Hatshepsut
A king who was a woman, and whose name was later cut out of her own walls.
- Reign
- c.1473–1458 BCE
- Dynasty
- 18th Dynasty
- Period
- New Kingdom
- Also written
- Hatchepsut · Maatkare · Hatshepsut Khenemetamun · حتشبسوت · ماعت كا رع
Who they were
Hatshepsut adopted the full titles and regalia of kingship. Her representations combine different ways of expressing that role: some use a masculine royal form, while inscriptions and other images retain feminine features and titles.
Why they matter
Her reign is especially visible through major building projects and the expedition to Punt. Trade and royal display were important, but describing the reign as entirely peaceful would overlook evidence of military activity.
What happened
Hatshepsut first governed as regent for the young Thutmose III, then took full royal titles and ruled alongside him. At Deir el-Bahari, the Punt reliefs and royal images connect her building programme with trade, worship and the presentation of kingship. Senenmut was one of the senior officials associated with that programme.
Thutmose III continued to rule after her death. Her royal names and images were later attacked, but the surviving monuments still let you follow how she presented her authority. The timing and motives of that erasure require more care than a simple story of personal revenge.
What they built in Luxor
At Deir el-Bahari, her terraces, colonnades and reliefs make the royal programme visible at architectural scale. The temple is closely associated with Senenmut, but its creation involved a much larger workforce.
Where to meet them
At Karnak, compare her standing obelisk with the surviving upper section of another near the Sacred Lake. Confirm the accessible route on site.
What is disputed
Each claim below carries its evidence class. A claim marked interpretation or uncertain is not a weaker version of a fact — it is a different kind of statement, and the note says why.
- Uncertain
Why her names and images were removed.
That the erasure happened, and that it was careful and selective, is fact — you can see it. The motive is not established, and the dating is the reason. The evidence points to the work being carried out well into the reign of Thutmose III rather than at his accession, which is very hard to reconcile with the popular story of a resentful stepson striking the moment he could. Explanations offered instead range from a late regularising of the succession to a concern with the legitimacy of the royal line rather than any personal grievance. None of them is established, and this site does not choose between them.
- Uncertain
That she and her official Senenmut had a personal relationship.
Senenmut’s prominence is documented — an unusual number of titles, statues showing him holding the royal daughter, and two tombs. A personal relationship beyond that is speculation. It rests largely on a crude graffito in an unfinished tomb, which is not evidence of anything except that somebody drew it.
- Uncertain
Whether Thutmose III was a real co-ruler during her reign or a junior in name.
Both are named as king throughout the period and dates are counted from his accession, not hers. How much authority he actually held, and at what age he began to exercise it, cannot be read off the monuments — they show the arrangement, not the politics inside it.
Before and after
Sources & further reading6
Source review is incomplete. Consultation dates are shown only for checked references.
Published works and institutional references for further reading.