Editing Hatshepsut (section)

==Major accomplishments==

===Trade routes===
{{main|Land of Punt}}
[[File:Hatshepsut's Myrrh Tree.webp|thumb|The trunk of a [[Myrrh|myrrh tree]] brought by Hatshepsut's expedition from the Land of Punt, planted in front of [[Mortuary temple of Hatshepsut|her temple]] at [[Deir el-Bahari]].]]
Hatshepsut re-established a number of [[trade route|trade networks]] that had been disrupted during the [[Hyksos]] occupation of Egypt during the [[Second Intermediate Period]].{{sfn|Salisbury|2001|p=149}} She oversaw the preparations and funding for a mission to the [[Land of Punt]].{{sfn|Keller|2005|p=96}}{{sfn|Dell|2008|p=72}}{{sfn|Njoku|2013|pp=29–31}}

Hatshepsut's delegation returned from Punt bearing 31 live myrrh trees{{sfn|American Research Center in Egypt|2007}} and other luxuries such as [[frankincense]].{{sfn|Keller|2005|p=96}}{{sfn|Dell|2008|p=72}}{{sfn|Njoku|2013|pp=29–31}} Hatshepsut would grind the charred frankincense into [[kohl (cosmetics)|kohl]] eyeliner. This is the first recorded use of the resin.{{sfn|Isaac|2004|p=14}}

Hatshepsut had the expedition commemorated in relief at [[Deir el-Bahari]], which is also famous for its realistic depiction of Queen Ati of the Land of Punt.{{sfn|Tyldesley|1996|pp=137–144}} Hatshepsut also sent raiding expeditions to [[Byblos]] and the [[Sinai Peninsula]] shortly after the Punt expedition. Very little is known about these expeditions. Although many [[Egyptologist]]s have claimed that her [[foreign policy]] was mainly peaceful,{{sfn|Tyldesley|1996|pp=137–144}} it is possible that she led military campaigns against [[Nubia]] and [[Canaan]].{{sfn|Bunson|2002|p=161}}

===Building projects===
[[File: Copper or bronze sheet bearing the name of Hatshepsut. From a foundation deposit in "a small pit covered with a mat" found at Deir el-Bahri, Egypt. 18th Dynasty. The Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology, London.jpg|thumb|upright=0.85|Copper or bronze sheet bearing the name of Hatshepsut. From a foundation deposit in a small pit covered with a mat found at Deir el-Bahari.]]
Hatshepsut was one of the most prolific builders in Ancient Egypt, commissioning hundreds of construction projects throughout both [[Upper Egypt]] and [[Lower Egypt]]. Many of these building projects were temples to build her religious base and legitimacy beyond her position as God's Wife of Amun. At these temples, she performed religious rituals that had hitherto been reserved for kings, corroborating the evidence that Hatshepsut assumed traditionally male roles as pharaoh.{{sfn|Cooney|2018|pp=124-125}} She employed the great architect [[Ineni]], who also had worked for her father, her husband, and for the royal steward [[Senenmut]].{{sfn|Hinds|2007|p=27}} The extant artifacts of the statuary provide archaeological evidence of Hatshepsut's portrayals of herself as a male pharaoh, with physically masculine traits and traditionally male Ancient Egyptian garb, such as a [[Beard#Egypt|false beard]] and ram's horns.{{sfn|Roth|2005|p=155}} These images are seen as symbolic, and not evidence of [[cross-dressing]] or [[androgyny]].{{sfn|Graves-Brown|2010|p=106|loc="Female rulers are given the attributes of essentially male kingship such as false beards (the beard is also false when worn by male kings) and kilts. But depictions of female queens, such as Sobekneferu or Hatshepsut, wearing male attire should certainly not be seen as evidence of transvestism or mythical androgyny. Female kings were rather taking on a male persona, given the essential masculinity of kingship."}}

Following the tradition of most pharaohs, Hatshepsut had monuments constructed at the [[Temple of Karnak]]. She also restored the original [[Precinct of Mut]], the [[Mut|great ancient goddess of Egypt]], at Karnak that had been ravaged by the foreign rulers during the [[Hyksos]] occupation. It later was ravaged by other pharaohs, who took one part after another to use in their own projects. The precinct awaits restoration. She had twin [[obelisk]]s erected at the entrance to the temple which at the time of building were the tallest in the world. Only one remains upright, which is the [[List of Egyptian obelisks|second-tallest ancient obelisk still standing]], the other having toppled and broken in two. The official in charge of those obelisks was the high steward [[Amenhotep (high steward)|Amenhotep]].{{sfn|Shirley|2014|p=206}} Another project, Karnak's Red Chapel, or [[Chapelle Rouge]], was built as a barque shrine.{{sfn|Radner|Moeller|Potts|2022|p=159}}

Later, she ordered the construction of two more obelisks to celebrate her 16th year as pharaoh; one of the obelisks broke during construction, and a third was therefore constructed to replace it. The broken obelisk was left at its quarrying site in [[Aswan]], where it remains. Known as [[Unfinished obelisk|the Unfinished Obelisk]], it provides evidence of how obelisks were quarried.{{sfn|Tyson|1999}}

[[File:Il tempio di Hatshepsut.JPG|thumb|upright=1|left|Colonnaded design of Hatshepsut mortuary temple]]
Hatshepsut built the Temple of [[Pakhet]] at [[Beni Hasan]] in the [[Minya Governorate#Ancient Egyptian period|Minya Governorate]] south of [[Minya, Egypt|Al Minya]]. The name, Pakhet, was a synthesis that occurred by combining [[Bastet|Bast]] and [[Sekhmet]], who were similar lioness war goddesses, in an area that bordered the north and south division of their cults. The cavernous underground temple, cut into the rock cliffs on the eastern side of the [[Nile]], was admired and called the [[Speos Artemidos]] by the Greeks during their occupation of Egypt, known as the [[Ptolemaic Dynasty]]. They saw the goddess as akin to their hunter goddess, Artemis. The temple is thought to have been built alongside much more ancient ones that have not survived. This temple has an architrave with a long dedicatory text bearing Hatshepsut's famous denunciation of the [[Hyksos]] that [[James Peter Allen|James P. Allen]] has translated.{{sfn|Allen|2002|pp=1–17}} This temple was altered later, and some of its insides were altered by [[Seti I]] of the [[Nineteenth Dynasty]] in an attempt to have his name replace that of Hatshepsut.{{sfn|Tyldesley|1996|p=228}}

Following the tradition of many pharaohs, the masterpiece of Hatshepsut's building projects was a [[mortuary temple]]. She built hers in [[Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut|a complex]] at [[Deir el-Bahari]].{{sfn|Roth|2005|p=147}} The identity of the architect behind the project remains unclear. It is possible that [[Senenmut]], the Overseer of Works, or [[Hapuseneb]], the High Priest, was responsible. It is also likely that Hatshepsut provided input to the project.{{sfn|Arnold|2005|p=135}} Located opposite the city of [[Luxor]], it is considered to be a masterpiece of ancient architecture.{{sfn|Roehrig|Dreyfus|Keller|2005|p=4}}{{sfn|Arnold|2005|p=135}}{{sfn|Szafrański|2014|p=125}} The complex's focal point was the [[Djeser-Djeseru]] or "the Holy of Holies".{{sfn|Arnold|2005|p=135}}

===Official lauding===
{{See also|Depiction of Hatshepsut's birth and coronation}}
[[File:Hatshepsut-CollosalGraniteSphinx02 MetropolitanMuseum.png|upright=.8|alt=Large granite sphinx bearing the likeness of Hatshepsut, depicted with a false beard |thumb|Hatshepsut was "often portrayed in lion form [[sphinx]] when she ruled as king",{{sfn|Graves-Brown|2010|p=132}} as in this [[granite]] sculpture which also shows her wearing the traditional [[Beard#Egypt|false beard]], a symbol of pharaonic power.]]
[[File:S F-E-CAMERON Hatshepsut Hawk.JPG|thumb|left|The Hawk of the Pharaoh, Hatshepsut—''Temple at Luxor'']]
[[Hyperbole]] is common to virtually all royal inscriptions of Egyptian history. While all ancient leaders used it to laud their achievements, Hatshepsut has been called the most accomplished pharaoh at promoting her accomplishments.<ref name="pbslink">{{cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/empires/egypt/newkingdom/hatshepsut.html|title=Hatshepsut|publisher=PBS|access-date=29 August 2017|archive-date=31 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170831181559/http://www.pbs.org/empires/egypt/newkingdom/hatshepsut.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

Hatshepsut assumed all the [[regalia]] and symbols of the Pharaonic office in official representations: the [[Khat (apparel)|Khat]] head cloth, topped with the [[uraeus]], the traditional false beard, and [[shendyt]] kilt.<ref name="pbslink"/> Hatshepsut was ambiguous and androgynous in many of her statues and monuments. She would create a masculine version of herself to establish herself in the Egyptian patriarchy.{{sfn|Cooney|2018|pp=144-145}}

Osirian statues of Hatshepsut—as with other pharaohs—depict the dead pharaoh as Osiris, with the body and regalia of that deity.{{sfn|Baum|Thomas|2016|p=60}}

To further lay her claim to the throne, [[Ancient Egyptian religion|priests]] told a story of divine birth. In this myth, [[Amun]] goes to [[Queen Ahmose|Ahmose]] in the form of Thutmose I. Hatshepsut is conceived by Ahmose. [[Khnum]], the god who forms the bodies of human children, is then instructed to create a body and [[Ka (Egyptian soul)|''ka'']], or corporal presence/life force, for Hatshepsut. [[Heket]], the goddess of life and fertility, and Khnum then lead Ahmose along to a place where she gives birth to Hatshepsut.{{sfn|Wells|1969|p=177}}{{sfn|Morenz|1992|p=184}}{{sfn|Lipinska|2001|p=86}}{{sfn|Martin|2012}}{{Page needed|date=November 2024}} Reliefs depicting each step in these events are at Karnak and in her mortuary temple.{{sfnm|Pirelli|1999|1p=278|Dorman|2005a|2p=87|Roth|2005|3p=149}}

The Oracle of Amun proclaimed that it was the will of Amun that Hatshepsut be pharaoh, further strengthening her position. She reiterated Amun's support by having these proclamations by the god Amun carved on her monuments:

{{blockquote|Welcome my sweet daughter, my favorite, the King of Upper and Lower Egypt, Maatkare, Hatshepsut. Thou art the Pharaoh, taking possession of the Two Lands.{{sfn|Breasted|1906|pp=116–117}}}}

Once she became pharaoh herself, Hatshepsut supported her assertion that she was her father's designated successor with inscriptions on the walls of her mortuary temple:

{{blockquote|Then his majesty said to them: "This daughter of mine, Khnumetamun Hatshepsut—may she live!—I have appointed as my successor upon my throne... she shall direct the people in every sphere of the palace; it is she indeed who shall lead you. Obey her words, unite yourselves at her command." The royal nobles, the dignitaries, and the leaders of the people heard this proclamation of the promotion of his daughter, the King of Upper and Lower Egypt, Maatkare—may she live eternally.{{sfn|Seawright|2000}}}}