February 1 – Anniversary of Hatshepsut's Death

nPostednon February 1, 2014

Hatshepsut,nForemost of Noble Ladies, Pharaoh of Upper and Lower Egypt, lived more than 3,500 years ago. So we are not sure of the exact date thatnshe died in 1458 BCE.

nButnlate January or early February is a pretty good guess.
n
nHatshepsutnis considered one of the most successful pharaohs. She establishedntrade networks that contributed to the wealth of Ancient Egypt. Shenis the first person known to have arranged the transplant of foreignntrees. (Thirty-one live myrrh trees were brought at her request fromnthe Land of Punt to Egypt.) Hatshepsut commissioned many buildingnprojects, and some argue that her monuments and buildings werengrander and more numerous than those of any earlier pharaoh. Somenpeople say that one reason for Egypt’s prosperity during Hatshepsut’snreign was that money was spent on increasing trade rather than onnwaging war.

n
n

Indidn’t realize until recently that women had relatively high statusnin Ancient Egypt. They had the right to own property, and they couldnwill their property to their heirs as well as inherit property fromntheir parents. Women pharaohs were rare, but there were a handful ofnother female pharaohs as well as some wives and mothers who, it isnbelieved, ruled in their male relatives’ names.

nSonHatshepsut wasn’t the one-and-only female pharaoh, but she was stillnan amazing woman!

nNotneveryone was a fan!

nAllnEgyptian pharaohs bragged about their accomplishments and strengths onntheir monuments and buildings, and Hatshepsut was no different. Shenbragged less about her military victories than did most pharaohs andnmore about her beauty. But they all exaggerated their wonderfulnqualities.

Hatshepsut’s cartouche

nInwonder if that bragging is seen as more unpleasant in a woman than inna man. It’s hard to know why, but somebody—Hatshepsut’s nephew,nmaybe, or his son, perhaps—had many of the images and namencartouches of Hatshepsut erased, as much as he could, from thenpublic record. In many cases that meant that her images andncartouches were literally chiseled off of the monuments!

nOnenof my favorite books from my childhood paints Hatshepsut as a monsternwho spent way too much of Egypt’s wealth on her own silly plans andnimprisoned her nephew, the rightful ruler, years after he should’venruled. I grew up thinking that she was one of Ancient Egypt’s worstnrulers instead of one of her best. But that is not what historiansnsay.

n(By the way, I think everyone should read this wonderful novel. Just because itnisn’t true – I mean, novels AREN’T true, they are fiction! –ndoesn’t mean it isn’t a really fun read!)

nAlsonon this date: