Rivalry for Power in Ancient Egypt

Ali Zohery

INTRODUCTION

    Engineer “ENYNY” lived during the era of the kings Thutmosis I. Thutmosis II.  Thutmosis III and Queen Hatshepsut. Eighteenth Dynasty, New Kingdom.

  ENYNY’s tomb inscription relates how every one of them sat on the throne to control Egypt .  The fathers gave the kingship to the oldest sons but when it came to Thutmosis III, because he was young, his mother-in law and his aunt Hatshepsut took over and started to govern according to her own will (1).

  King Thutmosis I had four children, three of them died in their childhood, only one lived.  Hatshepsut, to be the most successful woman ever, governed Egypt .  Her father, King Thutmosis I concerned to declare her as his successor on the throne, although the Egyptians never wanted a woman to run their affairs (2).

HATSHEPSUT AND THE THRONE

In the era of Thutmosis II, Hatshepsut had the title of ‘the main royal great wife’.  She was waiting for the chance to put everything in her hand.  The chance came to her by the death of her husband leaving his oldest son Thutmosis III too young to be able to govern Egypt , so Hatshepsut put him under her domination and became Queen.  She even called herself the “Female Hours’ and changed what the Egyptian throne used to have ‘Male Hours’ (1).

  Hatshepsut kept Thutmosis III away from the throne and started to lead everything by her word.  She considered her era, started after the death of her brother and husband Thutmosis II, neglecting Thutmosis III right to the throne.  She declared herself as the first and the greatest woman in the history we were ever to know (2).

  She stayed to govern Egypt until she died.  Her role was very strong in the same time her nephew Thutmosis III was away from the scene.  She justified her sitting on the throne that her father Thutmosis I was the one who did so when she was young.

  BREASTED argues that Thutmosis III was not upset from her domination because he knew that his aunt at least was practicing her right, which her mother the Queen EHMOS the oldest daughter of NEFRTARY bequeathed to her (3).  PETRIE thinks she sat on her father’s throne between three and six months before his death (4).

  Her temple in Deir Elbahri is the best evidence for her accomplishments and for the importance of her era.  On all the walls of this temple, she ordered that several inscriptions be inscribed to show her sacred birth-hood.  There are details for all customs, which tell that the Governor should be the son of the god of the sun from his body (5).  These governors who lack the pure royal claims used to claim these tricks, that they are sons of the god of the sun.  three governors from the fifth dynasty did this trick to justify their kingships to the public.  Hatshepsut claimed that all the gods gave her the right to sit on the throne because she was daughter of god IMN (the main god in Egypt in that time).

  Although Hatshepsut’s father and mother were King and Queen, she ordered this story to be in scripted on the walls of her temple to justify her right in the throne because she was a woman and her sitting on the throne opposed to the protocol which say that god hours representative on the earth, the King, should be man.

  Hatshepsut recorded in her temple in Deir Elbahri that she received the Kingship and was crowned by her father.  From the information given in the text we can inferred that this happened in the era of Thutmosis I.  Hatshepsut held titles of Princess and Queen in the era of Thutmosis II, even in the first two years of Thutmosis III’s era.  She declared that she is the Queen of the two lands (upper and lower Egypt ) after god IMN met her and crowned her in the chapel ------------.  This last event was recorded in KARNAK temple.  This considered serious one more than what she recorded in her temple (6).

  The Queens who occupied the position of god’s wife after the death of EHMS NEFRTARY were no longer in existence.  But Hatshepsut made herself as her grandmother was, perhaps in her childhood she thought to be like her ancestors.  There were no secret plans from her to sit on the throne in the era of her brother and husband Thutmosis II because, in that time, she ordered that her tomb to be hewed and furnished with furniture showing that she did not look for the throne.  After Thutmosis III was assigned suddenly as a king made her lose all her hopes for the throne, but she waited for the chance until it came and she did what she wanted (7).

  About her daughterhood of IMN, she recorded this story on the walls of her temple in Deir Elbahri, until nobody would doubt that she was assigned to be Queen of the two lands (upper and lower Egypt) from the gods especially IMN.  First: because IMN was the local god of Theibh.  Second: IMN was the highest position god in that time.  This god who gathered all the gods to declare in front of them about his desire to have a daughter to control all Egypt, (8) saying: “ I will unify the two lands for her in peace, I will give her all the lands, all the countries”, (9) and asking all the gods to prosper her with their protection and their assistance which can make her happy (10) then JEHUTY (wisdom’s god) told him about Queen IHMOS.  Thutmosis I wife as a suitable mother, at once, JEHUTY led IMN to the royal palace where they found the Queen sleeping like a jewel in her beauty.

  The Queen woke up to find IMN RA the King of the gods the mighty creator of mankind appeared in front of her to fill her heart with happiness.  To represent this scene, IMN sat beside the Queen on the bed, both of the goddesses NYT and SEILK are holding the bed, IMN put the sign of life in the hand of the Queen, with the other hand, another sign he approached to the nose of the Queen to give her the breath of life (11) saying to her: “KHNMT-IMN-HATSHEPSUT’ will be the name of my daughter whom I put in your body.  She will practice complete kingship on all the lands, my soul for her, my crown for her to assist her to control the two lands, and to lead the people” (12).

  After Hatshepsut was born, all the gods and goddesses surrounded her calling her Egypt ’s Governor.  IMN RA’s daughter who will sit on the throne of living HORUS and will control the land of Egypt for the glory of the gods (13) then god ATM crowned Hatshepsut and gave her all the crowns and the names which belong to her and declared her as a Queen in front of IMN.  Afterwards, Thutmosis I crowned her in front of his court saying: “ this is my daughter KHNMT-IMN-HATSHEPSUT.  The life for her, whom I assigned to succeed me on the throne, to order all the people and to control them”.  The court and all the people knew the new Queen and they kissed the ground under Thutmosis I’s feet (14).

  God ATM put the red crown of Lower Egypt and the White Crown of Upper Egypt on Hatshepsut’s head.  The priests gathered to record Hatshepsut’s royal titles.  At the end of the meeting, Hatshepsut appeared crowned with the two crowns of Upper and Lower Egypt as a legal governor of Egypt and has five titles as all the pharaohs of Egypt had.  These as follows:

1. Houry Title                                                               2. NBTY Title

3. Golden Hour                                                            4. NSW Bity

5. RA daughter                                                 (15).

Hatshepsut made sure in all her inscriptions that she is the legal successor of her father Thutmosis I and has sacred origin.

  Hatshepsut was sincere for IMN, not only she inscribed most of the walls of the rooms of the great IMN’s temple in KARNAK, but also she chose this temple to erect her two obelisks in. on one of these two obelisks she showed how much she loved her divine father IMN.  She made this to declare it obvious for all the next generations that her divine father IMN is the one who created her and put her on the throne forever and ever (16).

Her fame, her name and her inscriptions still exist to show the greatness, which Hatshepsut had to the modern world although there were attempts to defame her remembrance.

  Several men helped Hatshepsut in her achievements.  The most important one of them was SENNMOT, the one who brought her daughter up NFRW RA and the teacher of her nephew Thutmosis III.  There was a brother of SENNMOT his name was SENMEN, he was from her court also, he was a minister and the high priest of IMN (18).  Other priests afterwards were dangerous because they kept the positions in their hands.  These priests, whom King Ahmos the founder of the 18^th dynasty tried to decrease their influence (19).  Perhaps Hatshepsut’s success was depending on the cleverness of these men who kept her and her position without trouble (20).

  The late date for Hatshepsut is the year twenty -second of her era.  Also Thutmosis III mentioned his twenty-second year when he went away in campaign.  It was mentioned also that both of them started to control together (21) since Hatshepsut was older than Thutmosis III, she did not make her daughter the main wife for him, but unfortunately, her daughter died young (22).  Redford thinks that Hatshepsut’s death was normal.  From his point of view, there was no reason for Thutmosis III to be in a hurry to get rid of her.  Perhaps that she died in the tenth day of the sixth month of the twenty-second year of her era (23).

  Perhaps she was buried as a great Queen with fabulous furniture in a tomb in Theibh or maybe this tomb under her chapel in her temple in Deir Elbahri (24).

  WHAT DID HATSHEPSUT DO TOWARD; THUTMOSIS I, THUTMOSIS II ANDS THUTMOSIS III?

  Hayes thinks that, since Thutmosis I, Hatshepsut’s father was the one who crowned her, so, she reburied him her tomb in the Valley of the Kings and dedicated religious cults for him in her temple in Deir Elbahri (1)

  All the members of Hatshepsut’s family appeared on her temple walls, she left remembrance of herself to stay forever, also raised the remembrances of her grandmother SENSENB, her father Thutmosis I, her husband Thutmosis II, her sister KHEBT NFRO, her daughter NEFRO Raand her nephew Thutmosis III (2).

  Hatshepsut left Thutmosis III as the greatest king ever to sit on Egypt ’s throne, this was a result of the way she brought him up and prepared him to have such great responsibility.  He did not get away from her for twenty-two years; learning from her strong character although he was more than thirty years old.  When she died, he was the sole master on the throne.

  In Hatshepsut’s life, she let Thutmosis II participate with her in the offerings for the gods on different occasions.  On the sides of one of her obelisks in KARNAK both of them appeared in front of god IMN in his different forms, they were presenting offerings for him (4).  Also Hatshepsut and Thutmosis III decorated temple in HAPU City (in Upper Egypt ) which Thutmosis I put its foundations and Thutmosis III completed its construction (5).  Hatshepsut had to let Thutmosis III do things by himself especially the religious cults which man has to practice them, such as the operation of planning and putting the foundation of a temple in Hapu City also preparing one of the gates of Imbos City .  Hatshepsut, often, put Thutmosis III in the second position after her and she never left the symbol pf kingship from her hand until the death forced her to do so, then, Thutmosis III buried her and became the real master of Egypt and made complete political changes inside and outside of Egypt (6).

THUTMOSIS III AND THE THRONE

  Hatshepsut agreed that Thutmosis III could have succeeded his father on the throne, this happened before Thutmosis II’s death (1).  Although Thutmosis III’s mother was on of Thutmosis II’s concubines but the son shared his father for short time in the government of Egypt .  (2) There is evidence for this; Thutmosis III recorded on the seventh pylon of KARNAK the following:

  “The government of the two lands, the throne of GEB and the occupation of KHPRYY, all were given to me beside my father, the good god, King of Upper and Lower Egypt” (3).

  Thutmosis III made sure to show that god IMN chose him to be King of the Upper and Lower Egypt .  He recorded that in one of these occasions the priests were bearing IMN statue from the holy place to the yard of the temple between the crowds of the people who came to worship Imn, while Thutmosis III was standing in the line, the statue stopped in front of him, so Thutmosis III glorified the god.  Everybody in the scene considered this event as a sign that IMN chose Thutmosis III to be a king (4).  Thutmosis III swore that he will glorify IMN and will erect the monuments for him in KARNAK more than for the other gods (5).

  The date of this inscription goes back to the forty-second year of Thutmosis III’s era GABALLA ALI argues that if this play of sonship happened in the era of Thutmosis II this indicates that the father meant that his son could avoid the trouble, facing Hatshepsut after his death.  But if this play of sonship happened in the era of Thutmosis III himself, he invented it to make sure for the next generations that he has the right to sit on the throne of Egypt and Hatshepsut was illegal in her government to Egypt .

  The titles which Thutmosis III carried were many, listed below are some of them:

1. Houry Name                                                            2. NEBTY Name

3. Golden Hour                                                            4. NSN BETY

5. Son of the RA

  The period which Thutmosis III Spent under Hatshepsut’s regency had its results.  He ended to be the sole master on the throne of the two lands.  Egypt ’s empire extended in his era until the scholars considered him BONAPARTE of the ancient world.  It is true that he was the greatest military pharaoh.

  THUTMOSIS III RESPONSIBILITY TOWARD WHAT HAPPENED TO HATSHEPSUT’S AND HER SUPPORTERS’ MONUMENTS ALSO, THE RESPONSIBILITY OF SOME OTHER PHARAOHS FROM THE LATE PERIODS.

  Hatshepsut hoped that she can complete the construction of her temple in Deir Elbahri but the death did not allow her to accomplish her goal, so, Thutmosis III completed what needed to be done and recorded this on the entrance of one of the gates, perhaps this happened right after her death (1).

  The monuments show us how much Thutmosis III hated his aunt Hatshepsut because all her names are scratched out in Deir Elbahri temple and elsewhere.  Most of the scholars considered Thutmosis III was responsible for the scratching out of the names and figures of Hatshepsut (2).  It was noted that some of the pharaohs of the late periods participated in this operation too.

  In Deir Elbahri, Thutmosis III gave the orders that all the pronouns of Hatshepsut like H to be scratched out and to write male pronouns --- instead.  But the signs, which belong to him, stayed as they were.  Even the words, which describe her in her Cartouche, had been scratched out too.  Such as K3 or M3ct but the names of the gods like –RA or ---IMN nobody touched them (3).   There is no example that one of her cartouche is reconstructed.  Wherever they scratched out her names they wrote instead Thutmosis I or II or III’s names (4).  There are few cases to show after that long time from Thutmosis III being the sole master of Egypt but he substituted her names by his.  Naturally after a long time his hate for her became weak and there was no reason for him to destroy her names and the names of her supporters (5).  This could be explained as a political operation from him (6).  He neglected her records and started to date fro himself right after his father’s death (7).  Hatshepsut’s name was on one of Kom Embo City , which she built, although Thutmosis III’s name is there too.  He scratched out her name and put his name instead (8).  Also, the lower parts of her obelisks, somebody covered them to hide her saying to the next generations who will come to look at her works and will wonder about the great person who did this (9).  Thutmosis III did not try to reconstruct the hall, which has Hatshepsut’s obelisks (10).

  In his book about Deir Elbahiry temple of Hatshepsut , Naville showed how much damage happened toe very thing that belongs to Hatshepsut, her names, her figures and even any inscriptions talking about her.  Because of this, we have lack of sources to tell us clearly about her activities especially the military side (11).  From other sources, we can infer that she showed to Egypt ’s neighbors that she, at least, could keep the boundaries of the Empire she received safe.  One of the military persons from her era, his name TAY, described in his tomb that he followed Hatshepsut in one of her campaigns to Nubia (12).

  Thutmosis III not only scratched out Hatshepsut names, statues, figures and inscription but also his hand extended to the names, statues, figures and inscriptions of the men who supported her.  The most important person who was famous in her era, SENNMOUT, the engineer who designed her temple at Deir Elbahri, the one who brought her daughter NFRO RA up and even he was Thutmosis III’s teacher (13).  Thutmosis III ordered that SENNMOUT’s names be scratched out off three statues that were in Thebh’s temples.  The same was done to his names and figures on his tomb.  Statue of her vizier HAB SENB did not escape from the hands of ThutmosisIII too.  His men gave a visit to Jehuty’s tomb, and did the same to the tomb of SENNMOUT brother (SEN MEN), even a tomb of a neigbor they burned it, so that, we cannot tell to whom it belongs.

  By the order of the king, they visited Selseln Mountain to look for other victims.  Their hunt this time was rich.  They found the tomb of the main person of the Queen’s court.  All these damaged monuments stand as a witness for what Thutmosis III did to Hatshepsut and the men of her era’s monuments after their death (14).

  Not only Thutmosis III but also some other pharaohs from the late periods participated in that crime.  RAMESIDES Kings did not respect Hatshepsut as a legal governor (15).  SERY I and RAMSIS II removed some of her names and substituted them by theirs or Thutmosid Kings.  AKHNATON preceded these Kings; he did more than they did by scratching out god IMN’s names too and writing god ITN’s names instead (16).  All the records of kings neglected Hatshepsut (17).

CONCLUSION

  Hatshepsut was the regent of the young king Thutmosis III after his father’s death.  It became a fact that everything was in her hands, the matters of the lands improved, her supporters increased, she stuck to the throne and the throne stuck to her; she was descendant of royal ancestors, it was not easy for her to give up the throne to her nephew and she knew that his mother’s blood was not royal.  Despite this she did not get rid of him but she kept and brought him up in a way that he became the greatest pharaoh, and the Egyptian empire extended to its’ largest boundaries ever had in his era.  She prepared him that he could accomplish inside and out side Egypt , what no other pharaoh could.

  Thutmosis III owed a lot of his great ness to Hatshepsut since she was the one who took care of him when he was young.  Although Thutmosis III was wise in his exterior political affairs and the other interior affairs too, but he was unfair to his aunt.

FOOT NOTES

INTRODUCTION

1. William F. Edgorton, Thutmosis Succession ( Chicago , 1933) IF.

2. J.H. Breasted, Amistory of Egypt ( London , 1956) 266 FF.

HATSHEPSUT AND THE THRONE

1. J.H. Breasted, op., cit., 269 F.

2. Ibid., 271 F.

3. J.R. Buttles, The Queens of Egypt ( London 1908) 79 FF.

4. Petrie, A History of Egypt During the XVIIth and XVIIIth Dynasties ( London , a924) 87 F.

5. J.H. Breasted, op., cit., 272 FF.

6. Donald B. Redford, History and Chronology of the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt ( U.S.A. , 1967) 54 FF.

7. Ibid., 73 FF.

8. Eminent Egyptologists, Kings and Queens of Ancient Egypt ( London , 1924) 53 FF.

9. Breasted, Ancient Records of Egypt II (C.A.H., 1961) 68 F.

10. Naville, The Temple of Deir Elbahri , II (Malagny, 1896) 14 F.

11. Eminent Egyptologists, op., cit., 54 F.

12. Breasted, op., cit., 97 F.

13. Eminent Egyptologists, op., cit., 54 F.

14.  Breasted, op., cit., 88 F.

15.  Budge, op., cit., 88 F.

16. J.R. Buttles, op., cit., 88 F.

17.  Breasted, A History of the Ancient Egyptian ( London , 1924) 22F.

18.  Breasted, A History of Egypt ( London , 1956) 272 F.

19. Donald B. Redford op., cit., 272 F.

20. Breasted, op., cit., 272 F.

21. H.R. Hall, The Ancient History of the Near East, VIII ( London , 1932) 291 F.

22. Donald B. Redford, op., cit., 85 F.

23. Ibid., 87 F.

24.  J.R. Buttles, op., cit., 91 F.

WHAT DID HATSHEPSUT DO TOWARD; THUTMOSIS I, THUTMOSIS II AND THUTMOSIS III.

1.      William C. Hayes, Internal Affairs from Thutmosis I to the Derath of Amenophis III, Vol II, Chp.IX-part 1 (C.A.H., 1966) 7 FF.

2.      J.R. Buttles, op., cit., 90 F.

3.      Ibid., 93 F.

4.      Petrie, op., cit., 80 F.

5.      Ibid., 131 F.

6.      Hayes, op., cit., 7 F.

THUTMOSIS III AND THE THRONE

1.      Eminent Egyptologists, op., cit., 69 F.

2.      Aldred, Akhenaten ( Germany , 1968) 39 F.

3.      D.B. Redford, op., cit., 53 F.

4.      Breasted, A History of Egypt ( London , 1956) 268 F.

5.      Breasted, Ancient Records of Egypt , II (C.A.H., 1961) 61 F.

6.      Budge, op., cit., 122 F.

THTUMOSIS III RESPONSIBILITY TOWARD WHAT HAPPENED TO HATSHEPSUT’S AND HER SUPPORTERS’ MONUMENTS.  ALSO, THE RESPONSIBILITY OF SOME OTHER PHARAOHS FROM THE LATE PERIODS.

1.      Petrie, op., cit., 131 F.

2.      D.B. Redford, op., cit., 33F.

3.      W.F. Edgerton, op., cit., 13 F.

4.      Ibid., 19 F.

5.      Ibid., 21 F.

6.      D.B. Redford, op., cit., 87 F.

7.      W. Edgerton, op., cit., 26 F.

8.      Petrie, op., cit., 88 F.

9.      Ibid., 130 F.

10.  Breasted, Ancient Records of Egypt , II (C.A.H., 1961) 239F.

11.  D.B. Redfrod, op., cit., 75 FF.

12.  Ibid., 58 F.

13.  Hall, op., cit., 291 F.

14.  Breasted, A History of Egypt ( London , 1956) 283 F.

15.  J. R. Buttles, op., cit., 80 F.

16.  Ibid., 94 F.

17.  Hayes, op., cit., 9 F.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

1.      William F. Edgorton, Thutmosis Succession ( Chicago , 1933).

2.      J. H. Breasted, A History of Egypt ( London , 1956).

3.      J. R. Buttles, The Queens of Egypt ( London , 1908).

4.      Petrie, A History of Egypt Druing the XVII th and XVIII th Dynasties ( London , 1924).

5.      Donald B. Redford, History and Chronology of the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt ( U.S.A. , 1967).

6.      Eminent Egyptologists, Kings and Queens of Ancient Egypt London , 1924).

7.      Breasted, Ancient Records of Egypt II (C.A.H.,1961).

8.      Naville, The Temple of Deir Elbahri , II Malagny, 1896).

9.      Budge, The Book of the Kings of Egypt ( London , 1908).

10.  Breasted, A History of the Ancient Egyptian ( London , 1924).

11.  H. R. Hall, The Ancient History of the Near East, VII ( London , 1932).

12.  William C. Hayes, Internal Affairs from Thutmosis I to the Death of Amenophis III, Vol, II Chp. IX-part I (C.A.H., 1966).

13.  Aldred, A. Khennaten ( Germany , 1968).