Hatshepsut Research Paper

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The reign of the Egyptian queen Hatshepsut was one of the most remarkable in Egyptian history. Hatshepsut's reign not only brought a time of stability to the Egyptian empire, but also a period of long term prosperity and improvements to the administration of the empire. Despite Hatshepsut earning the resentment and hatred of Thutmose III, who was supposed to co-rule with Hatshepsut and become Pharaoh in his own right once he came of age, it was Hatshepsut's skill in administration and diplomacy that allowed for this period of prosperity. As a result, upon Hatshepsut's death, despite the fact that Thutmose III ordered every depiction of Hatshepsut destroyed, it was Hatshepsut's abilities that increased the power of the Egyptian empire. In securing…show more content…
The only possible distant male heir, Thutmose III, was too young to immediately claim the throne and it was decided that Hatshepsut, the principal queen to Thutmose II and whose relationship to Thutmose III is open for question, would rule as regent until Thutmose III, the was old enough to take the throne. However, rather than ruling as sort of regent, or with Thutmose III as a co-ruler as was according to the official explanation, until Thutmose III came of age was just a means to an end. Rather than just ruling as regent, Hatshepsut moved quickly to secure the position of Pharaoh in her own right, effectively sidelining Thutmose III and ruling alone. Nevertheless Hatshepsut moving from regent to Pharaoh was no easy task and was not an instantaneous process. It began with Hatshepsut assuming the title of regent, and then adopting the appearance of joint rule of Egypt once Thutmose III came of age, followed by Hatshepsut ruling on her own as Pharaoh until her death. However, unlike other Pharaohs, Hatshepsut had to justify her legitimacy as Pharaoh, in way other Pharaohs did not have to do due to the other Pharaohs being able to claim divine rule. Hatshepsut did this in multiple ways. The first, and easiest to achieve, was Hatshepsut abandoning…show more content…
The principle goal of trading was to establish direct trade with Punt, an almost mythical land that was well known for its wealth and luxury trade goods, and to that end Hatshepsut dispatched a small military expedition to Punt, only to secure agreement for trading rights and not conquer Punt outright through military force. The reason was mainly for domestic political purposes, due to Hatshepsut recognizing that Egypt did not posses either the military power or the funds to cover the economic cost of conquering Punt, designed show that Hatshepsut was supportive of the military and able to command the military like any other Pharaoh and scoring political points by claiming that the idea for the expedition came from divine sources. This desire for peaceful trade was not only good for Hatshepsut's foreign policy it was also good for her domestic policy and solidifying support among the Egyptian elite for her rule. It was this policy of peaceful trade that made the Egyptian empire comparatively wealthy while not having to deal with the massive economic consequences of launching large military campaigns, for which early twentieth century Egypt historians attributed to her femininity and stated that she was not a militaristic pharaoh and associating the

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