STUDY PROBES MOTIVE BEHIND DESTRUCTION OF QUEEN HATSHEPSUT STATUES

Hatshepsut ruled as pharaoh around 3,500 years ago. Her reign was exceptionally successful: she was a prolific builder of monuments and her reign saw great innovations in art and architecture

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After the Egyptian pharaoh Hatshepsut died around 1458 BC, many statues of her were destroyed. Archaeologists believed that they were targeted in an act of revenge by Thutmose III, her successor. Yet the condition of the statues recovered in the vicinity of her mortuary temple varies and many survive with their faces virtually intact.

Now a new study by archaeologist Jun Yi Wong reexamines the original excavations and offers an alternative explanation. Much of the damage may in fact be from the "ritual deactivation" of the statues and their reuse as raw material. We asked him to explain.

Why was Queen Hatshepsut?

Hatshepsut ruled as the pharaoh of Egypt around 3,500 years ago. Her reign was an exceptionally successful one - she was a prolific builder of monuments, and her reign saw great innovations in art and architecture. As a result, some regard her as one of the greatest rulers male or female - in ancient Egypt. She has also been described as the "first great woman in history".

Hatshepsut was the wife and half sister of pharaoh Thutmose II. Following the premature death of her husband, she acted as regent for her stepson, the young Thutmose III. However, about seven years later, Hatshepsut ascended the throne and declared herself ruler of Egypt.

Egyptian archaeologists discover three tombs in Luxor

Why were her statues destroyed?

After her death, Hatshepsut's names and representations such as statues were systematically erased from her monuments. This event, often called the "proscription" of Hatshepsut, is currently part of my wider research.