Hatchepsut

by Joyce Tyldesley

  In the south the Theban 17th Dynasty ruled over Egypt from Elephantine to Cusae (el-Qusiya, Middle Egypt), successfully continuing many of the Middle Kingdom royal traditions but on a reduced scale and adapted to fit local conditions; the 17th Dynasty royal pyramids were

  Fig. 1.1 The cartouche of King Sekenenre Tao II

  relatively tiny mud-brick structures perched on top of rock-cut tombs. As the southern dynasty slowly established itself relationships between south and north gradually deteriorated, and open warfare erupted when King Sekenenre Tao II, ‘The Brave’, came to the Theban throne. A fantastic New Kingdom story which purports to explain the outbreak of hostilities starts by setting the scene:

  It once happened that the land of Egypt was in misery, for there was no lord as [sole] king. A day came to pass when King Sekenenre was [still only] ruler of the Southern City. Misery was in the town of the Asiatics, for Prince Apophis was in Avaris, and the entire land paid tribute to him, delivering their taxes [and] even the north bringing every [sort of] good produce of the Delta.9

  We are told how the Hyksos King Apophis, now a fervent worshipper of the peculiar and so far unidentified animal-headed god Seth, decides to provoke a quarrel by making an intentionally ridiculous demand. A messenger is sent southwards, and he delivers the complaint to the bemused Sekenenre Tao:

  Let there be a withdrawal from the canal of hippopotami which lie at the east of the City, because they don't let sleep come to me either in the daytime or at night.

  Sekenenre is understandably rendered speechless by this unreasonable request: it is inconceivable that the Theban hippopotami could have been making so much noise that they were preventing Apophis from sleeping in Avaris, some 500 miles downstream. Unfortunately, the end of the story is lost, and we do not know how the king eventually replied, or indeed whether Apophis went on to make even more outrageous demands.

  The more down-to-earth archaeological evidence confirms that Sekenenre Tao II fought against the Hyksos in Middle Egypt before dying of wounds sustained in battle: his mummified body was unwrapped by the French egyptologist Gaston Maspero in 1886, and examined by the distinguished anatomist G. Elliot Smith in 1906. The mummy was clearly a disturbing sight, with horrific head and neck injuries caused by repeated blows from a bronze Hyksos battle-axe:

  All that now remains of Saqnounri Tiouaqen [Sekenenre Tao II] is a badly damaged, disarticulated skeleton enclosed in an imperfect sheet of soft, moist, flexible dark brown skin, which has a strongly aromatic, spicy odour… No attempt was made to put the body into the customary mummy-position; the head had not been straightened on the trunk, the legs were not fully extended, and the arms and hands were left in the agonized attitude into which they had been thrown in the death spasms following the murderous attack, the evidence of which is so clearly impressed on the battered face and skull.10

  The badly preserved body suggests that the king had been hastily mummified, not necessarily by the official royal undertakers. Sekenenre Tao II was succeeded by his son, Kamose, who ruled for little more than three years yet managed to strengthen the Theban hold on Middle Egypt. After brooding aloud on the unfortunate situation which had divided his land – ‘I should like to know what serves this strength of mine when a chieftain is in Avaris and another in Kush, and I sit united with an Asiatic and a Nubian’11 – Kamose took decisive action. He advanced northwards towards Avaris and southwards as far as Buhen, obtaining control of the vital river trade routes and exacting vengeance on those believed to have collaborated with the enemy, before returning to Thebes where he recorded his daring deeds on a limestone stela at the Karnak temple:

  Fig 1.2 The cartouche of King Kamose

  O wicked of heart, vile Asiatic, I shall drink the wine of your vineyard which the Asiatic whom I captured press for me. I lay waste your dwelling place and cut down your trees… I did not leave a scrap of Avaris without being empty… I laid waste their towns and burned their places, they being made into red ruins for eternity on account of the damage which they did within this Egypt, for they had made themselves serve the Asiatic and had forsaken Egypt their mistress.12

  Kamose died young, possibly killed in action like his father, and was in turn succeeded on the Theban throne by his younger brother Ahmose. Ahmose, initially too young to fight, waited for over ten years before resuming the struggle to unite his country. His victorious campaign against the Hyksos has been recorded in full and somewhat bloodthirsty detail by a soldier also named Ahmose, the son of a woman named Ibana and a soldier named Baba, who hailed from the southern Egyptian town of el-Kab. In his autobiography, Ahmose the soldier aims to impress us with his lengthy military record and his extreme personal bravery, quoting directly from a New Kingdom proverb: ‘The name of the brave man is in that which he has done; it will not perish in the land forever.’ We learn how, when he had ‘founded a household’ (that is, married and perhaps fathered a child), he started his military service on a ship called The Northern. Ahmose sailed north to fight alongside his pharaoh in the Delta, taking part in several bloody battles and playing an active part in the sacking of Avaris. The Hyksos and their kinsmen had been active throughout northern Sinai and in the Levantine area and, as they retreated from Egypt, King Ahmose followed them eastwards into south-west Palestine, eventually laying siege to the fortified town of Sharuhen, the last outpost of the Hyksos kingdom. After each successful battle Ahmose, son of Ibana, was rewarded

  Fig. 1.3 The cartouche of King Ahmose

  with booty, including the prisoners he had captured, and he proudly informs us that he was eventually awarded the ‘Gold of Valour’, one of the highest military honours, for his bravery in battle. His words allow us a rare insight into the turbulent life of an early 18th Dynasty professional soldier:

  … I was taken to the boat ‘The Northern’ because of my bravery. I accompanied the Sovereign, life, prosperity and health be upon him, on my feet when he travelled around in his chariot. The town of Avaris was besieged. I was brave in the presence of his Majesty. Then I was promoted to [the boat] ‘Rising in Memphis’. There was fighting on the water of Padjedku of Avaris and I made a seizure and brought away a hand. This was reported to the Royal Herald, thereupon I was given the gold of valour… Then there was fighting in Southern Egypt, south of this town. I brought away one man as a living captive… When it was reported to the Royal Herald I was rewarded with gold a second time.

  Then Avaris was sacked. I brought away from there as plunder one man and three women, a total of four people. His Majesty gave them to me as slaves. Then Sharuhen was besieged for three years. His Majesty plundered it. I brought away from there as plunder two women and a hand. The gold of valour was presented to me and, lo, I was given slaves as plunder.13

  Following the successful expulsion of the Hyksos, Ahmose turned his attention southwards to Nubia, where once again he was followed by his loyal soldier:

  [His Majesty] sailed south to Khenthennefer to destroy the Bowmen of Nubia. His majesty made a great heap of corpses among them. I brought away plunder from there, two living men and three hands. I was rewarded with gold again and I was given two female slaves. His majesty travelled north, his heart swelling with bravery and victory. He had conquered southerners and northerners.

  When Ahmose writes of capturing a hand he is referring to the practice of amputating the hand, or on some occasions the penis, of a dead enemy so that the true scale of the victory could be assessed. This effective, but to modern eyes rather gruesome, means of counting is attested by several large-scale scenes of victorious New Kingdom pharaohs standing by piles of discarded human body parts.

  Following the death of Ahmose the king, Ahmose the soldier continued his military career serving in Nubia under both Amenhotep I and Tuthmosis I, and receiving both promotion and gifts of land as a reward for his loyalty. In his final campaign he accompanied Tuthmosis I to Syria before returning to enjoy a well-earned retirement and a natural death at el-Kab where he was eventually interred ‘in th
e tomb that I myself made’.

  A second soldier, also a native of el-Kab and possibly a young relation of Ahmose, son of Ibana, somewhat confusingly named Ahmose-Pennekheb, tells us that King Ahmose undertook a second Asian campaign in his regnal Year 22, fighting in ‘Djahy’, the general name used for Syria and Palestine, and perhaps reaching as far east as the River Euphrates. Presumably this second campaign was intended to provide conclusive proof that Egypt was once again united under a strong king and well able to participate in international affairs. This region, now under the influence, if not the direct control of Egypt, formed the basis of the Egyptian Empire which was later to be developed by the Tuthmoside kings. By the end of his regnal Year 16 Egypt was the chief power in the Near East and Ahmose was free to consolidate his southern border. Here, as Ahmose son of Ibana has already related, a series of efficient campaigns ensured that control was re-imposed on Nubia and Egypt's boundary was re-established below the Second Cataract.

  King Ahmose died after a 25-year rule leaving his son, Amenhotep I, to inherit a country united and secure within her boundaries for the first time in over two hundred years. The Hyksos had been expelled from the north, the Nubians had been crushed to the south and Egypt had expanded into the Levant in order to protect herself from further attack. Although Ahmose was clearly continuing the foreign policies started by his immediate predecessors, to him has gone the credit of militarizing the country and ridding Egypt of the hated foreigners. In honour of this magnificent achievement, history traditionally places Ahmose at the head of the 18th Dynasty, even though his grandfather, father and brother are still regarded as 17th Dynasty kings. Ahmose later became the object of a funerary cult based around his cenotaph at Abydos.

  Ahmose had been revered throughout the land for his prowess as a mighty warrior-king. Personal bravery and a good military record now became desirable attributes indicative of a successful monarch, and succeeding 18th Dynasty rulers found it prudent to place great emphasis on their military strength and personal bravery. It was now almost expected that a new king would mark his accession by leading his troops to crush the traditional enemies to the south (Nubians) and to the north (Asiatics). This had not always been the case, although the first king of Egypt, Narmer, is best known in his role of a military leader. Generally, as the Old and Middle Kingdoms progressed and as Egypt continued her policy of self-imposed isolation from the rest of the Mediterranean world, the armed forces had become more and more insignificant, although a royal bodyguard was always maintained. Fighting was not viewed as a particularly noble occupation, being generally associated with periods of civil war when Egyptian fought against Egyptian, and most kings did not choose to exploit the military aspect of their rule. There was no Old or Middle Kingdom standing army; the king relied on an informal militia-type arrangement to gather groups of fighting men together whenever needed, and the small group of professional soldiers who administered these irregular troops were not significant members of the ruling élite.

  However, the time of the Hyksos expulsion from Egypt was a time of increasing military activity throughout the entire Near East. Egypt now understood only too well that she was vulnerable to attack and that, with her lucrative interests in Nubia and Palestine, she could no longer afford to remain aloof from world affairs. By maintaining an efficient fighting force, Egypt could remain allies with powerful and well-armed near-neighbours such as the Hittites, who might otherwise be tempted to invade a temptingly wealthy and weak country. The fact that the

  Fig. 1.4 Old and New Kingdom soldiers

  army could also become a focus for national pride and unity was an additional and quickly exploited bonus. It was now perceived as excellent propaganda for the king to be seen defending his territory, subduing foreigners and, by implication, maintaining his control over the population within Egypt, and large-scale scenes of the king, riding in his chariot, meeting foes in battle or even grasping a handful of enemies by the hair, became a standard decoration for monumental gateways and exterior temple walls. This change in attitude may perhaps be understood by considering the approach of present-day monarchies to the armed services. In early eighteenth-century England, following the civil wars of the late seventeenth century, the army was deeply distrusted by the population at large, who saw it as a means of suppressing the rights of free-born Englishmen. It was therefore rare for a member of the royal family to be seen wearing a military uniform away from the battlefield. Today, however, following victory in the two World Wars and the first-hand experience of those required to do National Service, the army is viewed as an obvious and acceptable leadership role for young male members of the royal family and military uniforms are considered appropriate wear for public occasions such as royal weddings.

  The New Kingdom army was suddenly both popular and socially acceptable, rapidly joining the priesthood and the civil service as one of the acceptable professions for the educated and literate classes. Recruitment soared, and there was a constant demand for able quartermasters and administrators who could ensure the smooth running of a large and complex organization. Alongside the hard-bitten old campaigners who had fought their way up through the ranks there could now be found the ancient equivalent of ‘graduate entry’ officers: professionals valued more for their administrative skills than their combative abilities. The army was an attractive career option for those who, ambitious but illiterate, were denied entry into the bureaucracy and priesthood, and soon there were whole families who undertook to serve in the army for several generations in return for the right to tenant their own farms. The revitalized and greatly expanded army was organized into highly trained units of infantry, chariotry and more specialized troops: three or four divisions of up to 5,000 men were progressively subdivided into hosts (500 men), companies (250 men), platoons (50 men) and squads (10 men) and a ‘Great Army General’, often the crown prince, was appointed to take overall command.14 The pharaoh, of course, remained absolute head of the armed forces.

  The monarchs of the 18th Dynasty openly acknowledged that their military successes were entirely due to the superiority of the Egyptian deities and, in particular, to the patronage of their local god, Amen of Thebes. It was no coincidence that the great scenes of the pharaoh as warrior triumphant were carved on temple walls, emphasizing the link between devotion and victory; as Hatchepsut herself was to affirm: ‘I have done this with a loving heart for my father Amen… My majesty knows his divinity. I acted under his command. It was he who led me, and I did not plan a single work without his doing.’15

  Throughout the Old Kingdom the most important state god had been Re, the sun god whose cult centre of Heliopolis lay close to the capital city of Memphis, and whose most striking monuments were the pyramids in the Memphite royal cemeteries. The form of the pyramid was designed to associate the dead king with the living god, allowing him to ascend the stairway to heaven so that he might sail across the sky with Re every day. The rise of the Middle Kingdom at Thebes did little directly to reduce the power of Re, although his association with kingship now became far less obvious than it had been during the Old Kingdom. The kings of the 12th Dynasty moved their capital north and recommenced the building of Re-related pyramids, presumably as a means of stressing their newly acquired royal status. However, they still retained a loyalty to their local Theban gods and, as their choice of names – Amenemhat, ‘Amen to the Fore’; Senwosret, ‘The Man of Wosret’16 – suggests, the provincial southern deities were starting to gain in national importance. This period saw the beginning of large-scale development at the Temple of Amen at Karnak. The Karnak temple complex, set in a northern suburb of Thebes, became, during the New Kingdom, the largest collection of related religious buildings in the world.

  Fig. 1.5 The god Amen

  Amen had started life as an insignificant and rather colourless local deity worshipped in the immediate area around Thebes. However, he was quickly to become the most powerful god in the Egyptian Empire, associated with the most important Ol
d Kingdom deity in the compound god Amen-Re, linked with the fertility god Min of Coptos in his ithyphallic form and accorded the magnificent title ‘King of the Gods and Lord of the Thrones of the Two Lands’. Iconographically, Amen most commonly appears as a man dressed in a short kilt and sporting a distinctive feathered headdress of two tall plumes. His sacred animals are the goose and, far more importantly, the ram, and his main cult centre is the Karnak temple at Thebes. Egyptian gods do not usually come singly but as members of divine families of three; Amen's consort is the anthropoid goddess Mut (‘Mother’), a lady who has links with both the mother-goddesses Hathor and Bast and with the fierce lion-headed goddess of war and sickness, Sekhmet, and their son is the local moon-god, Khonsu. Mut's cult centre is an impressive temple enclosure directly to the south of Amen's at Karnak, while Khonsu was worshipped in a temple im-mediately to the north.

  Fig. 1.6 The goddess Mut

  Egypt's new prosperity allowed the 18th Dynasty pharaohs to endow shrines and temples to various gods throughout the land. These new buildings were now built of stone rather than mud-brick and were literally designed to last for all eternity. Major cities such as Thebes and Memphis, previously home to relatively modest mud-brick chapels, now found themselves dominated by massive, painted stone temples. These were typically surrounded by clusters of relatively unimpressive mud-brick buildings housing lesser shrines and administrative offices, the whole temple complex being enclosed by a high, thick mud-brick wall of military appearance, designed to keep the common people out. The Egyptian temple was not the equivalent of a medieval cathedral; it was the private home of the god who, in the form of a statue, dwelt within. The temple gates were rarely thrown open to the general public and, while many townsmen must have worked on the temple buildings, few would have been aware of the mysteries surrounding the daily practice of their state religion. Indeed, although the ordinary people owed an official allegiance to the state gods, they were far more likely to worship their less exalted and more familiar local gods, while folk-religion, including magic, superstition and witchcraft, played an important role in the life of the peasant communities.