In my college years, its always been my favorite when its time for my history of architecture subject specially the part, Ancient Near East. Now, many years later, the feeling is still the same. So I decided to make my own research and study about the history of Egypt and the great pharaohs, queens and their contribution to the ancient world. The grandeur of their architecture, their culture and tradition that was so much different from other nations during the ancient times.
When I think of Egypt, the things that comes into my mind are pharaohs, pyramids, sphinxes, queens, the Nile river, temples, hihieroglyphs, obelisks. When I started reading its history, I was deeply moved by Queen Hatshepsut, who is considered as the Greatest female Pharaoh ever ruled in Egypt and her works has never been equaled by any of the pharaohs succeeding her. Let me give you more detailed information about her as we go on with my article.
From a Royal Parents, King Thutmose I and Chief Queen Ahmose, our queen was born in 15th Century, approximately 1508 BC. Her name Hatshepsuth means, "Foremost of the Noble Ladies". She probably has a younger sister, Neferubity which was mentioned in the temple of Beir el-Bahri.
When her father died, the throne was succeeded by Thutmose II. It was a custom in ancient Egypt that the successor of the throne must marry the eldest daughter of the king before him. In their case, Thutmose II must marry Hatshepsut to be his Chief Wife, besides, she is of pure royal blood, compared to Thutmose II who is the son of Thutmose I from another wife, Isis, without any royal blood. They had a daughter, Neferure. King Thutmose II died in the 4th year of his reign so he is succeeded by his son, Thutmose III, his son from a royal harem. Since the crowned king was so young to rule, Queen Hatshepsut became his co-regent. Eventually she made a way to proclaim herself the 5th Pharaoh of the 18th Dynasty. She made use of many strategies to legalize her throne. Some of which; her divine birth, her appointment as the successor of her father to the throne which was written in her famous temple and seeing her publicly wearing the tradional pharaoh outfit to gain respect from her people.
She is considered as the "Queen of Peace" of the ancient Egypt. There is an evidence that the use of weaponry during her time was minimal. Instead of going to war to foreign lands, she established trading, restored temple and build new ones, erecting obelisks to display her greatness. Some of her works are
The Mortuary Temple of Bei el-bhair – considered to be the grandest of all temples in Egypt, the masterpiece of all her buildings. Its main focal point known as Djeser-Djeseru which means the sublime of sublimes, is a colonnaded structure with perfect harmony. This was built a thousand years before the Pantheon of Greece. Other pharaohs before her erected their temples in this complex to share of her greatness.
The Red Chapel of Hatshepsut or Chapelle Rogue – made from red quartzite and was indented to be a shrine and may have originally stood between her two obelisks.
The two speos dedicated to the lion goddess
Speos Artemides – known also as the Temple of Pakhet at Ben Hasan. It's an underground temple on the East side of River.
Speos Batn el-Bakarah -it was totally destroyed by Thutmose III
The Hatshepsut's Needle – the two gold-tipped Obelisks of Hatshepsut to commemorate her greatness which was transported from Aswan using a barge ship. One of them still standing up to this time and considered as the tallest obelisk in the world.
The Grand Expedition to the land of the Punt – with 5 ships, she commissioned Expedition to Punt (land possibly to be Somalia or Ethiopia today) .This is considered to be one of her greatest achievements. This expedition re-established the trade relation between Egypt and Punt and probably to other nations as well. Thus, accumulating wealth and assuring the stability of her rule as pharaoh.
Restored the original Precinct of Munt
Different Works of Arts that displays her regency . Large granite Sphinx bearing her likeness.
Her reign was long, prosperous, glorious and illustrious as regarded by historians. She ruled Egypt for approximately 21 years. From 1479-1457. Until her mysterious disappearance when Thutmose III succeeded her as the new King of Egypt.
There are fresher and new information about her but the intention of my article is to feature her greatness and the grandeur of her works. The effort of Thutmose III is not enough to erase her name in the history of Egypt. Her legacy lives on forever. The world never forgets a great woman who lead the way for ancient Egypt to the height of its unquestionable glory.