Egypt and Libya, March 19 - April 2, 2006 / 20060323i_HatshepsutsTemple
Ruth Milner, rmilner plus web at bookofmarvels dot net
This is the mortuary temple of the pharaoh
Hatshepsut (ruled 1473-1458BC), who was only the second ruling queen up
to that time. If you climbed directly over the mountain you would
find the tomb of Thutmoses III, her stepson, at the bottom on the other
side. I love how the
structure of the temple echoes the vertical and horizontal structure of
the cliff face. She became co-regent with baby Thutmoses III
after his father (her husband) died in 1479BC, but had to take over by
herself six years later, probably to ensure political stability. She
is well known for expeditions into deeper Africa to obtain spices,
incense, rare woods, etc. as well as quarrying and raising obelisks.
People used to think Thutmoses III murdered her and defaced her images
and statues out of rage, but recent scholarship makes it fairly clear
that this was not the case, and that the defacement did not happen
until near the end of his long reign, perhaps due to a change in the
political climate.
