Despite Tang empress of china, Wu Zetian, and Egypt’s Pharaoh Hatshepsut leadership being underrated and infamous, these two women had their similarities and differences during their reign, beginning from striving to achieve leadership and power and later ruling their respective empires. Wu Zetian, also known as Wu Zhao was a woman who strived to get what she desired and even used manipulation and violence for anyone who would cross her way. With stunning beauty and talent, Wu managed her way to the emperors’ side. Hatshepsut became emperor upon the death of her father claiming that her father wished for her to be the next pharaoh. These two notorious women brought out the best of their empires and provided a reign of gloriousness.
Wu Zetian
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Her leadership however proved to be prosperous and have led to major development prompting the nation’s flourishing .Wu Zetian, transformed the operations of china in a positive direction. She discovered the best people who could help her run the government. She reduced the country’s army to a manageable size and eliminated the aristocratic military men and replaced them with scholars. Citizens who wanted government positions were allowed to take necessary exam for employment. Hatshepsut, on the other hand launched renovating programs. She constructed building projects especially around Thebes. She renovated her father’s hall temple designing a building nearly 100 feet tall and adding a chapel. Her greatest achievement was the enormous memorial temple at Deir el-Bahri. (Chaveau 2000)
Power and leadership takes different forms depending on the rules and policies enacted in the nation. Royal lineages have always played an important role in leading a hereditary type of leadership. Leadership in Egypt was acquired through inheritance upon death of the Pharaoh; a successor would be put into power. China has a similar type of inheritance. Leadership was acquired through inheritance. For example, upon the death of Tai Tsung, Koa Tsung took over as the next
What comes to mind when someone hear the words “born leader”? Certainly, one thinks of a person with the qualities of passion, integrity, confidence, and intelligence. Since the beginning of civilization, born leaders, through their actions, have been able to greatly impact their environment. Shi Huangdi, Siddhartha Gautama, and King Hammurabi are just a few examples of specific leaders in early civilizations that left legacies that have lasted for centuries. Overall, individuals in the past had such amazing leadership skills that they were able to shape the times in which they lived.
The sites touched by Thutmose I and II were expanded in Upper Egypt. Hatshepsut built for Horus of Buhen, which was a temple of a temple common in the mid 18th dynasty. Hatshepsut lined the temple with drawings of her and Thutmose III. Although later, when Thutmose III rose to power, he replaced those drawings with those of just him and his father and grandfather. However, parts of the Buhen temples that were moved to the Khartoum Museum, contains scenes of Hatshepsut’s coronation and veneration of her father, Thutmose I. There are no records of any 18th dynasty kings building before Hatshepsut. Hatshepsut also inscribed a lengthy tale on Speos Artemidos, saying that she was the first person to start to restore temples in the area of Memphis since the Hyksos destroyed the area. She claimed to rebuild temples at Hermopolis and at Cusae. This work was claimed to be overlooked by one of her nomarch named, Djehuty. Djehuty was a general under king Thutmose III, and then a nomarch to Hatshepsut. Djehuty had the titles “king's scribe”, “overseer of troops” and “overseer of the northern countries”. Hatshepsut gave the most attention to Thebes. She had a huge focus on the Temple of Karnak, and worked on restoring and expanding on the once great temple. Djehuty had a large role in this project as well. Illustrated on the walls of this temple, was the Queen’s expedition to
Queen Hatshepsut, who ruled Egypt during the 18th dynasty, was one of a small handful of female pharaohs. Despite her many achievements, her reign is most remembered for the fact that she was a woman. Her unique story has been a source for dispute among scholars, which has led to a number of conflicting views. The small amount of Hatshepsut’s life that has been documented does not allow us to see the more intimate details of her life. Historians have a broad range of opinions on her, but one thing is certain: her reign provided Egypt with a period of peace and prosperity after 100 years of foreign rule. There are a number of theories involving Hatshepsut’s personal and public life.
In “Hatshepsut: His Majesty, Herself”, by Catherine Andronik, she informs the reader about Hatshepsut and her role as an effective female pharaoh in ancient Egypt. One supporting detail proving her leadership was when she acted as a regent, an adult who can take control of the country. Another detail that supports the fact that Hatshepsut was an effective leader is in paragraph 11 where the text states, “ She appointed officials and advisors, dealt with the priests; appeared in public ceremonies first behind, then beside, and eventually in front of her nephew.” this quote explains that because Hatshepsut’s nephew, Tuthmosis III, was too young to be a powerful ruler, Hatshepsut, who was second in command, ended up doing everything for him. Hatshepsut
Thus, despite her being a female, she had the makings to become a queen. For the queen there were not many women who became Kings who ruled under a city and would become king. When she ascended the throne she changed her name from the feminine Hatshepsut to the male Hatshepsut. She surrounded herself with strong and loyal advisors, many of whom are still known today: Hapuseneb, the High Priest of Amun, and her closest advisor, the royal steward Senemut, some speculate he was Hatshepsut’s lover during her rule. During her rule, Egyptians were the most powerful, advanced civilization in the world. She reestablished the trade networks that had been disrupted during the Hyksos ' occupation of Egypt, bring wealth for the 18th dynasty. She oversaw the preparations and funding for a mission to the Land of Punt, a region of East Africa that was rich in gold, resins, ebony, blackwood, ivory and wild animals, including monkeys and baboons. The mission also went in search of slaves. Hatshepsut probably died around 1458 B.C., when she would have been in her mid-40s. She was buried in the Valley of the Kings, located in the hills behind Deir el-Bahri. In another effort to legitimize her reign, she had her father’s sarcophagus reburied in her tomb so they could lie
She took possession of the Two Lands while she dressed as a king wearing a false beard and traditional men’s clothes. The Egyptian people seem to accept her strange behaviour and she remained in power for 21 years and nine months. One way Hatshepsut stayed in power was to construct many buildings and monuments throughout Egypt. Hatshepsut built magnificent temples and also restored many others but eventually when her nephew became an adult he took his rightful place as the pharaoh.
An essential characteristic for being a great leader, consistent within many, is confidence. A person may have ideas, but for them to be carried out takes confidence in themselves to bring those ideas to reality. Hatshepsut portrayed herself as a very confident woman by taking the initiative to do things that only Pharaoh’s would commonly do, such as performing certain religious rituals, making offerings directly to the gods, and commissioning various building projects. These actions made it evident that she saw herself as important and powerful, and others soon believed this as well; she was considered as God’s wife of Amen and became a priestess in temple rituals. Hatshepsut also depicted herself as a male—she dressed in a kilt, crown, and wore an artificial beard. This clearly shows that she had great ambition to be King, as she took on the daring task of creating a false persona just so that she could reach her goal. Despite the typical male dominating society, Hatshepsut displayed confidence in herself that she could become ...
“The pharaoh of ancient Egypt is normally described as the typical example of a divine ruler” (J. Ray, Hatshepsut, Vol 44, Issue 5, 1994) The ancient Egyptian world has seen hundreds of pharaohs; some excelled and some didn’t. Many of the pharaohs were men, only few females succeeded in gaining such great power, yet some did... specifically Hatshepsut. Few pharaohs of the 18Th Dynasty have aroused as much controversy as Hatshepsut. Hatshepsut was the sixth pharaoh of the New Kingdom and set up co-regency with her nephew and stepson, Thutmose III. (J. Lawless, Hatshepsut, a Personal Study, 2010) Hatshepsut created many junctions in history through politics, building programmes and military. This makes her so recognised in modern day studies, though almost all evidence of her existence has been partially or completely destroyed. Due to this many theories have been created about the standard of her reign.
Was she the archetypal wicked stepmother, an unnatural and scheming woman ?of the most virile character who would deliberately abuse a position of trust to steal the throne from a defenceless child? (Gardiner, 1961:184)? Or was she ?an experienced and well-meaning woman who ruled amicably alongside her stepson, steering her country through twenty peaceful, prosperous years who deserves to be commemorated among the great monarchs of Egypt? (Budge, 1902:I)? According to biographer and historian Joyce Tyldesley, Queen or as she would prefer to be remembered, King Hatchepsut became the female embodiment of a male role, whose reign was a carefully balanced period of internal peace, foreign exploration and monument building (Tyldesley, 1996:1). This study will show that it was Hatshepsut the Pharaoh?s devotion to the god Amen and her protection of the maat of 18th Dynasty Egypt that allowed her to forge her successful New Kingdom regime.
Empress Wu’s rise to power was due to her unwavering determination and ruthless spirit. She first entered the palace as a thirteen year old concubine and from an early age she realized the importance of raising her status. Wu was ‘not just another imperial consort… she was very much a political fig...
Wu Zetian was born in 624. Her father was one of the meritorious chancellors of the Tang Dynasty. When she was young, she read many books and received a good education from her father, which was not common among women, much less encouraged by their fathers. At the age of 14, Wu Zetian was chosen as one of the concubines of Emperor Taizong. When Emperor Taizong died in 649, his youngest son succeeded him as Emperor Gaozong. According to the custom, Wu was sent to a temple to serve as a Buddhist nun and was expected to spend rest of her life there. However, Gaozong’s admiration to Wu Zetian got her back into the palace. Wu progressively gained more and more influence over the governance of the empire by trickery throughout Emperor Gaozong's reign, and was eventually making the major decisions effectively being the queen. Taking advantage of the poor health condition of Gaozong, Wu Zetian later got into power and even went beyond Gaozong’s throne, and ruled officially under the name of her self-proclaimed "Zhou dynasty". Being the first and only empress in Chinese history, Empress Wu m...
She knew that in order to keep control of the crown, she had to have loyal followers and a strong relationship with her co-regent Thutmose III. To do this, many of her staff members were chosen from the lower middle classes instead of the upper class like they usually are in these situations. Making herself the cause of their wealth and happiness forged a strong allegiance between Hatshepsut and her subordinates. She often showered them with lavish gifts from faraway places like the previously mentioned Punt. When Thutmose III was seven or eight, Hatshepsut made the unusual move of crowning herself king. She shared that role with Thutmose III for the remainder of her life. Only two other women had previously served as pharaoh, and both for much briefer periods that Hatshepsut’s reign, which lasted some twenty-one years. Archaeological record has produced no evidence of strife between the co-regents and in fact, stone reliefs often portray them as twins, ruling in unison. She must have been incredibly diplomatic and an asset to the Crown to be kept on as co-king once Thutmose III came of
During the fourth Dynasty, Hatshepsut ruled the Egyptian culture. She represented both genders in her portrait statue revealing power, strength, and woman culture dominance. Even though it was not common or permitted for women to be a ruler in the ancient cultures, Hatshepsut was one the first Egyptian women who accomplished social change by building huge temples to venerate their patron gods, after their deaths, and for their own worship. By the sharing of a mutual belief in gods, a social interaction could be achieved in the Egyptian culture. The construction of these temples could also be a symbol of solidarity that could bring the cultures to become
Leaders of nations are designated to manage to country in a form that will allow all its aspects to run smoothly. The Ottoman and Qing had a crisis of power; all the officials took advantage of their titles. Both nations had a set system of taxes that were collected by the leaders of each county or area of the nation. In the Ottoman Empire the Janissaries and some nobles collect taxes from the citizens they had power over, yet those taxes collected were reserved for their own spending instead of helping the countries debt and military advancements. While in china a similar problem became evident, the farmers of china began to...
Throughout history, countless leaders, had their periods of leadership among the masses; a story of how they claimed their superior position. Are there connections though between leaders and their lives, positions, and their form of a kingdom? My goal is to find these connections between the United States’ current and former presidents, Barrack Obama and George W. Bush and two Roman emperors, Augustus and his great-grandson, Nero.