A woman who became Pharaoh of Ancient Egypt and whose memory was erased, perhaps for this same reason. Even till today archeologists have not yet understood why this happened even though she proved to be as powerful as her predecessors.
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| A Statue carved of Hatshepsut |
Childhood
Hatshepsut was the daughter of Thutmose I and after his death there was no other living descendant of age to take over the throne of Egypt. It was important for Egypt to have a ruler, this would tell the world and the nations in the vicinity that Egypt was powerful. Since early age, Hatshepsut had been brought up learning the duties of God's wife and owned this title at age ten. She would also be present when her father would make architectural and trade decisions. It was at this point in her life that she learned how to ruled over Egypt without knowing one day she would become the greatest Pharaoh of Ancient Egypt.
Hatshepsut's Family Tree
Thutmose I married Ahmose ( Mother of the Moon). They have two daughters, the eldest named Hatshepsut. Thutmose I also had a secondary wife, who had a son, Thutmose II. Upon Thutmose I 's death, he rises to the throne and marries Hatshepsut (his step-sister), she was only twelve years old. Following ancient Egyptian tradition brothers married their sisters to continue the Godly blood line, little was known of the genetical malformations this would bring down the line.
After her union to Thutmose II (half brother), Hatshepsut becomes Queen of Egypt and gives birth to a daughter, Neferure.
However, Thutmose II died leaving behind Neferure and another infant child, Thutmose III, from his secondary wife. There were no males of age to take over the throne of Egypt, only Hatshepsut.
A decision must be made for Egypt's future ruler and Hatshepsut, stepped up. Being a woman she was crowned temporary ruler of Egypt until Thutmose III would become of age to rule.
However, later in his life, Thutmose III allows Hatshepsut to rule Egypt until her death.
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| Horus Statue at Thebes: Hatshepsut's Temple |
Women Pharaoh
Being a woman Pharaoh in a world ruled by men was a difficult task but Hatshepsut gained the respect and love of her people through her actions. Such actions were reflected in her military campaigns, profitable trading expeditions and architectural achievements. During her ruling Egypt entered the Golden Age with riches and prosperity for its people.
In an attempt to gain respect as a Pharaoh, Hatshepsut was known to change her attire, wear a a fake beard and call herself Hatshesu, which in Ancient Egyptian language is the male version of her name. She portrayed herself to her people as brave as a man, having scribes write about her fighting along side male warriors.
But underneath all this display Hatshepsut proved she was her father's daughter and The Greatest Pharaoh of Ancient Egypt.
During her reign she carried out many far away trading expeditions to Kushk and as far as Punt. Bringing back incense, leopard skins, ebony, gold, silver and other riches to Egypt.
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| The Land of Punt was located in nowadays Ethiopia, Eritrea and part of Somalia. |
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| A recreation of a barge in the Ancient Egypt Museum in Cairo. |
Hatshepsut also left a legacy of architectural wonders, such as Djeser Djeseru along many obelisks that portrayed her as a powerful male figure.
Fact:
You can see up close the magnitude of this temple. Djeser Djeseru was the name given by the Ancient Egyptians, however nowadays it is known as Deir el-Bahri.
Built into the rock and consisting of three terraces. It was designed by the architect Senmut.
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| Here you can see up-close the three terraces of the building. |
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| Aerial View of the Temple |
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| Djeser Djeseru: Holy of Holies. |
Hatshepsut' s Legacy
Hatshepsut died in her mid 40's and Thutmose III rose to power. She was buried in the Valley of the Kings and her father's sarcophagus was placed next to hers so they could be together after death. her mummy was found in 2007 and is displayed in the Egyptian Museum, in Cairo.
Thutmose III had almost all evidence of her existence erased from the walls as of to show no female ruler ever existed.
She remains till today the Greatest Pharaoh that ever ruled Ancient Egypt.
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| Thutmose III Statue |
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| This stone writing depicts Thutmose III crushing his enemies. |
Youtube Resources
Our Hatshepsut's Lap Book
Following our unit on Hatshepsut we completed a lap book.
Made of one file folder, this was a simple project to complete in one day.
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| Cover to Our Lap Book |
Tour the inside of this lap book here.
Download Lap Book
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| Drawing of Queen Hatshepsut |
In the back of our lap book we decided to add a drawing we made of Queen Hatshepsut and a few other things that would display what she did and who she was. For instance, we drew the map of Egypt in the background, an obelisk and of course the famous Djeser-Djeseru.
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| The Red Sea and Nile River are portrayed in the back |
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| Famous Djeser-Djeseru |
Hands on Activities
Creating a cartouche with craft paper and summarize Hatshepsut's biographical facts.
We put on Egyptian music and browsed all of our library resources to look for the best way to draw the Egyptian figures on paper. Once we had the perspective on pencil we added color and info.
Finally we made the mini book from a piece of hard card stock.
Finally we made the mini book from a piece of hard card stock.
We also created a cartouche and design some hieroglyphs to go along with it.
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