By Keith Grenville
Hatshepsut, the most famous female pharaoh, reigned for 21 years from approximately1479 BCE until 1458 BCE, 26 years before Tutankhamun and probably more than 200 years before the supposed time of Moses. Hatshepsut’s magnificent terraced and colonnaded mortuary temple at Deir el Bahri lies at the foot of a sheer cliff face which towers behind it, almost enveloping the long terraces of the temple which are approached from the valley towards two ramps to the central and upper level of the temple. The architect succeeded in establishing a splendid and impressive harmony between the edifice and the mountain providing a magnificent memorial for Hatshepsut.
Hatshepsut – sometimes known as the first woman in history – could be considered the “Iron Lady” of ancient Egypt – she might have had much in common with the late Margaret Thatcher. Hatshepsut was the daughter of Thotmes I. When her half- brother became Thotmes II he took Hatshepsut as his queen. On his death she claimed the throne, acting as regent for her husband’s son, her stepson who was under age. In due course Hatshepsut having grown to enjoy authority and obviously being successful dropped the idea of a regency and declared herself king. She was regent, later co-regent, step-mother, aunt and eventually mother-in-law to the boy who became Thotmes III. The wall reliefs of her temple illustrate her justification in claiming the throne – her birth is depicted with her being formed on the potter’s wheel by the gods Khnum, the ram-headed god of creation and Heqet, the frog-headed midwife goddess. Other reliefs display her peaceful expeditions to neighbouring countries.
Hatshepsut was not a warring monarch but arranged expeditions to the south bringing back incense trees and gold. Her 21 year reign was a period of peace, growth and success. She contributed two huge obelisks to Karnak Temple which can be seen today and although one has fallen, the other remains upright as it has for three and a half thousand years.
Following her death it is generally said that Thotmes III ordered every image of Hatshepsut to be destroyed. Statues were destroyed and every wall painting and almost every carved relief image of Hatshepsut was defaced. It was a thorough job of obliteration. The faceless images remain in Deir El Bahri. However, it seems to me to be inconceivable that Thotmes III was responsible for such an act. The following points need to be considered.
- He had successfully functioned as co-regent with Hatshepsut for some years.
- How would Thotmes have fared in the eyes of the court, civil service and the military (he was a military man) if he had destroyed images of Hatshepsut – the successful pharaoh with whom he had shared the reign?
- Would Thotmes have built his own memorial temple alongside that of Hatshepsut’s at Deir el Bahri, as he did?
- Thotmes completed the sanctuary at Karnak (the Chapelle Rouge) depicting Hatshepsut and himself individually and together as co-regents. If Thotmes III did not deface the monuments, then who would have reason to do so? I believe we should begin with Horemheb the military general who tried to save the 18th Dynasty and the early pharaohs of the 19th Dynasty and continue with Ramesses II. The famous Abydos King List created by Ramesses II significantly omitted Hatshepsut’s name and those of the Amarna kings (Akhenaten, Tutankhamun, Ay) all of whom were considered illegitimate and unacceptable and therefore a threat to the conservative orthodoxy and to Ma’at itself.
In a courtyard close to the sacred lake at Karnak there is a top section of the fallen obelisk of Hatshepsut displayed horizontally in an area close to the sacred lake. Few people ever look at the reverse side of the section, merely glancing at it or photographing it from the front. However, on the other side the cartouche of Seti I is clearly seen – and there is possibly an erased cartouche of Thotmes III. A clear example of the usurping of monuments. The remaining upright obelisk of Hatshepsut shows no evidence of such palimpsest.
It was clearly in the interest of the 19th Dynasty to maintain Ma’at and prevent a recurrence of the succession malaise which afflicted the 18th Dynasty with the female pharaoh disrupting the religious discipline and temple ritual and followed by a heretical period starting with Akhenaten and finishing with the collapse of the Dynasty.
Hatshepsut had a close relationship with her personal architect Senenmut who created her magnificent temple at Deir el Bahri. Senenmut, (his name translates literally as “mother’s brother, was also tutor to Hatshepsut’s daughter Nefrure. On one of my early visits to the West Bank I was aware that it was possible to gain entrance to Senenmut’s tomb (TT353) in front of Hatshepsut’s temple for a modest baksheesh. The “keeper of the keys” led me with two companions down a stony incline overlooked by mountains to a hidden dip in the ground 100 metres from the main temple area. Under a jutty of rock was a locked steel gate which was duly opened and disclosed a steep roughly hewn staircase descending sharply though the rock – there was no illumination except for our guide’s pocket torch and my own. The steps were uneven and the passage about one metre wide. Of course having come out of the brilliant sunlight into the unlit bowels of the earth the sun-blindness was not helpful. The heat was tremendous and while we descended and slithered for well over 100 metres down the winding passage, I kept reminding myself that what was going down HAD to come up! Concentrating on maintaining my balance and trying to share the light from my torch with my companions, the problem of the ascent was over-shadowed by the fear of sliding into the next person and causing a collapsing, sliding domino effect of the four of us as we might have horrifyingly tobogganed down into the tomb. For all the splendour of Senenmut’s spectacular design of Hatshepsut’s temple this concealed and small tomb was entirely devoid of decoration along the narrow passageway until we finally arrived at a tiny antechamber which came as a complete revelation. It was impossible to stand upright, however, crouching and with ceiling a few inches from our heads, we examined this miniscule chamber. Intricately carved and emphasised in black paint on the pure white limestone were columns of precision hieroglyphs and rare astronomical signs and drawings, showing the celestial sphere in two sections representing the northern and southern skies, suggesting that Senenmut was also something of an astronomer.
Continually wiping the perspiration out of my eyes, our dragoman indicated the continuing tunnel descending further into the rocky earth to the undecorated burial chamber which was actually situated underneath the outer court of Hatshepsut’s temple. Eventually we hauled our perspiring selves up the sometimes indistinguishable steps, noticing as we ascended a simple black line drawing of Senenmut on the left wall.
The relationship between the long-widowed Hatshepsut and the highly titled Senenmut can only be guessed at. Was this a similar case in antiquity to Queen Victoria and Mr John Brown, I wonder? Senenmut succeeded in life within the civil service and received 90 titles ranging from Great Steward of Amun to Overseer of the Royal Bedroom and Bathroom! He was also tutor to Hatshepsut’s daughter, Nefrure.
The most significant evidence of all showing the intimate relationship between Hatshepsut and himself is the inclusion of his name over 60 times in the Deir el Bahri temple. Small images of himself were inscribed on the walls hidden behind the open wooden doors of the temple rendering them invisible during ceremonial times and therefore unseen by the ritual participants. Once the ceremonies were concluded the doors would be closed and the images of Senenmut would be conjoined with those of Hatshepsut in an eternal union of worship of Amun.
Hatshepsut herself authorised the inscribing of Senenmut’s name and image on the walls of the temple. The following is carved into the reveals of a door leading into the north-western offering room of the temple:
Giving praise to Amen and smelling the ground to the Lord of the gods on behalf of the life, prosperity and health of the King [i.e. Hatshepsut] of Upper and Lower Egypt, Maatkare, may he live forever, by the Hereditary Prince and Count, the Steward of Amen, Senenmut, in accordance with a favour of the King’s bounty which was extended to this servant in letting his name be established on every wall, in the following of the King, in Djeser-Djeseru [Deir el-Bahri], and likewise in the temples of the gods of Upper and Lower Egypt. Thus spoke the King.
(Hayes, W.C. (1957), Varia from the Time of Hatshepsut, Mitteilungen des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts Abteilung Kairo 15:84.)