Every Day Is Special: pharaoh

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April 24 - Thutmose III Becomes Pharaoh - Hatshepsut Becomes Powerful!

Posted on April 24, 2020

It's weird to think that we know the exact date of something that happened about 3,500 years ago! And yet April 24, 1479 B.C.E. is given as the date when the Ancient Egyptian pharaoh Thutmose II died, and his son, Thutmose III, became the ruler.

Problem was, Thutmose III was only two years old!

Luckily, Thutmose III had a stepmother (who was also, by the way, his aunt) who could rule as regent. Hatshepsut had been the primary wife of Thutmose II. She stepped into the role of making decisions and setting the course for the Egyptian Empire.

And that course was a lot more peaceful than "normal" for the times. Hatshepsut re-established important trade routes and started hundreds of construction projects. Her buildings are considered grander than any of the earlier pharaoh's works. She ordered many sculptures and had two obelisks created and positioned at the entrance to the Temple of Karnak; these are considered the tallest in the world at the time.

Shortly after Hatshepsut became regent, she elevated herself to the position of pharaoh. (She didn't officially take the pharaoh-ship away from Thutmose III, but she did make him, when he was old enough, the head of her armies.)

It was uncommon for a woman to rule Ancient Egypt, but there had already been one to three female pharaohs, and of course some women ruled as regents.

Hatshepsut was the daughter of a king (Thutmose I), and she was both half-sister and wife of another king (Thutmose II), so her bloodline as pharaoh was completely solid. She had served in an important office called God's Wife when her father was pharaoh, and she used that position plus her knowledge of history and of the Ancient Egyptian religion to make the case for herself as Egypt's ruler.

Modern-day scholars consider Hatshepsut a very good pharaoh. Her reign was relatively long and peaceful, and it was very prosperous.

By the way, when Hatshepsut died (in her mid-40s), Thutmose III became the pharaoh. He was then in his early 20s, which nowadays at least would be considered a young man. Perfect timing, right?

Maybe.

The truth is that some of Hatshepsut's statues were removed and replaced with Thutmose III statues, and in other cases her statues remained but her name was chiseled off statues and buildings. Some scholars (at least in the past) believed that Thutmose III may have been angry that he had been kept from the throne for around 20 years. Others aren't sure that Thutmose III is to blame for the statue removals and damage; it's possible that other important people resented a woman in power or had other motivations.

Nefertiti (above) and Cleopatra (below)
are more famous than Hatshepsut...but
the latter is considered by many to be
the "first great woman" that we know of...

Also on this date:

Demography pioneer John Graunt's birthday

Poetry and the Creative Mind Day

Concord Day in Niger

Anniversary of the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope

Anniversary of the publishing of America's first newspaper

Anniversary of the opening of the Woolworth Building

National Pigs in a Blanket Day

Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day

Pay It Forward

Anniversary of the start of the Quantum Revolution

Teach Children to Save Day

Anniversary of the start of the Library of Congress

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December 6 – Discovery of an Artifact, a Sculpture, an Icon

Posted on December 6, 2018

What do a German bank cellar, a German salt mine, and various museums in Germany all have in common?

The obvious answer: they are all in Germany, of course!

But the answer I'm going for is that they are all places where the famous Nefertiti Bust have been kept since its discovery on this date in 1912.

You probably already know that that discovery was NOT in Germany - of course not! - but in Egypt. Specifically, this statue was discovered in the ruins of the workshop of a sculptor named Thutmose in the archaeological site of the ancient Egyptian city of Amarna.

Which leads to the question:

Why has the world-famous Nefertiti bust been stored and / or displayed all over Germany instead of in Egypt?

Why indeed!

The archaeological team that discovered the bust was German, and when they discovered this gorgeous ancient art piece, they took it back to Germany. Every since then, Egypt has demanded its return - but to no avail!

Nefertiti currently is on display in a museum in Berlin.

Here are some tidbits about the piece, and about Nefertiti:

Nefertiti was the Queen of Egypt, married to the pharaoh Akhenaten. This was a wealthy time in Ancient Egypt - one of the wealthiest! But it was also an interesting time because Akhenaten and Nefertiti were bold and innovative. They moved the capital from Thebes to a new city, Akhetaten (now Amarna), they helped to shape new styles in art, and they did away with all the old gods and goddesses and started a new religion - a monotheistic (just one god, Aten) religion!

Akhenaten and Nefertiti, plus their daughters.

Notice that the babies and children are drawn like miniature adults
rather than having babyish and childish proportions!

With all of this new-new-new stuff, women - including Nefertiti and her daughters - had more power than women generally had in the ancient world.

Actually, all of this new-new-new stuff may have been BECAUSE women - including Nefertiti and her daughters - had more voice and influence!

Either Nefertiti or one of her daughters served as a co-ruler with Akhenaten, during the latter part of his rule, and then ruled Egypt as the female pharaoh Neferneferuaten.

One of Nefertiti's daughters became Queen by marrying the young pharaoh Tutankhamun. (You know, King Tut!)

Not long after Pharaoh Akhenaten's death, his monuments were taken down, hidden, or destroyed. He was considered a heretic, which basically means a believer in a false religion. His name was left off of lists of pharaohs, and in histories he was referred to as "the enemy" or "that criminal" rather than as King Akhenaten! Traditional religion was restored, the capital was moved back to Thebes, and many art styles and fashions associated with Akhenaten were abandoned.

It's possible that Nefertiti tried to do damage control when she saw the backlash. Many scholars think it was Nefertiti's influence that started the new religion, but she may also have been the one to reinstall the traditional gods and religious practices, the one to bring back the Amun priests, the one to raise King Tut in the old ways.

Because of the bust of Nefertiti, she is one of the best known women of Ancient Egypt. She is also considered an icon of female beauty. Very symmetrical, very delicate neck and features - although who knows what the real woman really looked like!

Check out some modern artworks that depict Nefertiti:

By Elena Zhilina

By Jean-Paul Martin

By Kai Hansen

By KamilaSharipova

Also on this date:

Author / illustrator Jean de Brunhoff's birthday

Miners' Day

Finland's Independence Day

St. Nicholas Day

Anniversary of the completion of the Washington Monument

Constitution Day in Spain

Anniversary of the founding of Everglades National Park

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February 1 – Anniversary of Hatshepsut's Death

Posted on February 1, 2014

Hatshepsut, Foremost of Noble Ladies, Pharaoh of Upper and Lower Egypt, lived more than 3,500 years ago. So we are not sure of the exact date that she died in 1458 BCE.

But late January or early February is a pretty good guess.

Hatshepsut is considered one of the most successful pharaohs. She established trade networks that contributed to the wealth of Ancient Egypt. She is the first person known to have arranged the transplant of foreign trees. (Thirty-one live myrrh trees were brought at her request from the Land of Punt to Egypt.) Hatshepsut commissioned many building projects, and some argue that her monuments and buildings were grander and more numerous than those of any earlier pharaoh. Some people say that one reason for Egypt's prosperity during Hatshepsut's reign was that money was spent on increasing trade rather than on waging war.

I didn't realize until recently that women had relatively high status in Ancient Egypt. They had the right to own property, and they could will their property to their heirs as well as inherit property from their parents. Women pharaohs were rare, but there were a handful of other female pharaohs as well as some wives and mothers who, it is believed, ruled in their male relatives' names.

So Hatshepsut wasn't the one-and-only female pharaoh, but she was still an amazing woman!

Not everyone was a fan!

All Egyptian pharaohs bragged about their accomplishments and strengths on their monuments and buildings, and Hatshepsut was no different. She bragged less about her military victories than did most pharaohs and more about her beauty. But they all exaggerated their wonderful qualities.

Hatshepsut's cartouche

I wonder if that bragging is seen as more unpleasant in a woman than in a man. It's hard to know why, but somebody—Hatshepsut's nephew, maybe, or his son, perhaps—had many of the images and name cartouches of Hatshepsut erased, as much as he could, from the public record. In many cases that meant that her images and cartouches were literally chiseled off of the monuments!

One of my favorite books from my childhood paints Hatshepsut as a monster who spent way too much of Egypt's wealth on her own silly plans and imprisoned her nephew, the rightful ruler, years after he should've ruled. I grew up thinking that she was one of Ancient Egypt's worst rulers instead of one of her best. But that is not what historians say.

(By the way, I think everyone should read this wonderful novel. Just because it isn't true – I mean, novels AREN'T true, they are fiction! – doesn't mean it isn't a really fun read!)

Also on this date: