Women & Girls in the Ancient World/ PART 4: Cartouche of Hatshepsut

Kingship is one of the important subjects of study about ancient Egypt. In a patriarchal society like ancient Egypt, were women able to “play” in the royal realm? If so, how would they be represented? In this post, continued from the Women and Girls in the Ancient World Series, Megaera Lorenz, a PhD candidate in Egyptology at the University of Chicago, shares with us the story of Hatshepsut – one of the few female pharaohs known to the history of Egypt – and the brief history of how she rose to power. We will also explore the visual iconography that was used for legitimizing her kingship and divinity.
 
Cartouche of Hatshepsut
The Joseph and Mary Grimshaw Egyptian Gallery, the Oriental Institute Museum

Quartzite Cartouche of Hatshepsut (Ma’atkare)
New Kingdom, Dynasty 18, reign of Hatshepsut, ca. 1503-1483 BCE
Luxor, Medinet Habu, Excavated by the Oriental Institute, 1927
OIM 14384A

This stone slab is inscribed with a cartouche containing the throne name, or prenomen, of the female pharaoh Hatshepsut. Ancient Egyptian pharaohs chose throne names and titles that reflected their religious and political ideals.

Hatshepsut’s throne name was “Ma’atkare,” which may be translated as “The Ka (Soul) of Re is Ma’at” or perhaps “(The One of) Ma’at, the Ka of Re.” [1] Re was one of Egypt’s most important sun gods, whose universal power paralleled the international authority of the pharaoh in New Kingdom Egypt. Ma’at was both a goddess and an idea: the word ma’at meant truth, rightness, order, or justice. One of the pharaoh’s primary responsibilities was the maintenance of ma’at in the kingdom and the universe. In Hatshepsut’s throne name, the word “Ma’at” is written with the symbol for the goddess, who personified the concept of ma’at.

With this throne name, Hatshepsut cleverly drew a connection between herself and two different gods who were strongly associated with the principles of kingship: Ma’at and Re. The name also reflects Hatshepsut’s strategy of representing herself with both male and female traits.

Hatshepsut as a Female Ruler
 
Hatshepsut was not the only woman to rule Egypt, but she was one of only a very small number who completely assumed the identity of a pharaoh (king). Although women could hold powerful political and religious offices throughout much of Egyptian history, the idea of a female pharaoh was incompatible with ancient Egyptian thought. The pharaoh was supposed to be the earthly representative of a number of masculine gods – most importantly Horus, a falcon god who was the son of the god Osiris.

In order to rule as a pharaoh, Hatshepsut had to represent herself as a man. In artwork from her reign, she is depicted with masculine features, and texts refer to her with a mixture of male and female pronouns and titles.

Hatshepsut’s rise to power as pharaoh was gradual. She was a princess who began her political career as a queen (“King’s Wife” to Thutmose II) and a high-ranking royal priestess – the “God’s Wife of Amun.” The office of God’s Wife of Amun was created at the beginning of the 18^th Dynasty and was held exclusively by royal women. When Hatshepsut’s husband died, he left behind an heir too young to rule on his own. Hatshepsut stepped in as a regent for her young stepson, Thutmose III, and then slowly assumed all the official duties and authority of a king. Hatshepsut and Thutmose III ruled together as kings, theoretically equals, for nearly twenty years before Hatshepsut apparently died.

Roughly twenty years after her death, Hatshepsut’s name and image were erased from her monuments, and she was left out of official king lists. Although she had been, in most respects, a highly traditional and apparently successful ruler, the idea of a female pharaoh was still ultimately found to be unacceptable. Nevertheless, there is some evidence that two later queens of the New Kingdom – Nefertiti and Tawosret – may have at least briefly assumed kingly status as well. Hatshepsut may also have been inspired by Sobekneferu, a woman who ruled as king for a very short time at the end of the 12 ^th Dynasty (Middle Kingdom).

Further reading about Hatshepsut:

Hatshepsut: From Queen to Pharaoh ( March 28–July 9, 2006), The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Visit: http://www.metmuseum.org/en/exhibitions/listings/2006/hatshepsut
 
Hatshepsut: Wicked Stepmother or Joan of Arc?, The Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago, News & Notes, Winter 2001, No. 168. Visit: http://oi.uchicago.edu/pdf/nn168.pdf
 
“The Names of Hatshepsut as King” by Gay Robins, Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 85 (1999), 103-112.

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[1] For this interpretation, see Gay Robins, “The Names of Hatshepsut as King.” Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 85 (1999), 103-112.

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About the Speaker/Author:

Megaera Lorenz is a PhD candidate in Egyptology at the University of Chicago. She has excavated in Egypt and Sudan and has taught classes about ancient Egyptian language and history at the University of Chicago and Loyola University Chicago.