Young Queen Hatshepsut example essay topic

Queen - or, as she would prefer to be remembered, King Hatshepsut was an astonishing woman. Brilliantly defying tradition, she became the female embodiment of a male role, dressing in men's clothes and even wearing a false beard. Hatshepsut was not one to sit back and wait for her nephew to age enough to take her place. As a favorite daughter of a popular pharaoh, and as a charismatic and beautiful lady in her own right, she was able to command enough of a following to actually take control as pharaoh. Hatshepsut, as a female, had many obstacles to overcome. There was always a threat of revolt, especially as her bitter nephew came of age.

Using propaganda and keen political skills, she deftly jumped each hurdle she faced. To quell the fears of her people, she became a "king" in all images and relief's during her reign. On the death of her father Thutmosis I, the young Hatshepsut, possibly only twelve years old, emerged from the obscurity of the women's palace to marry her half-brother Thutmosis II, and become queen consort of Egypt. During the reign of the supposedly sickly Thutmosis II it was Hatshepsut, the power behind the throne, who ruled Egypt: '... the experience which she gained in the time of her father was of the greatest use to her, and her natural ability made her profit by it to the greatest' The new consort Hatshepsut was now presented with the conventional queen's titles of kings Daughter, Kings Sister and Kings Great Wife, although her preferred title was always god's wife. She behaved in an exemplary fashion throughout her husbands reign. A stela now housed in Berlin, shows the immediate royal family at this time: Thutmosis II stands to face the god Re while immediately behind him stands the senior lady, queen Ah mose.

The queen consort Hatshepsut stands modestly behind both her mother and her husband in approved wifely fashion. She is dressed in a simple sheath dress and wearing a rather understated crown. Thutmose was about three years old when his father died at around 1479 BC, so the young queen Hatshepsut was called upon to act as regent on behalf of her even younger stepson Thutmosis. This in itself was not an unusual situation, and it was an accepted Egyptian practice that a widowed queen should rule for her minor son.

Whatever her private feelings, Hatshepsut accepted her new role with good grace. Throughout the first couple of years of her stepson's rule she acted as a model queen regent, claiming only those titles to which she was entitled as the daughter and widow of a king and allowing herself to be depicted standing behind the new king in traditional queenly fashion. However, only five years later there had been a profound political change. By the end of year 7, Queen Hatshepsut had advanced from being the mere ruler of Egypt to becoming an acknowledged king.

From that day on, she started to use the 'great names' which included the full titulary of a king of Egypt and which reflected some of the divine attributes of kingship. She was now the female Horus of fine gold, King of Upper and Lower Egypt Maat kare Khenmet-Amen Hatshepsut.