HATSHEPSUT IS BURIED IN THE VALLEY OF THE KINGS

Today, The Grandma has been reading about Hatshepsut, the sixth pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt, who died on a day like today in 1458 BC.

Hatshepsut (c. 1507-1458 BC) was the Great Royal Wife of Pharaoh Thutmose II and the sixth pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt, ruling first as regent, then as queen regnant from c. 1479 BC until c. 1458 BC.

She was Egypt's second confirmed woman who ruled in her own right, the first being Sobekneferu/Nefrusobek in the Twelfth Dynasty.

Hatshepsut was the daughter of Thutmose I and Great Royal Wife, Ahmose. Upon the death of her husband and half-brother Thutmose II, she had initially ruled as regent to her stepson, Thutmose III, who inherited the throne at the age of two. Several years into her regency, Hatshepsut assumed the position of pharaoh and adopted the full royal titulary, making her a co-ruler alongside Thutmose III. 

In order to establish herself in the Egyptian patriarchy, she took on traditionally male roles and was depicted as a male pharaoh, with physically masculine traits and traditionally male garb. She emphasized both the qualities of men and women to convey the idea that she was both a mother and father to the realm.

Hatshepsut's reign was a period of great prosperity and general peace. One of the most prolific builders in Ancient Egypt, she oversaw large-scale construction projects such as the Karnak Temple Complex, the Red Chapel, the Speos Artemidos and most famously, the Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut at Deir el-Bahari.

Hatshepsut probably died in Year 22 of the reign of Thutmose III. Towards the end of the reign of Thutmose III and into the reign of his son Amenhotep II, an attempt was made to remove her from official accounts of Egyptian historiography: her statues were destroyed, her monuments were defaced, and many of her achievements were ascribed to other pharaohs.

Hatshepsut was born between 1505 and 1495 BC as eldest daughter of Thutmose I and his great royal wife, Ahmose. After her father's death, Hatshepsut was then married to Thutmose II, her half-brother and father's heir, when she was fourteen or fifteen years old. The couple were around the same age.

Hatshepsut's last dated attestation as pharaoh is Year 20, III Peret, Day 2, c. 22 May 1459 BC, but the reign length of 21 years and 9 months for her by Manetho in Josephus's book Contra Apionem indicates that she ceased to reign in Year 22, c. 1458 BC. The precise date of the beginning of Thutmose III's reign as sole ruler of Egypt -and presumably of Hatshepsut's death- is considered to be Year 22, II Peret, Day 10, recorded on a single stela erected at Armant, corresponding to 16 January 1458 BC. This information validates the basic reliability of Manetho's king list records since Hatshepsut's known accession date was I Shemu, Day 4.

Hatshepsut began constructing a tomb when she was the Great Royal Wife of Thutmose II. Still, the scale of this was not suitable for a pharaoh, so when she ascended the throne, preparation for another burial started. For this, KV20, originally quarried for her father, Thutmose I, and probably the first royal tomb in the Valley of the Kings, was extended with a new burial chamber. Hatshepsut also refurbished her father's burial and prepared for a double interment of both Thutmose I and her within KV20. Therefore, it is likely that when she died (no later than the 22nd year of her reign), she was interred in this tomb along with her father.

More information: Smithsonian Magazine

Egypt gave birth to what later 

would become known as 'Western Civilization,' 

long before the greatness of Greece and Rome.

 

John Henrik Clarke