Thursday, November 18, 2010

Ok So if You Don't Know How She Died Then Where is She Burried???


Hatshepsuts Temple
OK this is so so so soooooo totally unfair but apparently Hatshepsuts husband, Thutmose II, had his tomb built into the Valley of Kings but since there was no area for women, come on I mean she was just as famous as the rest of the kings (probably more), she had to BUILD HER OWN TOMB!!!! OK not literally she had people do it for her (obviously she was a queen) but you know what I mean.  Her tomb was constructed in some cliffs facing the river and her sarcophagus was inscribed with a big long saying about how she was a good princess, royal wife and daughter blah blah blah. Anyway when Howard Carter, a guy who seems to have a talent in finding mummies, found it in 1916, before he found King Tutankhamuns (King Tut), he discovered it was never actually finished and never used!! It turns out that she apparently decided to be buried with her father, Thutmose I. So she started another project and added a new entrance and hallway to Thutmose I tomb.  Actually her Father had apparently been moved to the Valley of Kings after her death.  So most people assumed she was the mummy they discovered in her nurses tomb.

How did this Great Queen, Hatshepsut, die?? What You Don't Know!!!!!

Hatshepsuts Sarcaphagus
The CT scan that connected
the tooth to the mummy
People think its unclear whether Hatshepsut was forced from the throne and murdered. Why would you murder a Queen?? And how would it be unclear if she was murdered or not??? Another theory was that she died of natural causes.  Obviously people think Thutmose III killed her because he disliked his "aunt", but evidence of a mummified liver :-p found in Deir el-Bahri also shows that she had a proper mummification so if Thutmose III had wanted to kill her he would have prevented her mummification.  Archaeologists also discovered of all things a tooth in the same box they found the mummified liver (ewwwwww!!!!) during some sort of CT scan. Then they matched the tooth to a mummy that they found in Hatshepsut's childhood nurse, Sitre, tomb.

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Are there any artifacts that are related to her cause I can't find any??


Some of the few remaining statues
Apparently almost all her statues artifacts and temples were destroyed.  Her step son apparently and a major breakdown like 20 years or so after Hatsheput's death and denied she had EVER been Pharaoh!!! He had her name hacked off monuments!!!! He also smashed almost ALL of her own statues only a handful survived!! Smart people who research this for a living all have different ideas on what happened.  One theory was because Thutmose II wanted his son, Thutmose III, to achieve more that Hatshepsut. Or that he thought women would go up against him like his STEPMOTHER, who has way more experience not to mention more royal blood, did.  Also another theory was HE WAS JEALOUS OF A GIRL!!!! =)

Wait...How do I know about this Lady???

Myrrh Tree
One of the obelisks at Karnak
I guess Hatshepsut turned out to be much more important than anyone thought she would.  I don't know how but apparently one of the most exciting parts of her reign was when she had men go to Punt (Ancient Egyptian town) and bring Myrrh trees, yes I know trees, back to her "palace".  One other thing she did was in Karnak she built two hundred foot tall, seven hundred thousand pound, single piece of red granite obelisks.  That's not all, they were topped with gold too and were placed so that the sun god Ra could see them every time he crossed over Karnak.

How on Earth did a woman become Pharaoh??

Thutmose I
Hatshepsut was the only royal daughter of of her father Thutmose I and had more royal blood then any of her half siblings so naturally as any person would hoped to get the throne.  Her father apparently had other plans though because when her father died he left her at age 15 to marry her half brother Thutmose II to verify his"becoming" of a king. When her husband died her STEP SON, Thutmose III, got to become Pharaoh at age 10!!  However she claimed he was too young and convinced people to let her rule until he was "of age".  Thutmose III did not know the fact that she planned and would rule for a lot longer.