How did this female pharaoh survive being erased from history?

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Hatshepsut's successor tried to demolish all traces of her, but her temple stood the test of time. The once-grand temple offers a look at one of Egypt’s longest reigning female pharaohs.

Hatshepsut ruled Egypt, first as co-regent and then as pharaoh, for a total of 21 years. She was one of the few women in Egyptian history to retain power for so long. She reigned during one of ancient Egypt’s golden ages, when Egypt was awash with wealth. Hatshepsut built monumental works all over the nation: a myriad of temples and shrines, four giant obelisks at the Temple of Amun at Karnak, and countless artworks celebrating her accomplishments and immortalizing her prayers.

Thutmose III, Hatshepsut’s stepson and co-regent, is seen in a colored relief from Deir el Bahri from the mid-second millennium B.C.In the New Kingdom period, Hatshepsut was one of the first pharaohs who built the so-called Temples of Millions of Years on the western bank of the Nile, opposite the city of Thebes . Five centuries earlier, in Middle Kingdom times, Pharaoh Mentuhotep II had erected the first mortuary temple here.

Today, the walls and courtyards of Hatshepsut’s temple might look somewhat plain. In her time they would have been filled with vibrant color, surrounded by lush gardens and pools and richly decorated with sculpture and reliefs. Each decorative element conveyed a religious or political message, in keeping with the ceremonial use of the building.

The expedition reached Punt by sailing along the shores of the Red Sea. The Egyptians loaded their ships with a cargo of ivory, cinnamon, incense, cosmetics, and animal skins. They also took home myrrh trees, which were planted in Hatshepsut’s temple complex. The relief on the portico highlights these myrrh trees and also depicts Hatshepsut presenting the cargo from Punt to the god Amun as an offering.

In the central part of this last courtyard stood the temple’s innermost chambers, a sanctuary dedicated to Amun-Re. Inside were three adjoining chambers decorated with scenes of Hatshepsut and the god Amun.

 

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