“… Hatchepsut
is portrayed as a sphinx, a human-headed crouching lion
crushing
the traditional enemies of Egypt”.
...
[Hatshepsut's] temple [at Deir el Bahri] was filled with many
beautiful scenes that prove herself as Pharaoh. There was even some reference
to military activity at the temple, even though she is often portrayed as a
peaceful queen. She did, in fact, have some conquest, like the rest of her
seemingly war-loving family.
This refers to a campaign in Nubia. She even sent Thuthmose III out with
the army, on various campaigns (many of which little is known at all!). One
inscription even says that Hatshepsut herself led one of her Nubian campaigns.
The inscription at Sehel island suggest that Ty, the treasurer of Lower Egypt,
went into battle under Hatshepsut herself. This proves her as a warrior Pharaoh
to her people, and also depicts her expedition to the Land of Punt. ....
Moreover, we read at:
In
'Hatchepsut, the Female Pharaoh', Joyce Tyldesley writes:
'Evidence
is now growing to suggest that Hatchepsut's military prowess has been seriously
underestimated due to the selective nature of the archaeological evidence which
has been compounded by preconcieved notions of feminine pacifism.
Egyptologists
have assu[m]ed that Hatchepsut did not fight, and have become blind to the
evidence that, in fact, she did. As so many of Hatchepsut's texts were defaced,
amended or erased after her death, it is entirely possible that her war record
is incomplete. Furthermore, Hatchepsut's reign, falling between the reigns of
two of the greatest generals Egypt was ever to know (Tuthmosis I and Tuthmosis
III) is bound to suffer in any immediate comparison.
The Deir
el-Bahri mortuatry temple provides us with evidence for defensive military
activity during Hatchepsut's reign. By the late 19th century Naville had
uncovered enough references to battles to convince him that Hatchepsut had
embarked on the now customary series of campaigns against her vassals to the
south and east. These subjects, the traditional enemies of Egypt, almost
invariably viewed any change of [pharaoh] … as an opportunity to rebel against
their overlords, while the [pharaohs] … themselves seem to have almost welcomed
these minor insurrection as a means of proving their military might.
The
fragments and inscriptions found in the course of the excavations at Deir
el-Bahri show that during Hatchepsut's reign wars were waged against the
Ethiopians, and probably also against the Asiatics. Among these wars which the
queen considered the most glorious, and which she desired to be recorded on the
walls of the temple erected as a monument to her high deeds, was the campaign
against the nations of the Upper Nile.
Blocks [originally]
… sited on the eastern colonnade show the Nubian god Dedwen leading a series of
captive southern towns towards the victorious Hatchepsut, each town being
represented by a name written in a crenellated cartouche and topped by an
obviously African head. The towns all belong to the land of Cush (Nubia).
Elsewhere in the temple, Hatchepsut is portrayed as a sphinx, a human-headed
crouching lion crushing the traditional enemies of Egypt. There is also a
written, but unfortunately badly damaged, description of a Nubian campaign in
which Hatchepsut appears to be claiming to have emulated the deeds of her
revered father;
.....as
was done by her victorious father, the King of Upper and Lower Egypt,
Aakheperkare (Tuthmosis I) who seized all lands....a slaughter was made among
them, the number of dead being unknown, their hands were] … cut off....she
overthrew (gap in text) the gods (gap in text)...
….
Hatchepsut's
military policy is perhaps best described as one of unobtrusive control; active
defence rather than deliberate offence … while either unwilling or unable to
actually expand Egypt's sphere of influence in the near east, she was certainly
prepared to fight to maintain the borders of her country. '
Source(s): 'Hatchepsut The Female Pharaoh' by Joyce Tyldesley
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