Granite Hatshepsut
This statue, a life-sized representation, presents Hatshepsut wearing the nemes headdress—an insignia typically reserved for the reigning king. While she is draped in female attire, the inscriptions beside her legs already bear her throne name, Ma’at-Ka-Re, yet interestingly her titles remain feminine, calling her the “Lady of the Two Lands” and the “Bodily Daughter of Re“. This duality reflects the careful balance she maintained between her identity as a woman and her role as a ruler.
The back of the throne features a mysterious, partially preserved scene, likely depicting two goddesses back-to-back. One of these figures has the body of a pregnant hippopotamus, feline legs, and a crocodile’s tail—resembling Taweret, the protector of women and children. However, she is more likely to be Ipi, a divine guardian of royalty, who appears in the same pose on a statue of the 17th Dynasty king Sebekemsaf I, now housed in the British Museum.
Hatshepsut’s seated pose, with hands resting flat upon her knees, suggests that this statue was intended to receive offerings, likely within one of the temple chapels. In contrast, her depictions in public spaces followed long-established royal conventions.
Colossal sphinxes, kneeling figures, and standing statues all portrayed her as the ideal king—a youthful, vigorous man. This was not an attempt to deceive her subjects, but a continuation of visual traditions stretching back over 1,500 years.
Even on these masculine representations, her inscriptions retained feminine grammatical forms, and her personal name, Hatshepsut, meaning “Foremost of Noble Women,” was proudly included.
Her rise to power was unprecedented, but not entirely unexpected. She had been in the public eye since childhood, first as the daughter of King Thutmose I, then as the principal wife of her half-brother, Thutmose II, later as regent to her nephew and stepson, Thutmose III, and ultimately as pharaoh in her own right.
By adopting male iconography, she reinforced her authority and ensured her reign was seen as a legitimate continuation of divine kingship rather than an anomaly.
The fragments of this statue were uncovered in the early 1920s by the Metropolitan Museum’s Egyptian Expedition at her temple in Deir el-Bahari, western Thebes. However, the torso had been discovered much earlier, in 1869, and was kept at the Rijksmuseum van Oudheden in Leiden.
In 1998, the two pieces were finally reunited, restoring this extraordinary image of one of Egypt’s most formidable rulers—who, despite defying convention, left an enduring legacy that continues to captivate scholars and admirers alike.
Summary:
Granite seated statue of female king Hatshepsut
New Kingdom, 18th Dynasty, c. 1479–1458 B.C.
From Deir el-Bahari, Senenmut Quarry
Met Museum. 29.3.3
