Ancient Egypt

1455 BC

In regards to: My Greatness

Mighty King of the North

Biggest Castle in the Northland

Dear Mighty King of the North,

History... His story... I think it’s safe to say that the word history and its meaning could only have come from the mind and the mouth of a man. But I am no man, not truly. I am far better than any mere man. I am a queen. And this is my story. The story of my life, my time, my greatness and accomplishments. I am Hatshepsut, Queen of Egypt.

Not queen consort; queen in my own right. I am the proud daughter of the god, Amon-Re. He came to my mother, Aahmes, a woman of royal blood and noble heritage, in the form of her husband, the noble Pharaoh Tuthmose the First. I plan to inscribe the tale within the walls of my tomb.

To you I will tell the story, briefly. I will tell you of how Amon found the sleeping queen, my mother, laying in her bedchamber. She awoke to the pleasant aromas which radiated form Amon, even in his human guise. To her the great god gave his heart and revealed himself in all his splendor. When he approached my mother, she wept for joy at his power and beauty and gave him her love... Thus I was conceived. My father returned to his place in the Heavens, leaving me to be raised by my mother and her husband, the Pharaoh in whose form Amon had begot me.

I was most favored by the Pharaoh, handpicked by him to rule our great kingdom. Yes, I had two brothers and a half-brother even, but who were they to me? Against his will Tuthmose the First had to allow his son, my half-brother Tuthmose the Second, to rule after his death. My other two brothers passed away before father did. And as a way to help me achieve the power which we both knew was destined to be mine, Tuthmose the First had me wed to Tuthmose the Second. I ruled Egypt from then on. Of course I was forced to rule from the shadows while Tuthmose the Second lived and when he died I was not given the throne for myself, but allowed to rule in the stead of my young step-son, Tuthmose the Third. I bore my king no child, why should I? I had no need for a son to secure my rightful throne. It was my born privilege, as the daughter of a God, as well as the most beloved child of the wise Pharaoh Tuthmose the First. The people understood.

Once I revealed my divine origins to them, as well as the fact that Tuthmose the First, forever dear in their mind, had personally selected me to rule, they became my most humble subjects. None more so than my own beloved, Senmut, father of my only child and daughter, Nefrure. He is my heart and soul’s companion, yet I will not share my power with even him. I know the minds of men. They feel themselves master of all women and perhaps they are right. However, as I said, I am far better than any mere man or mere woman.

I am the queen.

The common women of Egypt are like those of many other nations. They stay at home mostly, keeping their husband’s houses and raising their children. While I find it to be a rather sad thing, most common women in my kingdom enjoy little more freedom than a slave. They are born first to serve their fathers, then to serve their husbands.

And unlike myself, the average girl has no choice whether she marry or not. It is the decision of her parents, who she marries and when. Of course there are exceptions to this. There are women, few though their numbers are, you work for themselves and remain unwed all their days. Most of these women fall through the cracks of society however, save of course they who join the sisterhood of priestesses.

In the fifteen years that I have ruled over Egypt alone, I have succeeded in the creation of many a wondrous work of art. These masterpieces and monuments are what I intend to leave behind, for later generations to marvel and awe at. It was I who had the spectacular temple constructed in the Valley of the Kings, by a tall plateau at Deir-el-Bahri, across the Nile from Thebes, I created it as a commemoration to myself in many ways. The temple celebrated me as the sole, legitimate queen of Egypt, in the faces of those who said that there could be no such a thing. In addition to that I oversaw the construction two obelisks of red granite, the largest yet built. Who knows, perhaps future generations will outdo even my glory.

The obelisks were originally created by Tuthmose the First, but he did not survive to see them built. I was the one who completed what he sat out to do.

I ordered expeditions to Punt, in search of items and artifacts of value and interest to me and my kingdom, ivory, spices, gold, animals for skins, and aromatic trees whose value outweighs that off all those other things combined. The expeditions were great successes, I declare. I was proud to see them documented as well and clearly as they were thanks to our highly advanced and sophisticated system of communication, hieroglyphs.

Yet my greatest achievement, I think, was to rule fifteen years without ever once facing the crisis of war. I maintained peace in my kingdom, a feat which few before me can boast and one I think few after me will either. Without the threat of war and death hovering over their heads, the masses tend to be more content. And content people help a kingdom to prosper and grow.

With peace and the people’s love on my side, one might be led to think that my reign is one free of trouble and strife, if only that were so. However I am ever challenged by two points of conflict, both of which strike me deep from within. First and foremost there is my nephew, Tuthmose the Third, with whom I must contend. He foolishly thinks himself the rightful ruler of Egypt, as his father did before him. Neither is of the intellect to comprehend me and my majesty. How hard is it to understand though? I am the chosen daughter of both a God and a Pharaoh.

Tuthmose the Second, my dead husband and half-brother, was the son of the great king with whom he shared a name and a common woman, Moutnofrit. A woman with not a noble drop of blood in her veins. And his son, Tuthmose the Third, is of even lower lineage, for his mother, Isis, is also a petty commoner. My mother was not only of royal blood but chosen by the Gods to bear me. How dare these sons of lower women think themselves in any way equal to me? Tuthmose the Third has sworn to one day seize control of Egypt, of all that is mine. He threatens to destroy all I have ever built, to erase me from history all together. I do not fear him though. His story may exclude me, but I know that I will never be forgotten. As long as the sun rises in the sky and the Nile flows in its bed, I will remain. I am queen, once the queen, always the queen.

My second obstacle is one with wit and craftiness I have all but overcome. It is a silly thing; you may laugh if you wish. I am a woman and that is my problem. The people of this land, though they know me to be the shared daughter of their dear former ruler and the god Amon, still can not fully except that a woman should rule over them. They are not of the understanding to realize, as I do, that a queen far overshadows a woman. That is what gives me the edge I need to succeed, I must say. For what woman could come up with the solution to problems that I, the queen, do? I realized that while I am a woman, so long as I look like a man the people have no concerns. So to them I am known as the ‘king’.

And I dress to fit the part. I wear the shendyt kilt, the nemes headdress with its uraeus and khat head cloth, and the false beard to appear wise and masculine. It is rather strange to see my name under the image of a man, for that is how I am almost always portrayed, but I do what I must for myself as well as my people.

And I suppose I should end this letter with a brief summary of the times in which I live, though why that’s of any importance when compared to me myself I have no idea. I live in what the oracles tell me will be called the 15^th century BC. While there has been no war in my time, Egypt, my kingdom, does have enemies. And the one with whom we came into conflict with foremost before and I dare say after my reign is the Nubians.

Both Tuthmose the First and Tuthmose the Second faced hostility from that nation and its people. And in both cases, Egypt came out supreme. Egypt is a land a great wealth; we are the jewel of the Nile. All other kingdoms envy us and try to fashion themselves after us and our glory. Foolishly they set themselves up to fall. Our might lies in our very culture and being. We are the driving spirit of our own magnificence. And I as queen act as both leader and idol to the rest. While in my mind’s eyes, I see myself living forever, the priests tell me that in the year 1458 BC, this very year it seems, my end will come. That is why I have written this letter, to insure that history not only tells his story, but mine...

Hatshepsut

Mighty Queen of All Egypt

Letter Written by Anna Derrell