Pregnant Ahmose, mother of Hatshepsut

A pregnant Queen Ahmose, with her daughter (and future ruler of Egypt) Hatshepsut in utero.

This scene is depicted within the walls of Hatshepsut’s funerary temple Djeser-Djeseru (“Holy of Holies”) and documents the mythos of Hatshepsut’s divine conception and birth, therefore giving her divine-right to the throne of Egypt. It is known as the Birth Colonnade and reads as follows;

“I will shape for thee thy daughter [I will endow her with life, health, and strength, and all gifts], I will make her appearance above the Gods, because of her dignity of King of Upper and Lower Egypt…

I have shaped thee with these limbs, daughter of the Lord of Thebes.”

In the full scene, Ahmose is being guided by the ram-headed creator god Khnum (known to the Egyptians for being the creator of the universe and all within it, often seen depicted sitting at the potters wheel of creation) and the frog-headed goddess Heqet (a personification of regeneration, rebirth, and fertility) into the chamber where she will give birth to Hatshepsut.

Scene depicted at Djeser-Djeseru (“Holy of Holies”), Deir el-Bahari, Egypt.