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NSWAncient HistoryQuick questions
Section III (Personalities): Hatshepsut, Pharaoh of the 18th Dynasty
Quick questions on Hatshepsut's religious policy and propaganda: HSC Ancient History
15short Q&A pairs drawn directly from our worked dot-point answer. For full context and worked exam questions, read the parent dot-point page.
What is the cult of Amun-Re?Show answer
Amun-Re of Thebes was the dominant state god of the 18th Dynasty. The Karnak temple complex was the largest religious complex in the ancient world. Amun's priesthood was politically and economically significant; the high priest of Amun was one of the most powerful men in Egypt.
What is the divine birth narrative?Show answer
The most sophisticated piece of religious propaganda from the reign is the divine birth relief series at Deir el-Bahri (south wall, middle colonnade).
What is the office of God's Wife of Amun?Show answer
Hatshepsut inherited the office of God's Wife of Amun from her mother Ahmose. The office had become institutionally important in the early 18th Dynasty under Ahmose-Nefertari and her successors.
What is major festivals?Show answer
The two great Theban festivals were central occasions for royal display.
What is the Speos Artemidos restoration inscription?Show answer
The rock-cut temple at Beni Hasan in Middle Egypt is dedicated to the lioness goddess Pakhet. The architrave inscription is one of the most-studied texts from the reign.
What is other deities?Show answer
Hathor. Goddess of women, music, and the necropolis. Chapel of Hathor at Deir el-Bahri. Hatshepsut's identification with Hathor was strong.
What is historiography?Show answer
Joyce Tyldesley (Hatchepsut, 1996) treats religious legitimation as the central project of the reign.
What is the Opet festival?Show answer
Annual procession of Amun's bark from Karnak to Luxor (around 3 km south), where the rejuvenation rituals of the god (and the king) were performed. The festival lasted around 24 days. Hatshepsut's role is depicted in the Red Chapel reliefs.
What is the Beautiful Festival of the Valley?Show answer
Annual procession of Amun's bark across the Nile to visit the mortuary temples on the west bank, including Hatshepsut's Djeser-Djeseru. The festival linked the living king with the deceased pharaohs.
What is hathor?Show answer
Goddess of women, music, and the necropolis. Chapel of Hathor at Deir el-Bahri. Hatshepsut's identification with Hathor was strong.
What is anubis?Show answer
Embalming and funerary god. Anubis chapel at Deir el-Bahri.
What is pakhet?Show answer
Lioness goddess at Speos Artemidos.
What is thutmose I?Show answer
Hatshepsut's father, worshipped as a divine ancestor at the mortuary temple of Khenemet-Ankh adjacent to Djeser-Djeseru.
What is treating religious policy as separate from political policy?Show answer
They are inseparable. The divine birth is political; the Karnak obelisks are religious.
What is forgetting the God's Wife of Amun?Show answer
It is the institutional base.