Who Was Hatshepsut?:
Hatshepsut (Hatshepsowe) was a woman pharaoh of Egypt. She was the half-sister and wife of Tuthmose II (who died after only a few years on the throne). Hatshepsut's nephew and stepson, Tuthmose III, was in line for the throne of Egypt, but he was still young, and so Hatshepsut took over. Being a woman was an obstacle, although a Middle Kingdom female pharaoh, Sobekneferu/Neferusobek, had ruled before her, in the 12th dynasty, so Hatshepsut dressed as a man. Hatshepsut ordered expeditions to the land of Punt and had a temple built in the Valley of the Kings. After her death her name was erased and her tomb destroyed.
Occupation:
Dates and Titles:
Hatshepsut lived in the 15th century B.C. and ruled in the early part of the 18th Dynasty in Egypt -- the period known as the New Kingdom. The dates of her rule are variously given as 1504-1482, 1490/88-1468, 1479-1457, and 1473-1458 B.C. (according to Joyce Tyldesley's Hatchepsut).
Hatshepsut was pharaoh or king of Egypt for about 15-20 years. The dating is uncertain. Josephus, quoting Manetho (the father of Egyptian history), says her reign lasted about 22 years. Before becoming pharaoh, Hatshepsut had been Thutmose II's Great Royal Wife.
Family:
Hatshepsut was the oldest daughter of Tuthmose I and Aahmes. She married her half-brother Thutmose II when their father died. She was the mother of Princess Neferure.
Depictions of Hatshepsut:
The fascinating New Kingdom ruler Hatshepsut is depicted in a short kilt, a crown or head cloth, a collar and a false beard (Tyldesley, p.130 Hatchepsut). One limestone statue shows her without a beard and with breasts, but usually her body is masculine. Tyldesley says a childhood depiction presents her with male genitalia. Hatshepsut seems to have appeared female or male as need dictated.
Deir el-Bahri (Deir el Bahari):
Hatshepsut had a mortuary temple known as Djeser-Djeseru 'Sublime of the Sublimes', built for herself at Deir el-Bahri at the entrance to the Valley of the Kings. Its architect was Senmut who may have been her consort. After Hatshepsut's death, all temple references to her were chiseled off. For more information on this temple, see Archaeology Guide Kris Hirst's The Cache at Deir el-Bahri - Hatshepsut's Palace in Egypt.
KV 60:
In the Valley of the Kings is a tomb that Howard Carter found in 1903 called KV60. It contained two badly damaged mummies of women. One was of Hatshepsut's nurse, Sitre. The other was an obese middle-aged woman about 5'1 tall with her left arm across her chest in a "royal" position. Her evisceration had been performed through her pelvic floor instead of the normal side cut -- because of her obesity. Sitre's mummy was removed in 1906, but the obese mummy was left. American Egyptologist Donald P. Ryan rediscovered the tomb in 1989.
It has been suggested that this mummy is that of Hatshepsut and that it was removed to this tomb from KV20 either following a robbery or to protect her from the attempted obliteration of her memory. Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities of Egypt, Zahi Hawass believes a tooth in a box and other DNA evidence proves this is the body of the female pharaoh.
Athletic Skill:
Wolfgang Decker, an expert on sport among the ancient Egyptians, says that at the Sed festival, pharaohs, including Hatshepsut, made a circuit of the pyramid complex of Djoser. The pharaoh's run had 3 functions: to demonstrate the pharaoh's fitness after 30 years in power, to make a symbolic circuit of his territory, and to symbolically rejuvenate him.
Source:
Donald G. Kyle. Sport and Spectacle in the Ancient World
