Hatshepsut as Female King

I seem to always talk about the white limestone 𓇋𓈖𓈙𓌉 statue 𓏏𓅱𓏏𓀾 of Hatshepsut 𓇋𓏠𓈖𓎹𓏏𓄂𓏏𓀼𓏪 because it’s my favorite, but I never seem to discuss the red granite 𓅓𓌳𓏏𓎶 statue 𓏏𓅱𓏏𓀾 of Hatshepsut 𓇋𓏠𓈖𓎹𓏏𓄂𓏏𓀼𓏪 or “Hatshepsut as Female King.” This statue 𓏏𓅱𓏏𓀾 is my second 𓏌𓏻 favorite!

The most striking aspect of this statue 𓏏𓅱𓏏𓀾 is that Hatshepsut’s 𓇋𓏠𓈖𓎹𓏏𓄂𓏏𓀼𓏪 face, which displays feminine features, remained pretty much intact! Many of Hatshepsut’s 𓇳𓁦𓂓 statues 𓏏𓅱𓏏𓀾𓏪 have the faces destroyed, possibly in an attempt to destroy her image 𓏏𓅱𓏏 so she would be forgotten from history. Many blame Thutmosis III 𓇳𓏠𓆣 for this, but actually any motivation behind this deliberate destruction of Hatshepsut 𓇋𓏠𓈖𓎹𓏏𓄂𓏏𓀼𓏪 is unknown and mostly speculation.

It’s very difficult to read the hieroglyphs 𓊹𓌃𓏪 on this statue, but you can make out that Hatshepsut 𓇳𓁦𓂓 is using the female version of titles, and referring to herself as a woman!

Let’s read some hieroglyphs 𓊹𓌃𓏪!
𓄤𓊹𓏏 – Perfect Goddess
𓇳𓁦𓂓 – Maatkare

Something interesting about this statue 𓏏𓅱𓏏𓀾 (that cannot be seen in my pictures) is that Taweret 𓏏𓄿𓅩𓂋𓏏𓆗, the goddess 𓊹𓏏 that protects 𓅓𓂝𓎡𓀜 women 𓊃𓏏𓂑𓏏𓁐𓏪 in childbirth (and women/children in general), is actually carved into the back of the statue 𓏏𓅱𓏏𓀾! This is the only deity 𓊹 that is overtly carved into Hatshepsut’s 𓇳𓁦𓂓 statuary so this allows Egyptologists to infer that the statue 𓏏𓅱𓏏𓀾 was probably meant to belong in the Hathor 𓉡 shrine 𓐍𓊃𓅓𓂜𓉐 at Deir el-Bahri 𓂦𓂋𓂦𓏥𓉐, and was probably used in cult worship 𓇼𓄿𓀢. It’s interesting that a goddess 𓊹𓏏 specifically aimed towards women 𓊃𓏏𓂑𓏏𓁐𓏪 was chosen to be carved!