Quick questions on Hatshepsut historiography and interpretations: HSC Ancient History

Egyptian inscriptions. Hatshepsut's own monuments (Deir el-Bahri, Karnak obelisks, Speos Artemidos, Red Chapel) are the primary source for her reign. The proscription removed much, but substantial material survives.

Western Egyptology rediscovered Hatshepsut through 19th-century excavation.

The dominant interpretation through the first half of the 20th century treated Hatshepsut as a usurper.

Charles Nims ("The Date of the Dishonoring of Hatshepsut," 1966) revised the dating of the proscription, arguing it began late in Thutmose III's reign (after year 42) rather than immediately. This undermined the personal-revenge interpretation.

Peter Dorman (The Monuments of Senenmut, 1988; The Tombs of Senenmut, 1991; "The Proscription of Hatshepsut," in Roehrig 2005) reassessed Senenmut and the proscription. Senenmut was a remarkable but professional figure; the proscription was a late, institutional act.

The older "usurper queen" view is now largely rejected.

Hatshepsut's own monuments (Deir el-Bahri, Karnak obelisks, Speos Artemidos, Red Chapel) are the primary source for her reign. The proscription removed much, but substantial material survives.

The Greek-Egyptian historian Manetho (3rd century BC) wrote a history of Egypt that included a king list. Manetho's work survives only in fragments preserved by later Christian and Jewish writers (Josephus, Africanus, Eusebius). Hatshepsut appears in some lists as "Amesses" or "Amensis" but is sometimes omitted or assimilated with male predecessors.

The Abydos King List (in the temple of Seti I, 13th century BC) and the Turin King List (Ramesside era) omit Hatshepsut, reflecting the proscription's effect on official memory.

Includes a brief reference to Hatshepsut in Against Apion, drawing on Manetho.

It is not. Tyldesley and Roehrig have rehabilitated her.

Many monuments were destroyed; modern reconstruction is partial.

She is the canonical modern reference.

Naville (1890s to 1900s) was the original major excavator; the Metropolitan Museum took over in 1923.