Five Statues Of Hatshepsut example essay topic

How we see and understand things constantly alters and reforms. Time and experience allow us to develop and change our attitudes and perceptions of everything: people, events, ides, and even ourselves. Most of the time we are not overly conscious of this occurring but nonetheless, it is occurring. Indeed it is a natural process and not something that can be easily stopped or controlled. If you think about what you viewed as important in the world when you were five, ten and fifteen you will have some immediate idea of this process. Generally we develop views and attitudes about the world and ourselves by being influenced by our experiences.

These include being exposed to and influenced by certain belief systems (such as those of our parents and peers) as well as by what we see and experience (such as TV or an important personal experience). It is very important to understand that everyone sees things differently and, therefore, form different opinions of events and people. Eyewitnesses of the one event can have very different views of what happened and why, in any given situation. Who they are and their previous experiences and value systems might determine this, or they might witness the events from some limited point of view. When we speak of perspective we are thinking about all these things. Early representations show the Queen in all the trappings of the Pharaoh, but with full femininity in her appearance.

As her reign continued, this gradually evolved into a more and more masculine depiction (according to the French scholar Tefrin). This may have been to prepare the way for the continuance of matriarchal rule, with her daughter Neferure as her successor. Tefrin studied five statues of Hatshepsut found in a quarry behind Dier-el-Bahri. He concentrates on four of the statues (dated at various times of her reign) as one was badly damaged.

He claims Hatshepsut was gradually trying to move towards a totally masculine figure. One conclusion that can be made from this study relates not only to the depiction, but also to the increasing size of the statues. In the early years of her reign, the statues were small, showing she was probably still unsure of the people' reaction to her usurpation. Later as her reign progressed, there was obviously no adverse reaction forthcoming, reflected in the larger size of the statues (the larger the statue, the more powerful the Pharaoh). This showed Hatshepsut's growing confidence in her position as ruler of Egypt.

After nearly twenty years on the throne, Hatshepsut's power began to decline as she and her supporters grew old and weak. During the last two years of her life she made Thutmose II co-regent and he took over as Pharaoh in 1482 BC.