Hatschepsut - Maatkare

Comparison with other egyptian female rulers

Although it was uncommon for Egypt to be ruled by a woman, the situation was not unprecedented. As a regent Hatshepsut was preceded by Merneith of the first dynasty, who was buried with the full honors of a pharaoh and may have ruled in her own right. Nimaethap of the third dynasty may have been the dowager ofKhasekhemwy, but certainly acted as regent for her son, Djoser, and may have reigned as pharaoh in her own right.[6] Queen Sobekneferu of the Twelfth Dynasty is known to have assumed formal power as ruler of "Upper and Lower Egypt" three centuries earlier than Hatshepsut. Ahhotep I, lauded as a warrior queen, may have been a regentbetween the reigns of two of her sons, Kamose and Ahmose I, at the end of the seventeenth dynasty and the beginning of Hatshepsut's own eighteenth dynasty.Amenhotep I, also preceding Hatshepsut in the eighteenth dynasty, probably came to power while a young child and his mother, Ahmose-Nefertari, is thought to have been aregent for him.[7] Other women whose possible reigns as pharaohs are under study include Akhenaten's possible female co-regent/successor (usually identified as eitherNefertiti or Meritaten) and Twosret. Among the later, non-indigenous Egyptian dynasties, the most notable example of another woman who became pharaoh was Cleopatra VII, the last pharaoh of Ancient Egypt.

In comparison with other female pharaohs, Hatshepsut's reign was much longer and prosperous. She was successful in warfare early in her reign, but generally is considered to be a pharaoh who inaugurated a long peaceful era. She re-established trading relationships lost during a foreign occupation and brought great wealth to Egypt. That wealth enabled Hatshepsut to initiate building projects that raised the calibre of Ancient Egyptian architecture to a standard, comparable to classical architecture, that would not be rivaled by any other culture for a thousand years.

[edit]

 


Statue of Hatshepsut on display at theMetropolitan Museum of Art
Pharaoh of Egypt
Reign 1479–1458 BC,  18th Dynasty
Predecessor Thutmose II
Successor Thutmose III
Consort(s) Thutmose II
Children Neferure
Father Thutmose I
Mother Ahmose (queen)
Born c.1508 BC[2]
Died  ?
Burial KV20 (re-interred in KV60[2])
Monuments Temple of KarnakDeir el-BahriSpeos Artemidos
Fragmentary statue of Hatshepsut, quartz diorite, c. 1498–1483 BC Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Hatshepsut (or Hatchepsut, pronounced /hætˈʃɛpsʊt/),[3] meaning Foremost of Noble Ladies,[4] (1508–1458 BC) was the fifth pharaoh of the eighteenth dynasty ofAncient Egypt. She is generally regarded by Egyptologists as one of the most successful pharaohs, reigning longer than any other woman of an indigenousEgyptian dynasty

Her death is known to have occurred in 1458 BC, which implies that she became pharaoh circa 1479 BC.