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Wadjetrenput “Flourishing of years”
Wadjetrenput “Flourishing of years” also known as, Hatshepsut was the queen of Egypt in the 18th dynasty. She came to throne of Egypt in (1479-1458 BC). She ruled the throne co-jointly with her step son Thutmose III who ascended the throne when he was a child after the death of his father Thutmose II who was also Hatshepsut’s husband. Hatshepsut was one of the most successful pharaohs who ever ruled in Egypt, her reign was the longest among the women who ruled during Egyptian dynasties.

From Regent to Pharaoh
Thutmose I, father of Hatshepsut married his daughter to her half-brother Thutmose II whose reign only lasted for thirteen years. When Thutmose II died, Hatshepsut only ruled in the name of her step-son Thutmose III, as he was too young to rule at the time when his father died. Hatshepsut did not like the fact that she is ruling under the name of Thutmose III and as a result she proclaimed herself as the “King” of Egypt. When she assumed the titles of a King, acted as a male pharaoh would and had to alter how she dressed. To legitimize her rule as pharaoh, Hatshepsut claimed that she is the divine daughter of the god Amen, where she states that the god Amen took the form of her father Thutmose I. The god’s odor and his presence awoke her mother Ahmes and then he made love to her mother. Hatshepsut then claims on the walls of her temples that her father appointed her as his successor to the throne where she should be blessed and praised (Seawright, 2000). In her transition to being a KING, Hatshepsut started to adopt several male characteristics. To avoid appearing all at once as a KING, she took on the role gradually. Hatshepsut, due to her royal background, knew what was expected of a KING and how to behave as one and did not alter her behavior while she ruled. Hatshepsut ensured that she did not make any revolutionary breaks from tradition. Like the rulers who preceded her, she had temples, obelisks, and monuments built, participated in religious rituals, and by dressing in male clothing she strengthened her authority as a pharaoh.

Therefore, she took the titles of a king after dropping those titles which identified her as a queen. She wore the shendyt-kilt, nemes-headdress with its uraeus, the khat-headcloth and the false beard. She even, eventually, dropped the female ending from her name ('t') and became “His Majesty, Hatshepsu 'Foremost of Nobles'.” Inscriptions on her temple show her transition from a female to a male pharaoh (Seawright).

The role of the pharaoh in ancient Egypt
The pharaoh in Egypt owned everything in Egypt, including the lands and people. He was regarded by Egyptians as being the only ruler of the land. His rule was not only limited to being a ruler, he was also the chief priest who was able to communicate with the gods as he himself is believed to be a god. Added to that, a pharaoh was also responsible for military fortunes, in order to, ensue economical prosperity among Egypt, rules are applied within Egypt to maintain peace among Egyptian living on the land of Egypt. The role of the pharaoh in the Egyptian society was very important to the Egyptian people, as a ruler and a god (Masson, 2012).

Her expedition to Punt
One of Hatshepsut’s famous expeditions is her expedition to The Land of Punt in 1493 B.C. which brought back living trees to Egypt, marking the first known successful attempt at transplanting foreign fauna. She recorded this on the walls of her temple at Deir el-Bahri, and many of the scenes can still be seen today. (Unfortunately many were damaged or destroyed when someone - most likely Thutmose III - tried to erase her name and image from every monument that may have had her name).

Tomb KV20
Hatshepsut tomb is known as tomb KV20. It is located in the Valley of the Kings on the West Bank at Luxor (ancient Thebes). It is believed by many Egyptologists to have been the original Tomb of Tuthmosis I, thought it seems that his famous daughter, Hatshepsut was also interred there as well. The tomb has been known for well over a century.

Deir-el Bahri
Hatshepsut’s temple at el Deir-el Bahri also known as “Djeser Djeseru” was designed and constructed by her royal steward and architect Senenmut who was also believed by some Egyptologist to be her lover. It is believed that Hatshepsut had used Menuhotep’s temple as a model to construct her own temple, although, the temples are different the temple was built for Hatshepsut in order to worship and serve the god of Amen. Thousands of visitors come up to this temple to see the scenes that Hatshepsut has commissioned for her temple during her reign which showed scenes of her professed divine birth. It also shows her expedition to Punt.

Hatshepsut Daughter Nefeure
Nefeure was believed to be Hatshepsut’s daughter. Hatshepsut married her daughter to the younger of her two half-brothers Thutmose III. When Hatshepsut became king, she had to give up her title as the “God’s wife”. She in return granted her daughter Neferu-Ra this title. However, Neferue is believed to have died at a young age. Hatshepsut had her daughter depicted as a prince, rather than a princess, despite the title that she gave her. She is displayed wearing a royal false beard on a block statue of Senmut, her tutor. Neferure who may or may not have been second daughter became the wife of Thutmose III. She married him just before or during his coronation after Thutmose II died. Little else is known about her, other than she may have been the mother of Amenhotep II. Not so much is known about Neferure but, a lot is know about their mother Hatshepsut.

Death, burial and mummy
The tomb (KV 20) was discovered in 1903 by Howard Carter. Her mummy was not inside her sarcophagus. It was not known back then whether it had survived or not. As after Hatshepsut’s death, her stepson Thutmose III chiseled off almost all the images on her temples, monuments, and obelisks. Thutmose III was a monument-maker like his stepmother. He decided to absolutely wipe his stepmother, the king, out of history. Images where she had proclaimed herself king were vandalized by the workers of her stepson. It was believed that the destruction that happened to her monuments was for political reasons rather than emotional ones. As Thutmose III was afraid that his succession as a ruler will not be as powerful as his step mother reign. Although, images of her as queen were not disturbed. The possible reason for the defacement of her images was also because of Hatshepsut’s ambition to rule the throne solely without the acknowledgment of Thutmose III. However, there is not enough evidence to prove why, when or who defaced Hatshepsut’s images, statues, paintings, and monuments. This suggestion is believed to be a bias of some archaeologists against a female pharaoh. As, on the contrary, Thutmose III’s sole rule proved to be very successful. Other stories about the destruction of her monuments had to do with the distortion of her spirit (Ka) after her death. No present mention of the cause of her death was sustained. Recent identification of her mummy was discovered, although, if it was correct, the medical evidence would show that she suffered from diabetes and believably died from bone cancer which had spread throughout her body in her late years. And it all goes back to the CT scans of her mummy which disproved the theories that had been speculated about her stepson killing her. Hatshepsut’s own tomb was cut into the base of the cliffs on the east side of the Valley of the Kings. It was made very large to accommodate both her sarcophagus and that of her father. Burying her father with her was another way of legitimizing her rule as king and pharaoh.

The many names of Hatshepsut
In addition to her given name, “Hatshepsut (which means “Foremost of Noblewomen”), she took on the epithet Khnemtamun the "One united with Amun", the throne name Maatkare, the Horus name Wesretkau “Strong of Kas”, the Nebty name Wadjetrenput “Flourishing of Years”, and the Golden Horus name Netjeretkhau “Divine of Appearances” (Robins, 1999). These names replaced her former title of Principal Queen, and her title of God’s Wife passed on to her daughter, Neferure. Hatshepsut often referred to herself as the “God’s Wife”. However, she later took the title of the “Lady of the Two Lands”. She even built a pair of obelisks in the Temple of Amun at Karnak which is a right normally reserved for kings only. She also had herself portrayed in relief carvings performing duties that were performed traditionally by kings: For instance, queens were often presented making offerings to deities, however they were always accompanied by their husbands, and they often played a subordinate role. Although, some reliefs from a building at Karnak shows Hatshepsut making offerings to Amun-Re directly by herself.