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| Hatshepsut was the daughter of
Thutmosis I, the wife (probable half-sister) and Queen of
Thutmosis II and step-mother and co-regent of Thutmosis
III. She was Pharaoh, and was pictured as such in her
mortuary temple and other monuments. She ruled for
twenty-two year. When she died, Thutmosis III supervised
her burial in the Valley of the Kings. In the years after her
reign, her successors defaced the temple and monuments,
selectively removing her name or replacing it with their
own. It is not known if Thutmosis III ordered the actual
defacement out of anger at her assumption of power. There
is some archeological evidence that the defacement took
place 20 years after her death, a long time to hold a
grudge. Thutmosis III ruled for thirty-three years in his
own right.
The
Temple at Deir el Bahri served as a record of the
major events of her reign. There are scenes
depicting a trading expedition to Punt and the
quarrying of the two obelisks she commissioned
for Karnak,one of which still stands today. There
are also scenes of her coronation. This is the stele
commemorating the installation of the obelisks,
showing Hatshepsut on the left.
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| Hatshepsut's
Mortuary Temple was built next to the Mortuary
Temple of Mentuhotep of the earlier 11th dynasty.
(Click here to see a
timeline of Pharaohs) (This picture has been
collected from Usenet, it's source is unknown. If
it is under copyright, please let me know so that
it can be removed.)
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The bay
also contains a smaller Mortuary Temple of
Thutmosis III. Both temples are located beyond
the left side of this picture, but can be seen
more clearly in the above picture. A rock cut
shrine to Hathor is accessed on the left of the
second level. See the Hatshepsut Weblinks for
more pictures. See Pages 329-336 of The
Penguin Guide for a
detailed description of the area and the Temple.
Page 289 of the Lonely
Planet Guide focuses on
Hatshepsut's temple and provides directions for a
walk across the top of the rock bay to get a
spectacular view.
The temple was
severely damaged in ancient times by rock slides. It is
being restored by the Polish National Academy of
Sciences. The above picture was taken in 1989.
Restoration is continuing.
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The unfinished
tomb of Senenmut, the architect of the Great Temple, is
located nearby. The above view was taken from it's
entrance. The Penguin Guide
suggests that you can ask for special arrangements to see
the tomb. We did ask one of the guards who, for a small
fee, fetched the keys and took us over to the tomb.
Pictures of the inside of the Tomb of Senenmut will be
posted on this site in June, 2000.
Click on the thumbnail photos
below to see details of parts of the temple.
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