Legitimation and Ontological Changes in the Royal Figure of Queen Hatshepsut (ca. 1479–1458 BC)

VIRGINIA LAPORTA

Durham

Congreso; Current Research in Egyptology (CRE) XII; 2011

Durham University

This paper focuses on the royal figure of Hatshepsut before, during and after her co- regency with Thutmose III (c. 1473 – 1425 BC). Her role in the royal succession of the 18th dynasty is one of the main topics approached by specialists. However, I consider that an analysis of her role in the 18th dynasty should include the three ontological changes her figure suffered through time: first, her divine rebirth as “Son of Amun-Re”; second, her coronation as “Maat-ka-Re” and finally, her posthumous elimination as king of Egypt from the records. This approach is supported by the most relevant evidence known from her reign. Most of them come from: a) her funerary temple at Deir el- Bahari; b) the Karnak temple of Amun, especially from the Chapelle Rouge where her nomen (“Maat-ka-Re”) had been chiseled off from the original inscriptions; and c) from other relevant sites of the Theban area. Moreover, there is quite relevant evidence from distant areas such as that found at the mines of Maghara and Serabit el- Khadim (Sinai Peninsula), at Aswan and the Island of Sehel (First Cataract). To sum up, the figure of Hatshepsut as king of Egypt deserves an analysis that considers these three ontological changes detected on her royal figure to give a more accurate description of her role in the 18th Dynasty royal succession.