thutmose iii

Were Hatshepsut and Senenmut Lovers?

From speculation that he was gay to that infamous graffiti, we investigate Pharaoh Hatshepsut’s most-trusted advisor, who rose from nothing to become one of the most powerful men at the time. 

Senenmut was certainly Hatshepsut’s right-hand man — but did their relationship extend into the bedroom?

Senenmut was certainly Hatshepsut’s right-hand man — but did their relationship extend into the bedroom?

Were they or weren’t they? Egyptologists have debated whether or not Hatshepsut, the woman who became pharaoh, and her right-hand man, Senenmut, were an item. 

Senenmut, who was most likely about 20 years older than Hatshepsut, started out as a nobody. He didn’t come from a respected family — in fact, he was the son of a low-level official in a backwater village 15 miles from the capital city of Thebes (modern-day Luxor). Yet somehow he was chosen for a position at the palace, overseer of the large hall. In this role, Senenmut was in charge of the audience hall, where the king and queen would sit upon their thrones and receive visitors and hear petitions. And that was just the beginning.

Archaeologists found a drawing of a man and woman having sex doggie-style.

Some think it was a political satire of who really wore the pants, so to speak, in the relationship between Hatshepsut and Senenmut. 

Senenmut was soon promoted to overseer of the two granaries of the god Amun, a position that gave him access to great wealth and made him an economic authority. In addition to having control of the religious storehouse of wealth, Senenmut also became steward of the king’s and queen’s palaces, thereby controlling vast portions of the Ancient Egyptian economy. 

It’s hard to imagine how one man could do so many things, but Senenmut must have proved himself imminently capable, for he continued to collect titles, becoming responsible for more and more aspects of the state religion and government.

Royal tutors like Senenmut were depicted in this strange, blockish style — perhaps to emphasize their role as protectors of their charges

Royal tutors like Senenmut were depicted in this strange, blockish style — perhaps to emphasize their role as protectors of their charges

Wet Nurse for the Brain: Tutor to Neferure

One of the aspects of his illustrious career of which Senenmut was most proud was his role as tutor to Thutmose II and Hatshepset’s daughter, Neferure. It seems he wasn’t allowed to depict himself in the presence of Pharaoh Hatshepsut, but he commissioned numerous statues showing him as tutor to little Neferure — a way of declaring his connection to the royal family.

“The title for the royal tutor in Egyptian is mena nesut, which essentially means ‘male breast for the king’; that is to say, it is the masculine version of a wet nurse whose milk provided an infant with nourishment and protection against disease,” Kara Cooney writes in The Woman Who Would Be King, a marvelous account of Hatshepsut’s life. “The Egyptians believed that a wet nurse became related to her charge through the milk she fed the baby — in a sense, artificially creating blood relations.” 

In a similar sense, a male tutor nourished the mind of his young charge, pretty much becoming part of the family. Senenmut was such a father figure to young Neferure that many have speculated that she was actually his child instead of sickly Thutmose II’s.

“Much ink has been spilled on conjectures about the relationship between Hatshepsut and Senenmut,” Cooney writes, “however, there is no clear indication that Senenmut was anything more than Neferure’s tutor and protector, albeit a very close one.”  

Does this naughty graffiti show Senenmut taking King Hatshepsut from behind?

Does this naughty graffiti show Senenmut taking King Hatshepsut from behind?

The Case of the Doggy-Style Graffito

After Thutmose II died, Hatshepset’s nephew Thutmose III became pharaoh. Because he was still a child, Hatshepsut acted as regent for the Egyptian throne, ultimately declaring herself co-pharaoh. 


Hatshepsut led a colorful early life, including a period when she acted as a “wife” to the chief god of the Egyptian pantheon

Hatshepsut led a colorful early life, including a period when she acted as a “wife” to the chief god of the Egyptian pantheon


As ruler of Egypt at a time of great prosperity, Hatshepsut launched numerous construction projects, including the amazingly modern-looking Deir el-Bahari, her funerary temple, in the mid-1400s BCE. A crude drawing found nearby has launched a thousand speculations on the relationship between Hatshepsut and Senenmut. 

Senenmut wanted to be close to his queen in the afterlife. His tomb chapel sits in the hills overlooking Deir el-Bahari, the Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut

Senenmut wanted to be close to his queen in the afterlife. His tomb chapel sits in the hills overlooking Deir el-Bahari, the Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut

When archaeologists excavated the tombs in the hills above the Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut, they were, I’m sure, delighted to find a drawing of a man fucking a woman from behind. Surely this was a political satire of who really wore the pants, so to speak, in the relationship between Hatshepsut and Senenmut. 

But there’s nothing to mark the woman as Hatshepsut — no crown, no label — or anything that points to the man being Senenmut, for that matter. It was just too good of a story to pass up. 

While that famous graffito might not reveal that the pharaoh and her trusted advisor were intimate, there are other clues: Senenmut’s image was sneakily included in parts of Hashepsut’s mortuary temple, and his sarcophagus was of a matching pair with Hatshepsut’s.

There’s one other fact that raises suspicions about Senenmut’s connection to his female king, Cooney points out: “Not one of his dozens of statues, reliefs, and temple depictions records the existence of a family of his own,” she writes. “Without a doubt, if anything should make us wonder about the nature of his relationship with Hatshepsut, it is his lack of a wife. All Egyptian elites married.” 

Even if Senenmut was gay — and there might not have been anything wrong with that! — he probably would have still married. Did Hatshepsut just want him as a lover all to herself?

Even if Senenmut was gay — and there might not have been anything wrong with that! — he probably would have still married. Did Hatshepsut just want him as a lover all to herself?

Was Senenmut Gay?

Perhaps Senenmut just preferred the company of men. “The ranks of Egyptian elites undoubtedly included some men with same-sex desires, and some of these men might even have been able to talk of their sexual interests openly,” Cooney writes. 

But assuming that was the case, evidence indicates that gays in Ancient Egypt would have still married, in the hopes of having sons to pass on their legacy. 

Maybe Hatshepsut insisted she have Senenmut all to herself.

Portraits found in Senenmut’s tomb present a less-flattering, probably more-realistic view of what he looked like

Portraits found in Senenmut’s tomb present a less-flattering, probably more-realistic view of what he looked like

What Did Senenmut Look Like?

The statues of Senenmut as tutor to Princess Neferure show him as young and idealized. But the portraits in his tomb are probably more accurate: They “show him as a timeworn man with a hooked nose, lines etched into the skin around his mouth, a flabby, weak chin, and fleshy lips,” Cooney writes, adding, “If these latter images are to be believed, he was not a handsome man.”

Despite being one of the greatest royal advisors in Ancient Egypt, Senenmut was left with an unfinished tomb and an empty, shattered sarcophagus

Despite being one of the greatest royal advisors in Ancient Egypt, Senenmut was left with an unfinished tomb and an empty, shattered sarcophagus

A Sad End for Senenmut

Whether or not Hatshepsut and Senenmut were lovers, it’s obvious he wanted to be near her in the eternity of the afterlife. While his tomb chapel sits in the hills overlooking the Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut, he planned to have his body buried in a separate tomb closer to hers. To have a separate location for the tomb, instead of digging it below the funerary chapel, was a right that had previously been reserved for royalty. 

There’s evidence Senenmut lived for about 20 years after Hatshepsut’s death, but no records show that he retained his high position. It’s believed he lost much of his prestige after his beloved perished — and Thutmose III’s subsequent attempt to erase Hatshepsut’s kingship from history certainly wouldn’t have helped. 

Thutmose III, the a-hole who tried to wipe Pharaoh Hatshepsut’s reign from history

Thutmose III, the a-hole who tried to wipe Pharaoh Hatshepsut’s reign from history

Senenmut’s tomb was left unfinished and sealed without his corpse. His sarcophagus was dragged up to his tomb chapel in the Theban hills — though his mummy was never put inside it. The sarcophagus, constructed of quartzite, a durable material, was found smashed into pieces, a task that “would have required extensive labor and great expense,” Cooney writes. “Someone really wanted him disgraced.”

A man who had been that powerful for so long, who was an essential companion to an unconventional pharaoh, surely made many enemies along the way. So it shouldn’t be surprising that there were those who hated him enough to deface his tomb chapel and went to great effort to annihilate his sarcophagus. 

Ancient Egyptians believed that your tomb needed depictions of you so your spirit could find its way back to the preserved corpse each morning throughout eternity. Destroying a mummy and sarcophagus was a way of leaving poor Senenmut’s spirit wandering aimlessly for the rest of time, homeless and separated from all the wealth he had accrued in his impressive life. –Wally

The Glorious Decay of Karnak Temple

The sprawling temple complex in Luxor is considered one of the greatest architectural feats of all time.

Areas like this on the massive temple grounds of Karnak evoked Ancient Rome for Wally

Areas like this on the massive temple grounds of Karnak evoked Ancient Rome for Wally

For much of the history of Ancient Egypt, Karnak was the epicenter of worship, situated in the great city of Thebes (modern-day Luxor). Over 3,000 years ago, 30 or so pharaohs each wanted to put his or her stamp upon the temple, adding structures and elements, on and on through the centuries. In less-prosperous times, like the reign of Ramesses VI, the pharaoh simply recarved the additions made by his predecessor, Ramesses IV, and claimed them as his own. And Horemheb replaced King Tut’s name with his own on several monuments at Karnak, in a bid to sever all ties with the heretical lineage of Akhenaton. 

The site sprawled, and today it is the largest surviving religious complex in the world.

The great temple complex of Karnak was where Hatshepsut first started her genderbending iconography — all before she declared herself pharaoh.

So much of Karnak as it is today began during the reign of that fascinating figure Hatshepsut, a female pharaoh who ruled during the 15th century BCE. Before her, Karnak was mostly mud brick but she embarked upon an ambitious construction program that included rebuilding Karnak with sandstone, making it more permanent and the basis of the massive complex we can still explore to this day. 

The scale of these massive columns is difficult to describe without experiencing it yourself

The scale of these massive columns is difficult to describe without experiencing it yourself

Wally loves exploring ancient temples so much, he just had to jump for joy

Wally loves exploring ancient temples so much, he just had to jump for joy

I’ve mentioned before that a large part of the charm of visiting Egypt is that each temple has something utterly unique about it, and for Karnak it’s the massive scale of the site. In addition, because its stones were plundered for other construction projects, much of the complex lies in a semi-ruined state, which evoked Ancient Rome to me. It’s fun to clamber past large fragments of stone as you explore the temple.

Rows of sphinxes welcome you to Karnak

Rows of sphinxes welcome you to Karnak

A Tour of Karnak

We call the temple Karnak today, but that name came from a nearby village, el-Karnak. In ancient times it was known as Ipetisut, “the Most Select of Places.” The main part of the temple was dedicated to that great god, Amun (aka Amon, Amen), who was responsible for fertility and whom Egyptians trusted to keep their country prosperous.

Other, smaller, temples surrounded it, such as the one to Mut, the mother goddess and Amun’s consort.

Admission costs 150 Egyptian pounds, or less than $10, per person. You enter Karnak through an avenue of sphinxes bearing the heads of rams to honor Amun. Between each of their leonine paws, their chins resting on his head, stand small statues of Pharaoh Ramesses II, who commissioned the project.

Ram-headed, lion-bodied sphinxes protect diminutive statues of Ramesses II between their paws

Ram-headed, lion-bodied sphinxes protect diminutive statues of Ramesses II between their paws

Past these stone guardians, to the right, is a shrine to house the solar barque, used to transport the statue of the god during festivals. Built by Ramesses III, the exterior is lined with statues showing the pharaoh in mummy form with arms crossed to draw a connection with the god Osiris, ruler of the afterlife.

There’s much to explore at Karnak, so be sure to give yourself a couple of hours at least

There’s much to explore at Karnak, so be sure to give yourself a couple of hours at least

The Great Hypostyle Hall

Pass under the Second Pylon to come to Karnak’s Great Hypostyle Hall, row upon rows of papyrus columns — 134, in fact. Unlike many other Ancient Egyptian temples, this colonnade is predominantly open-roofed. Blue sky can be seen above, and the sun blazes down upon you. Historians posit that this airy hall was the site of a ceremony called “uniting with the sun” and is supposed to resemble the primeval swamp, part of the creation myth.

The open-air nature of the Great Hypostyle Hall hints at the worship of Amun as a sun god

The open-air nature of the Great Hypostyle Hall hints at the worship of Amun as a sun god

It’s near impossible to fully comprehend how gigantic some of these columns are, as you stand on the ground, gazing up. But the columns stand six stories high, and it’s said that some of the capitals, or tops, would fit 50 people!

An avenue of sphinxes once led all the way to Luxor Temple, two miles away — and there’s talk of restoring it

An avenue of sphinxes once led all the way to Luxor Temple, two miles away — and there’s talk of restoring it

In ancient times, statues of deities would have been placed throughout this forest of columns. That’s one of the things that bummed me out most about these temples. As awesome as they are, most are devoid of statuary. I suppose they’ve been relocated to museums around the world — though I wish they had kept at least a few here and there. 

That being said, Karnak is one of the few sites in Egypt where you’ll see quite a few statues on the grounds, though most are of pharaohs not gods. 

You’ll spot quite a few statues as you wander Karnak

You’ll spot quite a few statues as you wander Karnak

Pharaoh after pharaoh repurposed materials to rebuild portions of Karnak over the centuries

Pharaoh after pharaoh repurposed materials to rebuild portions of Karnak over the centuries

Reliefs cover the exterior of the hall, one showing Ramesses II’s Battle of Kadesh, which ended as a stalemate — though the pharaoh proclaimed victory. This was his favorite piece of revisionist history. He depicted his “triumph” at numerous temples, including Karnak, where he had a poem carved that told of his miraculous victory over the Hittites. His army was about to be defeated, but his father, the god Amun, made him invincible — and he single-handedly vanquished 2,500 of his enemies. 

Hatshepsut depicted herself as a pharaoh blessed by the gods on one of her obelisks, now on its side by the Sacred Lake

Hatshepsut depicted herself as a pharaoh blessed by the gods on one of her obelisks, now on its side by the Sacred Lake

The great temple complex of Karnak was where Hatshepsut first started her genderbending iconography. A carving shows her wearing a masculine wig and the atef crown, which sported ram’s horns and two feathers — all before she declared herself pharaoh.

It’s truly astounding that the Ancient Egyptians found a way to carve obelisks from a single stone and raise them, where they remain standing, thousands of years later

It’s truly astounding that the Ancient Egyptians found a way to carve obelisks from a single stone and raise them, where they remain standing, thousands of years later

Obelisks: The Sun Made Stone

Obelisks were the most impressive of architectural feats. Carved from a single block of red granite, the top halves of them were covered in electrum, silver-gold sheets beaten flat. There was no stronger tie to the solar cult than these tall, thin structures resembling the sun’s rays, and, indeed, the metal caught the light, blinding onlookers.

One of the obelisks Hatshepsut erected at the site honors her patron deity, Amun, whom she once served as his “wife.” The inscription reads, in part: “I know that Karnak is Heaven on Earth, the sacred elevation of the first occasion, the eye of the Lord to the Limit, his favorite place, which bears his perfection and gathers his followers.”

Love among the ruins, Wally and Karnak style

Love among the ruins, Wally and Karnak style

A couple of obelisks tower above visitors to this day, and I’m not ashamed to say I was a little freaked out standing beneath them, imagining how easily they could become off-balanced and come crashing down upon us. 

In fact, one obelisk does lie on its side, though it was probably done so purposefully. It’s on these remains, in front of the Sacred Lake, that you can see depictions of Hatshepsut as pharaoh. 

No swimming allowed! The Sacred Lake was where priests would cleanse themselves before rituals

No swimming allowed! The Sacred Lake was where priests would cleanse themselves before rituals

The Sacred Lake

The lake supplied Karnak with water, in part for its priests to cleanse themselves for rituals. 

Nearby is a statue of a scarab (a word that sounds a whole lot cooler than “dung beetle”). Our guide Mamduh told us we should circle it three times for good luck, and a guy on Flickr complains: “Crazy tourists circumambulate — 3 times for luck, 7 times for love, and 10 times for wealth. Makes it hard to get a decent photo.”

Join the throng and walk in circles around the statue of Khepri, the scarab god, by the Sacred Lake. It’s said to be good luck

Join the throng and walk in circles around the statue of Khepri, the scarab god, by the Sacred Lake. It’s said to be good luck

This is also where you’ll find a café, where we met up with our guide, smoking a cigarette and drinking coffee. He tried to convince us that hot beverages are better for your body in extreme heat, but we ignored his advice and went for ice-cold waters and ice cream treats.

Hatshepsut and Thutmose III make offerings to Amun in the carvings inside the Red Chapel

Hatshepsut and Thutmose III make offerings to Amun in the carvings inside the Red Chapel

Hatshepsut’s Red Chapel

Egyptologists gush about Hatshepsut’s Red Chapel, but I don’t get it. To me, it’s not all that impressive, especially compared to all the other marvels found throughout the country, from massive colonnades to towering statues. It’s just a rectangular-shaped building.

Inside this deep red quartzite chapel in the heart of Karnak, Hatshepsut depicted herself as a male ruler. In fact, her images are difficult to tell apart from those of her nephew and co-pharaoh, Thutmose III.

Much like Hatshepsut’s, King Tut’s reign was stricken from the official record

Much like Hatshepsut’s, King Tut’s reign was stricken from the official record

After Hatshepsut’s death and toward the end of his reign, Thutmose III began a campaign to obliterate his co-ruler’s legacy. At Karnak, he took apart her sacred Red Chapel, leaving its bricks in rubble piles nearby. And at the Eighth Pylon, Thutmose III reassigned two colossal statues of Hatshepsut as pharaoh to his father, Thutmose II. The idea was to connect himself with the traditional patriarchal lineage — and hopefully have everyone forget the unconventional time he shared Egypt’s throne with a woman.

In 1997, the French Institute undertook the challenge of rebuilding what they refer to as la Chapelle Rouge. Today you can visit the Red Chapel, and hopefully you won’t have the space crowded with tourists and a woman doing an Instagram photo shoot out the back.

Beyond the Red Chapel, at the back of Karnak, off to the left, you can wander through Thutmose III’s Festival Hall.

Off to the side of the complex is the Akh-Menou, or Thutomose III’s Festival Hall, featuring tentpole columns

Off to the side of the complex is the Akh-Menou, or Thutomose III’s Festival Hall, featuring tentpole columns



After exploring the rest of the complex, Duke and I wandered past the Sacred Lake, out to the Tenth Pylon. The gateway was closed off, but beyond was once an avenue of sphinxes that led to the Temple of Mut. The road took a turn and joined up with another avenue of sphinxes, this one leading all the way to Luxor Temple, two miles away. Everyone’s abuzz at the prospect of renovating and reopening that avenue — though it didn’t appear much progress had been made when we visited. –Wally

The temple grounds are a mishmash of architecture from many different pharaohs’ reigns

The temple grounds are a mishmash of architecture from many different pharaohs’ reigns

Much of Karnak lies in ruins

Much of Karnak lies in ruins

Hatshepsut built the Eighth Pylon, making it one of the oldest parts of the temple complex

Hatshepsut built the Eighth Pylon, making it one of the oldest parts of the temple complex

Historic renderings of Karnak

Historic renderings of Karnak

Even if you don’t read French, this map can help you navigate the Karnak complex

Even if you don’t read French, this map can help you navigate the Karnak complex

 

Thutmose III’s Futile Attempt to Erase Hatshepsut’s Legacy

Try as he might, Thutmose III wasn’t able to completely eradicate references to his aunt Hatshepsut as his co-pharaoh. And why did he wait so late in his reign to do so?

Thutmose III tried to get rid of all references to Hatshepsut as pharaoh — but he couldn’t find them all, thankfully!

Thutmose III tried to get rid of all references to Hatshepsut as pharaoh — but he couldn’t find them all, thankfully!

Hatshepsut was, undeniably, a remarkable woman. A princess who married her half-brother to become his queen. A high priestess (and symbolic wife) of the most powerful of the gods. A queen regent for her nephew (and stepson), Thutmose III. And then, in an unprecedented move, the most senior of two simultaneous pharaohs. She was, as Kara Cooney’s book title proclaims, The Woman Who Would Be King.



Duke stands in the ruins of Karnak Temple, a massive complex that Hatshepsut helped build (and, as such, once sported countless depictions of the female king)

Duke stands in the ruins of Karnak Temple, a massive complex that Hatshepsut helped build (and, as such, once sported countless depictions of the female king)

Hatshepsut’s reign of 20 years was a time of peace and prosperity, during which the Two Lands of Upper and Lower Egypt experienced stability. Backed by military might, the country received goods from every direction, including Nubian gold. With the coffers full, Pharaoh Hatshepsut embarked on massive construction projects, putting her people to work building tombs and temples. Her image, which became more and more masculine, literally covered the country. 



So it was quite ambitious to attempt to obliterate her legacy. But that’s exactly what her one-time co-ruler, Thutmose III, tried to do. The strange part is that he waited about 25 years after Hatshepsut’s death to do so. If he was so upset with his aunt/stepmother, why the delay?

Thankfully, Thutmose III, try as he might, ultimately failed to completely erase all mentions of Hatshepsut as king. Here are some of the fascinating facts that led to this complicated string of events.

Like mother, like daughter: Evidence reveals that Pharaoh Hatshepsut, depicted here as a sphinx, attempted to pave the way for her daughter to ascend the throne

Like mother, like daughter: Evidence reveals that Pharaoh Hatshepsut, depicted here as a sphinx, attempted to pave the way for her daughter to ascend the throne

Hatshepset put her daughter Nefrure into the role of God’s Wife — probably hoping she would be her successor.

There are plenty of things a female ruler can do. But having a Great Wife like every male pharaoh before her isn’t one. But she could assign her child to one of the most powerful positions at the time: the high priestess of Amun (aka Amen). 

“And so we see Hatshepsut performing her religious duties in the temple with the God’s Wife — offering up bloody haunches of freshly sacrificed calves, striking ritual chests with sacred instruments, or chanting transformational spells to the sun god on the hour,” Cooney writes.

There’s good evidence that Nefrure was also married to Thutmose III, so in a strange way, she was also acting as wife to her mother simultaneously — at least for ritual events, according to Cooney. “Poor Thutmose III: he had to share absolutely everything with his aunt Hatshepsut, even his own Great Royal Wife,” she writes.

Imagery of a woman at Deir el-Bahari, Hatshepsut’s funerary temple, is believed to be that of Neferure, offering a strong argument that Hatshepsut intended for her daughter to co-rule with Thutmose III as she did. 

Those depictions were rather quickly scratched out or replaced with carvings of Thutmose I, Hatshepsut’s father, as is evident in the Chapel of Anubis at Deir el-Bahari. 

“It is likely that Thutmose III, or the Amen priesthood, or some faction of elites resisted, fearing the creation of another strange male-female coregency, this time beyond the justification of necessity and dynastic security,” Cooney writes. “Hatshepsut apparently relented, bowing to political or religious pressures and ordering the removal of all such images from her funerary temple. Or maybe no one dared speak against the senior king at all. Nefrure might have died during her mother’s reign, ruining all such hope for an heir of her own lineage.”

There are hints that not everyone was too happy about a female pharaoh.

This dissent is evident in numerous carvings throughout Hatshepsut’s funerary temple. They read, “He who shall do her homage shall live. He who shall speak evil in blasphemy of Her Majesty shall die.” 

That being said, “there is absolutely no evidence of insurrection, rebellion or coup during her reign,” Cooney points out. “Even if people were unhappy about Hatshepsut’s rule, they weren’t so dissatisfied that they were going to do anything about it.”

And why should they? All was right with the world during the two decades of Hatshepsut’s reign.

Riddle me this: Why did Thutmose III (seen here as a sphinx) wait so long for the smear campaign against his aunt and co-ruler?

Riddle me this: Why did Thutmose III (seen here as a sphinx) wait so long for the smear campaign against his aunt and co-ruler?

Twenty-five years after Hatshepsut’s death, Thutmose III developed an obsession with erasing his co-pharaoh from history.

I suppose I should be grateful at how much of this amazing ancient culture is left to us. But I still get bummed at the gaps in what we know of its history. And one such gap is that we have no idea how Hatshepsut died. We do know that she reigned from about 1479 BCE until her death in 1458 BCE. 

Thutmose III then became solo pharaoh. But it wasn’t until 25 years into his reign that he began a regime of obliterating all traces of Pharaoh Hatshepsut, starting with her impressive obelisks at Karnak (which were located at a prominent place where all could see). The masculinized depictions of Hatshepsut as king, after a bit of chisel work, were quickly reassigned to Thutmose II or Amenhotep I. 

“It stands as our earliest evidence of Thutmose III’s removing Hatshepsut’s image from the temple landscape in favor of his own father’s,” Cooney writes. “But it was far from the last.”

Only the images of Hatshepsut as pharaoh were modified — those showing her as a queen were left untouched.

Thutmose III, shown in a devotional pose, must have asked the gods to secure the throne for his son

Thutmose III, shown in a devotional pose, must have asked the gods to secure the throne for his son

Thutmose III’s long-delayed plan to eradicate all evidence of Hatshepsut as pharaoh most likely was a way to secure the throne for his son.

Why did Thutmose delay for so long before deciding to obliterate Hatshepsut’s legacy? That’s when he was starting to concern himself with his successor. “Thutmose III waited until the end of his reign to systematically erase Hatshepsut’s presence because it was only then that he needed to shore up the legitimate kingship for a son who had no genealogical connection to Hatshpesut’s side of the family,” Cooney explains. “By removing his aunt, whose lofty and pure family connection sullied the aspirations of his own chosen son, Thutmose III was strengthening the history of his dynasty.”

Thank Amun, this smear campaign to eradicate the record of her rule ultimately wasn’t successful: “Despite the breadth and organization of the destruction, Hatshesut had simply built too much and embellished Egypt too wide for Thutmose III to destroy it all,” Cooney writes.

“Hatshepsut’s kingship was a fantastic and unbelievable aberration, but little more than a necessity of the moment,” Cooney wraps up. “Her feminine kingship was always to be perceived as a negative complication by the ancient Egyptians, a problem that could only be reconciled publicly and formally through its obliteration. After all her great accomplishments, despite her unique triumph, her fate was to be erased, expunged, silenced.”

I sure am glad that failed. Many references to Hatshepsut remained undisturbed. I’ve always been drawn to badass women, and Hatshepsut certainly qualifies. –Wally