labuznik

Image – Sphinx of Hatshepsut

Original Location: Hatshepsut’s Mortuary Temple at Deir el-Bahri, Egypt

Current Location: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY 

I fell in love with Hatshepsut (hat-chep-soot) while reading the book The Woman Who Would Be King by UCLA Professor and Egyptologist Kara Cooney. Ms. Cooney paints an amazing portrait of life in ancient Egypt, c. 1507–1458 BC (18th Dynasty).  It is easy to admire Hatshepsut.  In a nutshell, Hatshepsut was a Princess who became Queen, then King, and Pharaoh.  She was the longest-reigning female king in Egypt or the ancient world had ever seen (around 21 years).  All while in a patriarchal society (that still continues today).  She broke many rules but was a trailblazer, to be sure.  There is much Egyptologists don’t agree on, and she is one of them.  During her reign, Hatshepsut was one of Egypt’s most profuse builders.  She commissioned vast amounts of statuary, relief, obelisks and had many temples built.  Her successors did their best to erase her buildings and her name from history.  In addition, her successor Thutmose III, took credit for many of the amazing things SHE did.  I find it amusing that they didn’t succeed in wiping her from history.  Erasing powerful women from history didn’t start with Hatshepsut, nor will it end with her.  The patriarchal system teaches us that wise and powerful women are not to be trusted.  For whatever reason, there is a double standard that women should be scorned for their brains, ambition, and daring to succeed.  IE Hillary Clinton, Margaret Thatcher, Elizabeth Warren, and Ruth Bader Ginsburg, to name a few.  At the same time, we are taught to celebrate men who strive for those very things.  

One of Egypt’s most famous sites is the Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut, located in Deir el-Bahri, on the West Bank of the Nile River near the entrance to what now is called the Valley of the Kings.  It is set against the bottom side of a mountain.  The right angles and sharp lines of her temple make it even more striking in this setting, which I’m guessing is what she had in mind.  It was found under millennia of sand, and it had to be reconstructed, but today we can see it as it was intended.  A grand and majestic, multi-tiered complex nestled into the side of the mountain.  Almost daring to defy the ones who tried to erase her.   

Hatshepsut is by far my favorite influential person from Egyptian antiquity.  She was a beloved Queen.  Her people loved her and for good reason.  She took care of them.  Egypt thrived in peacetime during her rule.  But she was a woman (in power) within a patriarchal system.  She used the marketing of the time, IE symbols and images carved into stone, to depict herself as masculine.  She started with small references to masculinity.  Over time, larger references were used, such as the nemes (headcloth), a false pharaoh’s beard, the angular skirt of a King, and masculine name references.  And this is one of the things she’s known for.  But put it into context, and you understand.  If you think about it, times haven’t really changed all that much.  Certainly not much for women anyway.  Why is Vice President Kamala Harris or most powerful political women often in a “power suit”?  Don’t tell me it’s not similar.

Among the many sites we are going to visit in Egypt (this coming October), the Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut is one of them.  I am beyond excited.  I know it’s naïve of me to think that by being there, I will connect with her somehow.  I have decided to honor Hatshepsut by making an offering to her while we are at her temple.  Typical offerings made in ancient times won’t work for me, such as food and beer.  But something that will work is incense.  Ancient Egyptians made offerings of incense.  Frankincense was a typical favorite and was highly prized.  Since it’s a resin, Frankincense was also used in mummification and funeral rites.  I think it’s quite fitting.  And it’s not the worst thing if my luggage ends up smelling like one of the most prized scents of the ancient world.     

Where is she today?

There is great speculation as to if her mummy has indeed been found.  I have read that in 1903 Howard Carter discovered the mummy of (what they think is) Hatshepsut in tomb KV60 in the Valley of the Kings.  Although he didn’t know it was her at the time.  He would later discover the tomb of Tutankhamen in 1922.  From what I can find on the web, it is still up for debate if it was indeed Hatshepsut that he found or not.  

Hatshepsut and Tutankhamen were both Pharaohs in the 18th dynasty.  Tut came one hundred and twenty-two years after Hatshepsut (give or take).

Recently I was looking at one of my guidebooks on Egypt.  I read about Hatshepsut’s Mortuary Temple and that her mummy is in the National Museum for Egyptian Civilization in Cairo.  Apparently, she is there along with 19 other Royal mummies in the crown jewel of the museum, the Royal Mummies Hall.  I looked up the museum on the web, and they indeed claim that her mummy is there (along with a photo of it).  You can believe that I will be asking National Geographic a great deal of questions about this when we are in Egypt.  I figure if the folks with NatGeo (who our trip is with) don’t know, no one will.  I promptly booked tickets for the museum, as we have a day to ourselves before our tour starts and our tour doesn’t include this museum.  

Positive, undisputed identification of ancient mummies is damn near impossible.  Unless there is writing or symbols on an unopened coffin, identifying who is inside.  Which are never found due to centuries of tomb robbers.  Most all tombs have been distributed, upended, ransacked, pillaged, and plundered.  The unopened tomb of Tutankhamen was a once in many lifetimes find that I doubt we will ever see again.  It serves their purpose to say that Hatshepsut’s Mummy has been found and is in a museum.  I’d like to believe it.  However, I don’t think it has been proven without a doubt.  I’ll still gaze upon the ancient female mummy (whomever she is) with reverence and awe, nonetheless.