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Egyptian Artifacts Reading Hieroglyphs

Granite Statue of Hatshepsut and its Hieroglyphs

Since I can’t go too long without talking about Hatshepsut π“‡‹π“ π“ˆ–π“ŽΉπ“π“„‚π“π“€Όπ“ͺ, let’s talk about this granite π“‡‹π“ˆ–π“ˆ™π“ˆ–π“Œ³π“Ώ statue π“„šπ“ˆ–π“π“­π“€Ύ of her!

She is depicted in female attire, but is also wearing the nemes head cloth π“ˆ–π“…“π“‹΄, which is usually reserved only for the reigning pharaoh 𓉐𓉻 to wear! Once again, this imagery 𓏏𓅱𓏏 shows that Hatshepsut π“‡‹π“ π“ˆ–π“ŽΉπ“π“„‚π“π“€Όπ“ͺ wanted to be seen as a pharaoh 𓉐𓉻, not be seen as a man π“Šƒπ“€€π“€.

Her hands 𓂝𓏦 are flat on her lap, which means that this statue π“„šπ“ˆ–π“π“­π“€Ύ was probably put inside the temple π“‰Ÿπ“π“‰ and meant to receive offerings π“Š΅π“π“Šͺ𓏏𓏔𓏦. This statue π“„šπ“ˆ–π“π“­π“€Ύ was found in multiple pieces during excavations at Deir el-Bahri 𓂦𓂋𓂦π“₯𓉐, and then pieced back together.

Let’s look at the hieroglyphic π“ŠΉπ“Œƒπ“ͺ inscription (only the top part of it can be seen – the other half is too destroyed for me to finish translating):

π“„€π“ŠΉπ“ – β€œPerfect goddess”
𓇳𓁦𓂓 – β€œMaatkare” (Hatshepsut’s throne name)

So the inscription reads β€œPerfect goddess, Maatkare.”

If Hatshepsut π“‡‹π“ π“ˆ–π“ŽΉπ“π“„‚π“π“€Όπ“ͺ was referring to herself as a man π“Šƒπ“€€π“€ or trying to be a man π“Šƒπ“€€π“€, the inscription would read like this:

π“„€π“ŠΉ(𓇳𓁦𓂓) – β€œPerfect god, Maatkare.”

The addition of the β€œπ“β€ makes the word the feminine version – β€œπ“ŠΉ -God” becomes β€œ π“ŠΉπ“ – Goddess.” So as you can see, Hatshepsut π“‡‹π“ π“ˆ–π“ŽΉπ“π“„‚π“π“€Όπ“ͺ is very much referring to herself as a woman π“Šƒπ“π“‚‘π“π“ – it’s in the hieroglyphs π“ŠΉπ“Œƒπ“ͺ! There are too many examples of Hatshepsut π“‡‹π“ π“ˆ–π“ŽΉπ“π“„‚π“π“€Όπ“ͺ being referred to as a female in writing to make the rash conclusion that she was β€œtrying to be a man.”