Pharaoh Hatshepsut's legacy would not have been erased because of her gender
The statues of the Egyptian ruler were allegedly destroyed to serve as "building materials." And not because she was a woman.
She was one of ancient Egypt's most successful rulers, a female pharaoh who predated Cleopatra by 1,500 years. But Queen Hatshepsut's legacy was systematically destroyed after her death by her stepson and successor. The reasons why her impressive reign was methodically erased have been the subject of much debate, but in a new study published Monday (June 23) in Antiquity , a University of Toronto researcher argues that too much emphasis has been placed on her gender.
"It's a rather romantic question: why was this pharaoh attacked after her death?" Jun Wong told AFP, explaining his interest in a queen who presided over Egypt during an era of extraordinary prosperity. In the past, scholars have suggested that Queen Hatshepsut 's son-in-law and successor, Thutmose III, waged a posthumous smear campaign against her as revenge, particularly because he wanted to eliminate any idea that a woman could rule successfully.
"The way Hatshepsut's reign has always been understood has been influenced by her gender," says Jun Wong, referring to beliefs that Thutmose III may have viewed her as "some kind of evil stepmother." Her research, which builds on other recent work and was published in the journal Antiquity , claims that Thutmose III's motives were much more nuanced, casting further doubt on the theory of hostility toward a female head of state.
Hatshepsut ruled Egypt about 3,500 years ago, after the death of her husband , Thutmose II . She initially served as regent to her stepson, the future king, but later consolidated her own power, establishing herself as a female pharaoh. Experts say she expanded trade routes and commissioned extraordinary works, including a unique tomb in the Valley of the Kings in Luxor , on the west bank of the Nile.
Jun Wong reevaluated materials from damaged statues discovered during excavations between 1922 and 1928. He says there is no doubt that Thutmose III worked to eliminate evidence of Hatshepsut's accomplishments. But he was "perhaps motivated by ritual necessity rather than outright antipathy," he argues. Thus, Thutmose III may have been trying to neutralize his predecessor's power in a practical, commonplace way, not out of malice.
The expert also discovered that some of the statues depicting Queen Hatshepsut were likely damaged because later generations wanted to reuse them as building materials. "For a long time, it was assumed that Hatshepsut's statues had suffered a vindictive attack," he said. A new examination of the archives suggests that "this is not the case" and that she was instead treated in the same way as her predecessors in death, he said.
lefigaro
