Hatshepsut Summary

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Hatshepsut Study Notes: Background and rise to prominence – Family background Father: Thutmose I Mother: Queen Ahmose, God’s Wife of Amun Great-Grandfather: Ahmose Husband: Thutmose II – Claim to the throne and succession: Divine Birth and Coronation reliefs Hatshepsut’s claim to the throne were facilitated by her divine and coronation reliefs. Divine Birth: Her divine birth consisted of Amun impregnating Ahmose with Hatshepsut by holding an ankh to her nose. The midwife of the gods, Neghket, to the right, is aiding Ahmose away to give birth with Kamun, who is to the left. This source gives an historian insight into how Hatshepsut claimed her right to the throne through her divine birth. This would effectively convince the public…show more content…
These reliefs declared that Hatshepsut was crowned by the gods who welcomed her as their future king. They also depicted her coronation in front of a court consisting of highly respected individuals. – Political and religious roles of the king and queen in the Seventeenth Dynasty and early Eighteenth Dynasty: Political: At the crux of political responsibilities were military roles. A pharaoh was responsible for maintaining the land economically as well as forcefully. Power was also delegated to advisors such as viziers and stewards Hapuseneb, Senenmut). Religious: Religion was intertwined with politics due to the structure of Ancient Egyptian culture. The gods were the centre of life. In order to gain publicity and respect, an association with these gods would brirng trust and respect to a society largely illiterate and unknowing. – Marriage to Thutmose II Hatshepsut had a daughter with Thutmose II, Neferure. Thutmose was not of as strong royal blood as Hatshepsut, so he married to remain in the royal bloodline. He had a daughter and son with minor wives. That son was Thutmose III. Hatshepsut served as a traditional God’s Wife of Amun, shown on stela with Queen Ahmose and Thutmose…show more content…
An army official is standing behind Thutmose III. Of course Thutmose III and Hatshepsut were co-regents; however this source suggests that Hatshepsut was the dominant figure in the reign. This is shown by Hatshepsut’s placement in front of Thutmose III. This superiority that Hatshepsut was depicted as holding is shown on numerous occasions including the Punt reliefs on the walls of Hatshepsut’s temple at Deir-el Bahri. He stands directly behind Hatshepsut while dedicating the myrrh acquired at Punt to Amun-Re. Many historians argue that Thutmose III resented Hatshepsut’s superiority in their co-regency, and they support this by the claim that Thutmose III destroyed many of her inscriptions and reliefs. However, many New Kingdom pharaohs replaced their predecessor’s cartouche with their own. This destruction of many of her inscriptions occurred in the year 42, 22 years after her death. Thutmose had control of the army. If he resented Hatshepsut, he would have usurped the throne with the entire army, yet he did not. Also, Thutmose may have had no complaints with Hatshepsut’s role, and expected to outlive her and enjoy his own solo

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