The Valley of Queens near Luxor, Egypt is best known for the
temple dedicated to Queen Hatshepsut. Nestled against the mountain that
separates the Valley of the Kings from the Valley of Queens, this temple is
impressive for its simplicity of design, symmetry, and presentation. In its
original state, two ramps connected the three levels, and on either side of the
lower incline were T-shaped papyrus pools. On the ground level were sphinxes
and fragrant trees from Punt. The sphinxes had the heads of Hatshepsut, and she
was also represented as a lion in some of the temple's reliefs.
The
architect was Senmut, Hatshepsut's lover and a member of her court with more
than 20 titles. Senmut designed the temple with rows of colonnades that reflect
the vertical patterns displayed by the cliff backdrop. In this way the temple
is a successful example of architectural harmony between man and nature. In her temple are written the words of Khnum, the
divine potter who sculpted the forms of the gods:
“I will make you to be the first of all living
creatures,
you will rise as king of Upper and of Lower Egypt,
as your father Amon, who loves you, did ordain.”
Similar to other and more ancient temples, such
as at Dendera and Philae, there is a separate temple dedicated to the Goddess
Hathor (left picture). Less common is also a temple behind the colonnade
dedicated to Anubis (right photo), the ancient God known for the sacred
“Weighing of the heart” ceremony. Other Gods are depicted such as Amon, and as
shown in the middle photo, the color in several places is still intact. Perhaps
this why in ancient times Queen Hatshepsut’s temple was
called "Djeser-djeseru," which means the "sacred of
sacreds".
This is a statue at the
temple (left photo) showing Queen Hatshepsut as Pharoah. Hatshepsut was an
18th-dynasty pharaoh who was one of a handful of female rulers in Ancient
Egypt. Her reign was the longest of all the female pharaohs, and her temple at
the Valley of the Queens stands as a tribute to her incredible rise to power.
How did she come to be Pharoah? Hatshepsut was the daughter of Thutmose I and Queen Ahmose
Nefertari. She was married to her half brother Thutmose II and after his death
proclaimed herself Pharaoh, denying the old king's son - Thutmose III, her
nephew, and his rights of inheritance. Queen Hatshepsut announced that the God
Amon-Ra spoke with her and said: "Welcome my sweet daughter, my favorite,the King of Upper and Lower Egypt, Maatkare, Hatshepsut. Thou art the King,taking possession of the Two Lands."
Hatshepsut dressed as a king, even wearing a false
beard (right image). She reigned for twenty years and during this time Egypt
flourished. She expanded trading relations and built magnificent temples as
well as restoring many others. Well-known is her trading expedition to the Land
of Punt (thought to be somewhere on Somalia). The Punt was the source of many
exotic products such as gold, aromatic resins, blackwood, ivory, ebony, from
here were taken slaves and exotic wild animals. Reliefs in the Temple of
Hatshepsut show this trading expedition to the Land of Punt.
Hatshepsut's
full name, according to an account by Edouard Naville, is composed of four
parts. The first, her "standard" name, is "she who is rich,
powerful through her 'ka's, her doubles." The second, read as nebti
refers to the pharaoh's dominion over both East and West. The third is her
"Horus" name, reading "The divine one in her risings".
Finally, her name continues with two cartouches (shown left), the first
reading Kamara, the "true double of Ra." The second
cartouche has no holy meaning, but instead desinates her name given at birth,
"Hatshepsut".
Her full name, as inscribed on her "great seal", was the Horus,
mighty by his Kas, the lord of East and West abounding in years, the good
goddess, the pious lady, the golden falcon, divine in her rings, the King of
Upper and Lower Egypt, Kamara, the daughter of Ra, Khnumit Amon,
Hatshepsut."
It is interesting to note the disparity in her
sex identity from the beginning of her name to the end. Whether the mistakes of
scribes and artists, or difficulties in Egyptian written language, or simply
the inability of Egyptians to reconcile the words "female" and
"pharaoh" as referring to the same person, the representation of
Hatshepsut as both female and male in hieroglyphs and statuary appears in work
done throughout her reign.
Many Egyptologists down
play Queen Hatshepsut as Pharoah, not unlike the Catholics denying that there
ever was a female Pope. As shown in the illustration on the left, Pope Joan was
stricken from the books and banned from being spoken of (or suffer the
consequences of being burned at the stake). Pope Joan reigned from 853 to 855.
The Chronicon Pontificum et Imperatum by Martin of Opava claims that this
“John” was a woman, who as a girl had been led to Athens dressed in the clothes
of a man by a certain lover of hers. There she became proficient in a diversity
of branches of knowledge, until she had no equal, and afterwards in Rome, she
taught the liberal arts and had great masters among her students and audience.
A high opinion of her life and learning arose in the city, and she was chosen
for pope.
While pope, however, she became pregnant by her
companion. Through ignorance of the exact time when the birth was expected, she
was delivered of a child while in procession from St Peter's to the Lateran, in
a narrow lane between the Coliseum and St Clement's church. After her death, it
is said she was buried in that same place. And according to research done by
Dan Brown while writing his book, Angels & Demons, there are several
statues and symbols throughout Rome and in the Vatican that are clues to there
being a female pope.
In addition, it was revealed last year during a Diane
Sawyer ABC Primetime special, “The Mysteries of Pope Joan” that there is
further evidence of a female pope. For starters, since 855, no pope rides along
the same street where Pope Joan gave birth even though it is the shortest route
to the Vatican. Also, as shown in the photo to the right, as a part of the
formal ceremony for a new pope, he must sit on the "Coronation Chair"
first. Note its keyhole-shaped slot in the center of the seat that is used to
test the Pope's manhood.
One final interesting fact to note concerns prophesies
that speak of the final pope. Time will tell if the current Pope, Benedict is
the last depending on if you count Pope Joan.
There are other sites in and around the Valley
of the Queens. The Tombs of the Nobles is a very interesting site on Luxor's
west bank. It is often ignored due to the fact that no kings or queens had
their tomb or temple built here. It is all devoted to persons now remembered by
the most detailed historical works. There are 400 tombs here, of which seven
are of high acclaim, and once held exquisite pieces of art such as the above
left photo. Due to soft limestone the drawings inside the tombs are not carved,
but they still illustrate fine craftsmanship and colorful scenes (right image)
Lesser known is the fact that near the Valley of
the Queens or Luxor’s West Bank are several other ancient sites, ruins and
temples. Shown on the left is SETI I’s Temple and on the right is the Merneptah
Temple. As more recent temples, these do not have the same magnificence and
quality of workmanship that more ancient temples have. In fact, the Pharaoh Merneptah ordered stones to be taken from the older
Amenophis' temple. This is evidence of how the ancients had superior technology
and their structures have stood the “sands of time”, making the recent temples
pale in comparison.
The temple of Amenophis was destroyed, and as mentioned
above, stones were used for the construction of Merneptah’s Temple. A sketch of
what Amenophis Temple may have looked like is on the left. The right photo
shows all that remains of the temple with the two statues. They stand 60 feet
high and are known as the “Colossi of Memnon.” They were incorrectly named by
the Greeks. The Greeks only saw the two statues and believed they showed Memnon,
the King of Afghanistan from the Trojan War. But the name has stuck.
The statues rise
to fame came with their partial destruction of an earthquake in 27 BC. The
northern statue was cleaved to the waist, resulting in holes that in early
mornings would emit a hooting sound. Soon there was a legend to explain this,
telling that the statues were of Memnon, the Ethiopian king and son of the
goddess Eos, who was slain by Achilles during the Trojan War. It was said that
the sound was Memnon greeting his mother Eos, who responded by weeping over the
tragic death of her son.
The colossi became an enormous attraction in
antiquity, attracting tourists from all around the Mediterranean Sea. The
crowds would spend the night sleeping in front of the statues in order to be
woken up by Memnon's musical whispering. Then in the early 3rd century the Roman Emperor, Severus
Septimus visited the statues. He was so impressed that he ordered the broken
statues to be restored. But from that day forward, the statues have been silent.
All material on these Ancient Egypt pages is copyrighted. Permission to use may be granted by
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the King,taking possession of the Two Lands." 
Hatshepsut's
full name, according to an account by Edouard Naville, is composed of four
parts. The first, her "standard" name, is "she who is rich,
powerful through her 'ka's, her doubles." The second, read as nebti
refers to the pharaoh's dominion over both East and West. The third is her
"Horus" name, reading "The divine one in her risings".
Finally, her name continues with two cartouches (shown left), the first
reading Kamara, the "true double of Ra." The second
cartouche has no holy meaning, but instead desinates her name given at birth,
"Hatshepsut". 
