Ancient Egypt was the first official empire to exist in the world. It had a lot of power, rules and traditions. The leader of this great land was called the pharaoh and was the supreme law of the land, laws were not written and he would just make them up as he went. Pharaohs were seen as divinely chosen by the gods and were to become gods after their death. They were generally male and descendants of a royal family. If there were a female pharaoh, she did not take complete rule and was mostly just a figurehead. This was the case for almost 3000 years until Queen Hatshepsut came to be. There was great controversy throughout the empire because of her untraditional decision to do a complete take over as pharaoh. Many people in this ancient …show more content…
She was the oldest of two daughters from her father and was required to join her husband at the throne when her father died (History.com Staff). Shortly into Thutmose II’s reign, he died leaving his only son, Thutmose III, in charge as an infant (Ray 25). Thutmose II and Hatshepsut only had a daughter, who was clearly not allowed to take the role as pharaoh. The fact that Thutmose III was far too young to actually make any decisions regarding the empire required that Hatshepsut serve as his regent until he was of proper age (“Hatshepsut” Bio.com). For almost seven years, Hatshepsut served her role honorably and followed tradition to a tee, but randomly she decided to take complete rule and obtain the full powers of the pharaoh around 1473 B.C. (History.com Staff). She even had the full royal titulary performed to make it official (“Hatshepsut” Britannica). Some say that she took the role simply because she was ambitious, others say that she saw a political crisis coming in terms of another family trying to coming in and take over, possibly trying to save the throne for her stepson (History.com …show more content…
There was only one known military expedition in Nubia that was quite small, but quite successful (“Hatshepsut” Britannica). She focused more on trade and restoring Europe throughout her time in control of Middle-Kingdom Egypt. Some scholars feel this could be because she could not trust the army. If Hatshepsut led a conquest and lost, she clearly would be the scapegoat simply because of her gender, but if she won, it could call for more conquests and victories. She probably felt the whole subject of military takeover was best to be avoided (Ray 27). The Queen decided that the best way to keep the military busy was to send them to the distant land of Punt for trading purposes. The land is suspected to be near the East African Coast just beyond the Southernmost end of the Red Sea. There gold, ebony, animal skins, baboons, processed myrrh, and living myrrh trees to plant around her temple were brought back to the kingdom(“Hatshepsut” Britannica). She also wanted to restore Egypt’s beautiful temples and statues. She was quite successful with this and ended up making the country look quite breathtaking. Hatshepsut also had her father’s tomb extended to connect to hers. Her greatest architectural achievement was her temple at Deir el-Bahri just in front of the Valley of Kings where she was buried (Backman 47). She also had
Robins, Gay. "The Names of Hatshepsut as King." Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 85 (1999): 103-12. Jstore. Web. 8 Dec. 2013. .
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.
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
When an Egyptian Pharaoh is pictured, it is normally a person with a very elegant crown and well-designed clothing, but most importantly a Pharaoh is depicted as a man. In the history of Egypt, though, some Pharaohs were actually women, just like the case of Hatshepsut. There were other women rulers of Egypt, and when asked which one is most recognized, it is probably Cleopatra, but Hatshepsut deserves just as much respect as Cleopatra for the way she obtained the title of Pharaoh. She not only broke the traditional laws of Egypt when becoming Pharaoh, but Hatshepsut let nothing stop her from becoming a future Pharaoh of Egypt. Developing into a Pharaoh was not a simple task, but to become Pharaoh “Hatshepsut made the most extraordinary move ever made by an Egyptian, or any other woman” (Wells 185). The move to follow her dreams were filled with lots of struggles, and the major struggle that was in her way was being a woman when most Pharaohs are men. Another struggle was her stepson Tuthmosis III, and his journey to become the next Pharaoh. The last struggle was to keep her legacy known after her death to show the Pharaoh she really was. Through all the battles to become Pharaoh, Hatshepsut stayed strong to become a person many women could not be in that specific time period. Hatshepsut, no doubt, had struggles through her destination of becoming a Pharaoh, but she fought through each battle in becoming one of the most known and popular Pharaohs of Egypt.
“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.
Born in in 69 B.C., Cleopatra VII was esteemed the last ruler of the Macedonian era. Cunning and brave, Cleopatra would later be known for her notorious affairs with notably formidable men in possession of considerable wealth and prestige. She was born into power, but her test would be her capability to maintain it. Her own brothers became her opponents, so she had to fight to remain leader of Egypt. Cleopatra rose to power by forging alliances with leaders of foreign nations in order to back her claim of the Egyptian throne.
When a member of the Egyptian royal family became pharaoh, he became much more than ruler of a mighty empire, he ascended to the rank of god. This position allowed the pharaoh to commission monuments to himself and to his reign, controls his subjects regardless of their rank, and maintain Egypt’s status among her enemies. Just as in any hierarchical governmental system, the pharaoh treated different classes of individuals and groups in different ways from the austere priest to the lowly peasant. The them, Pharaoh was a god and he would allow no one to forget that fact; but to him, the world was below him and he treated each group accordingly. This is illustrated in some of the few surviving works from the Egyptian dynastic periods. Through personal letters, official government correspondence, and fiction, a broad picture can be painted as to how the pharaoh interacted with his people and how they reacted towards him.
Ancient Egypt is home to one of the greatest female pharaoh. Queen Hatshepsut. She was the first female pharaoh and did great things.
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
The fundamental features of the Warrior Pharaoh image during New Kingdom Egypt included; leading his soldiers into battle and returning in victory, attacking the enemy in his horse-drawn chariot which was adopted from the Hyksos, wearing war regalia , larger than life expectations and finally offering the spoils of war to the god Amun, the inspiration of his victory. Due to the absence of the their pharaohs on military campaigns, the Queens began to play a more prominent role within the New Kingdom Egypt’s society, however this was a short term consequence of the civil war as it was only necessary when the Pharaoh left to go to war or on a campaign. The rise in roles and prominences amongst the Queen’s slowly decreased towards the end of the war until Hatshepsut comes into power. After this the Queen’s involvement seems to disappear and we begin to no longer hear about
The woman, by definition is the nurturer of life. She labors through birth, tends to the needs of her family, and assumes unending responsibilities. And while women have given birth to the ancient and modern day male heroes we've come to glorify to this day, we must remember that some of those same women have also been tremendously influential and invaluable all throughout the depths of history. One such woman is Cleopatra, the temptress whose ambition and seduction both augmented her empire's prestige and brought about her theatrical downfall.
Introduction: Cleopatra VII Philopator was one of the most influential queens of Egypt. She was born around 69 B.C. in Alexandria, Egypt and died 39 years later, around 30 B.C. Cleo was the third daughter of Ptolemy XII, also known as Auletes, "the Piper" (Nardo 12). In order to become a successful queen, she persevered and grew from her father's mistakes. Cleopatra "learned her political lessons by watching the humiliating efforts of her father to maintain himself on the throne of Egypt by buying the support of powerful romans" ("Cleopatra"). When her father died in 51 B.C., the ministers of her brother, Ptolemy XIII, were afraid that Cleopatra wanted to rule alone and hence, drove her from Egypt in 48 B.C. Cleopatra was determined to be the queen of Egypt and did everything in her power to get the throne.
Egyptians cherished family life the way we cherish food or money. Children were considered a blessing. They prayed for them and used magic to have children, but if a couple could not conceive they adopted. Men were the head of the household and the oldest son inherited everything of the father’s. Egyptian women were to obey their fathers and husbands, but were equal in many other ways. For example, women could have jobs, some rights in court cases, and they were able to own land. Women were also allowed to own businesses. Only noble women, however, could be priestesses. The women raised the children and took care of the house. Wealthy families would hire maids and nannies to do such things. Divorce was not common in Ancient Egypt, though it was an option. Problems were talked about between families, and if they could not be settled a divorce would take place. Some women became rulers but only in secret. The only woman who ruled as a pharaoh in the open was Queen Hatsheput. Ordinary men normally had one wife, while pharaohs and kings had several. Most marriages were arranged by parents. Most girls married at age twelve while boys were usually a little older.
... Egyptian women were looked at differently than men; their role was that of the nurturer and the caregiver, the bearer of a family’s future. They were just as important to the society as the men. Ancient Egypt was a very complex world, and just as complex was the role that women played in its society. They were not free, but they also were not enslaved. They were vital, but only in terms of their husbands and their children. Egypt offered women a far more free life than the rest of the ancient world. In the end, women played a secondary role to men putting their desires for achievement aside so their husband could be king.
Cleopatra VII was eighteen and Ptolemy was only ten when they were named King and Queen of Egypt in 51 B.C. (History). For the most part Cleopatra did most of the ruling. Ptolemy was very naïve to with his advisors. They would tell him what to do. Finally, three years after Cleopatra had ruled they advised him to take total control of the kingdom. He went with his advisors and Cleopatra was forced in exile. Cleopatra fled to Syria where she began to construct an army for her rev...