps and terraces gives emphasis to the soaring cliffs. It even though he abolished the cult of Hatshepsut. is important to note that this was not the place of Hatshepsut, for that was hidden within the cliffs The supporting posts of the colonnades vary from those beyond. This temple was for the continued rituals that square in section to those faceted with eight or sixteen honored her as a deity, and assured her favored associa- sides. The latter bear a resemblance to the later Greek tion with other powerful and personal gods. Doric , and may have been a type that influ- enced the columns used in such temples as the The temple is typical in being designed around a long almost a millennium later. The austerity of axis. From the Nile River valley, an avenue of bearing the face of Hatshepsut once led to the terraces of

BRIDGEWATER REVIEW DECEMBER 2001 13 HATSHEPSUT: A FEMALE KING OF EGYPT AND HER ARCHITECTURE ROGER DUNN partly avisionconceivedbyhis patron. ofbuilding,thoughsurely itsdesign wasatleast tory one ofthegreatest architectsinEgypt’sphenomenalhis- most intimateconsort.Hisachievementhere makeshim daughter thatithasbeenassumedhewastheking’s appear sofrequently withHatshepsut’sandthoseofher its imagesandhieroglyphics.Infact,hisnameimage struction ofthistempleandisidentifiedseveraltimesin thedesignandcon- Hence, hewouldhavesupervised “Overseer ofOverseersAlltheWorks oftheKing.” Senenmut, whosemanyhigh-rankingtitlesincluded The probablearchitectofthismasterpiecewas imagined now. place withinthedesertagainstcliffscanonlybe of thistemplecomplex.Theoriginalsplendor and fruitingtrees andshrubsthatadornedtheterraces grant myrrhtrees, thebasisforgardens offlowering Among theacquisitionsfromthisexpeditionwere fra- shown withtheirretinue bearinggiftsforHatshepsut. who metthestandards ofbeautyherculture, are two lands.Punt’s KingandQueen,acorpulentwoman day ),inaquesttopromotetradebetweenthe achievement, theexpeditiontoPunt (probablypresent- nence aswellisapaintedrelief ofHatshepsut’sproudest Queen Ahmose,Hatshepsut’smother. Givenpromi- which Amun,takingtheformofThutmoseI,visits example, shownononewallisthepharaoh’sbirth,in inner wallshavepaintthatisremarkably For preserved. onthe gilded, thoughsomeoftheshallowrelief carvings coloredfact thatitssurfaceswere and oncerichlycarved, the present conditionofHatshepsut’stemplebeliesthe porality thattogetherdefinethepassageoftime. baseness ofhumanendeavors,andtheeternitytem- Hatshepsut’s temple,feelingboththegreatness and of thatrecent tragedyaddedtomyemotionsinvisiting and Swisstourgroups.Beingwithinthedramaticspace , somethirtywere killed,membersofJapanese the chapelofHathor, aprotectiveandpowerfulmother to fleesafetybehindthepostsandcolumnsinto on theopenterracesofhertemple.Whilesomewere able mentalist terroristshadopenedfire ontouristsgathered resounded withthenameof Hatshepsutbecausefunda- terrible ironyoccurred inOctober1997,whentheworld posterity wasassuranceenoughofone’seternity. A For anancientEgyptian,tohaveone’snameuttered by POSTSCRIPT —Roger DunnisProfessor ofArt. from hertemple. to godHorus making offerings Hatshepsut