Hatshepsut Essay

The New Kingdom of Egypt was from 1570 to 1069 BCE. Kingship was passed down from father to son; however, the king’s accession to the throne was justified by his claim to be the son of the sun god, Ra, rather than of a prior king. The King was a demigod, a divine being. Although kingship was restricted to male heirs, there were instances in which females were able to gain great amount of power. One example is Hatshepsut during the 18th dynasty. She was able to claim herself as pharaoh; however, there were some obstacles. Hatshepsut was able to legitimize her rule with the aid of her bloodline, the reagent system, religion, and by economic means. Hatshepsut royal bloodline helped legitimize her rule. The fact that she was the daughter of a king, Thutmose I, and then became the wife of a king, her half-brother Thutmose II, helped assert her power. Even though the king was able to have several wives, the most important wife had the title of ‘Great Wife’ and queen Hatshepsut was the daughter of King Thutmose I and his Great Wife. When her husband Thutmose II ascended the throne, Hatshepsut

One of her well-known monument, Hatshepsut Deir el-Bahari, in western Thebes contains scenes that promote her divine birth and rewrote history so that it was without doubt that she was “elected as heir apparent during her father’s lifetime”. In her monuments and inscriptions, she emphasized her father’s achievements, calling herself “the king’s firstborn daughter” and tried to erase the short reign of her husband, Thutmose II, to make it appear as if the throne was passed on directly from Thutmose I to Hatshepsut. These promotions did convince some individuals, but there was still concerns because of her gender. The tradition of male pharaohs in some form became an obstacle that needed to be tackled. Once again, Hatshepsut utilized inscriptions and monuments to overcome that