The Birth Name of Pharaoh Hatshepsut

Let’s read some hieroglyphs 𓊹𓌃𓏪! Can you spot Hatshepsut’s 𓇋𓏠𓈖𓎹𓄂𓀼 birth name in the image 𓏏𓅱𓏏 below?

Today 𓏇𓇋𓈖𓇳 we are going to look at the birth name (also called the given name) cartouche 𓍷 of my favorite pharaoh 𓉐𓉻, Hatshepsut 𓇋𓏠𓈖𓎹𓏏𓄂𓏏𓀼𓏪! Like with most pharaohs 𓉐𓉻𓏥, Hatshepsut 𓇋𓏠𓈖𓎹𓏏𓄂𓏏𓀼𓏪 had many different ways to write her name 𓂋𓈖, and these different spellings are called variants. A variant of Hatshepsut’s cartouche 𓍷 is what appears on this stela 𓎗𓅱𓆓𓉸! 

But first 𓏃, let’s break down the full cartouche 𓍷 (aka the one that appears on most monuments) because it is the more “grammatically proper” spelling!

𓇋𓏠𓈖 – Amun

𓎹𓏏- United with (Khnemet)

𓄂𓏏 – Foremost (Hat)

𓀼𓏪 -Noble Women (Shepsut)

So Hatshepsut’s name 𓂋𓈖 translates to “United with Amun, Foremost of the Noble Women.” 

Now that we know her most popular variant, let’s take a look at the less common variant of the cartouche 𓍷, which is the variant that appears on the stela: 𓇋𓏠𓈖𓎹𓄂𓀼

𓇋𓏠𓈖 – Amun

𓎹 – United with (Khnemet)

𓄂 – Foremost (Hat)

𓀼 – Noble Women (Shepsut)

So as you can see, even though there are less hieroglyphic symbols 𓊹𓌃𓏪 (aka the words are abbreviated), the cartouche still retains the original meaning/pronunciation! Abbreviations can be difficult for beginners, but it just comes with practice! 

There’s also a third variant of Hatshepsut’s name 𓂋𓈖 that I rarely see and it is simply: 𓄂𓏏𓀼𓏪 which actually spells just “Hatshepsut”!

𓄂𓏏 – Foremost (Hat)

𓀼𓏪 -Noble Women (Shepsut)

This cartouche 𓍷/inscription 𓎘𓅱𓎖 is from the Stela of Hatshepsut, which is at the Vatican Museum, which is the same stela 𓎗𓅱𓆓𓉸 as the previous post about Hatshepsut’s 𓇳𓁦𓂓 Throne Name!

Here’s a post about Hatshepsut’s Throne Name

Here’s a post about Hatshepsut’s Horus Name