Hatshepsut's building program, including the mortuary temple at Deir el-Bahri, the obelisks at Karnak, the Speos Artemidos, and the political and religious purposes of the construction projects

What this dot point is asking

NESA expects you to describe Hatshepsut's major construction projects (Deir el-Bahri, the Karnak obelisks, the Red Chapel, the Speos Artemidos, other works), the named sources for each, and the political and religious purposes of the building program as a project of legitimation, display, and divine sanction.

The answer

Deir el-Bahri (Djeser-Djeseru)

Hatshepsut's mortuary temple, called Djeser-Djeseru ("Holy of Holies"), is the centrepiece of her building program. It sits on the west bank of the Nile in the Theban necropolis, in the bay below the cliff, next to the much-ruined 11th-Dynasty temple of Mentuhotep II.

Architecture. Three terraces rise toward the cliff. Each terrace has a colonnaded portico fronting it. Ramps connect the terraces. The upper terrace contains the offering courtyard; at its rear, the sanctuary of Amun-Re is cut into the cliff. Side chapels of Hathor (south) and Anubis (north) flank the middle terrace.

Designer. Senenmut, Hatshepsut's chief steward, is credited with the architectural design. The graffito in tomb TT 71 (Senenmut's tomb), inscriptions at Deir el-Bahri, and the small statues of Senenmut found at the temple all support the attribution.

Reliefs. The middle colonnade contains two of the most-studied relief programs in Egyptian art.

Divine birth. The south side shows Amun-Re begetting Hatshepsut with Queen Ahmose. The infant is formed on the potter's wheel by Khnum, blessed by the gods, and presented to Amun as the future king.

Punt expedition. The north side shows the trade expedition to Punt: the journey by ship, the queen of Punt (depicted in distinctive Punt costume and physique), the loading of incense trees, gold, ebony, leopard skins, and live baboons, and the return to Egypt. The fish in the Punt waters are depicted with such accuracy that modern marine biologists have identified Red Sea species.

Obelisk transport. The lower terrace portico depicts the transport of the granite obelisks from Aswan to Karnak by river barge.

Statuary. Large numbers of statues of Hatshepsut lined the terraces and the offering courtyard. Many were systematically destroyed under Thutmose III in the proscription after Hatshepsut's death; fragments have been excavated by the Metropolitan Museum of Art expedition and partially reassembled.

Karnak: the obelisks

Hatshepsut commissioned two pairs of granite obelisks for the Karnak temple of Amun-Re, quarried at Aswan and transported by river barge.

The first pair was erected near the Fourth Pylon. The second pair (year 16) was erected between the Fourth and Fifth Pylons. The surviving obelisk (still standing) is around 29 metres tall and weighs around 320 tonnes, making it the tallest standing obelisk in Egypt.

The inscriptions on the obelisks proclaim Hatshepsut's piety toward Amun-Re. The base text reads: "I have done this with a loving heart for my father Amun... not deviating from what he ordained... I have made monuments for him, more excellent than those that were before me."

The transport of the obelisks is depicted at Deir el-Bahri. The completion of the second pair is also documented in the Red Chapel.

The Red Chapel (Chapelle Rouge)

A small bark shrine (a structure to house the portable bark in which Amun travelled during festivals) built within Karnak under Hatshepsut. Constructed of red quartzite and black granite, with elaborate relief decoration.

The Red Chapel was dismantled by Amenhotep II (Thutmose III's successor) and the blocks reused in later constructions. The blocks have been recovered and the chapel reassembled in the 20th and 21st centuries; it is now displayed in the Karnak Open-Air Museum.

The reliefs include scenes of Hatshepsut's coronation, her sed-festival (jubilee), the Beautiful Festival of the Valley, and the obelisk transport.

The Speos Artemidos

A rock-cut temple at Beni Hasan in Middle Egypt, dedicated to the lioness goddess Pakhet (called "Artemis" by later Greeks; hence "Speos Artemidos," the Cave of Artemis).

The dedicatory inscription on the architrave is one of the most-studied texts of Hatshepsut's reign. She claims to have restored Egypt after a period of chaos and disorder: "I have raised up what was dismembered from the very first time when the Asiatics were in the midst of Avaris of the Northland, with roving hordes in their midst overthrowing what had been made."

The claim of restoration after Hyksos chaos is propaganda: the Hyksos had been expelled three generations earlier under Ahmose I. The inscription serves to position Hatshepsut as a restorer-king of cosmic order (ma'at).

Other constructions

Karnak. The Eighth Pylon, bark shrines, chapels, the small temple of Ipet-resyt (the predecessor of the Luxor temple).

Mortuary temple of Thutmose I. Khenemet-Ankh, a mortuary temple for her father Thutmose I, was built adjacent to her own at Deir el-Bahri.

Tomb (KV 20). Hatshepsut's tomb in the Valley of the Kings, with a complex descending shaft. She arranged for her father Thutmose I to be reburied here. After her death, Thutmose I was moved again (probably to KV 38).

Pakhet shrine at Beni Hasan. The Speos Artemidos.

Restorations. Various restorations of monuments damaged in the Hyksos period or in earlier intermediate periods.

Building program at a glance

Purposes of the building program

Religious legitimation. The divine birth reliefs at Deir el-Bahri established her divine descent from Amun-Re. The Karnak obelisks honoured Amun directly. The Speos Artemidos inscription positioned her as a restorer of ma'at. Religion and politics were inseparable.

Political display. The scale and quality matched or exceeded predecessors. The 29-metre obelisk was the tallest in Egypt. The Djeser-Djeseru complex was the most architecturally innovative mortuary temple of the dynasty.

Economic and administrative function. Major royal construction projects organised quarrying, transport, craft, and labour at large scale, channelling state resources and providing employment for officials and skilled artisans. The Punt expedition itself was a state economic project as well as a religious offering.

Court display. The building program advertised Hatshepsut's officials. Senenmut's role at Deir el-Bahri made his career; he was buried near the temple.

Historiography

Joyce Tyldesley (Hatchepsut: The Female Pharaoh, 1996) treats the building program as the central political and religious project of the reign.

Catharine Roehrig (Hatshepsut: From Queen to Pharaoh, 2005) integrates the architectural, inscriptional, and statuary evidence; the catalogue is the standard reference for the corpus.

Dieter Arnold (The Encyclopedia of Ancient Egyptian Architecture, 2003) provides the architectural analysis.

How to read a source on this topic

Section III sources on the building program typically include photographs of Deir el-Bahri, drawings of the Punt or divine birth reliefs, the obelisk inscription, the Speos Artemidos inscription, or modern architectural reconstructions. Three reading habits.

First, distinguish the building from its decoration. The Djeser-Djeseru architecture (three terraces) is one source; the divine birth reliefs are another; the Punt reliefs are another. Each can be asked about separately.

Second, integrate text and image. The Speos Artemidos inscription's claim of restoration is text-based; the divine birth narrative is image-based. Strong responses use both.

Third, watch for the proscription evidence. Many of Hatshepsut's monuments were defaced under Thutmose III. The defacement is itself part of the source's history and is examinable as a separate topic.

Common exam traps

Treating Djeser-Djeseru as a tomb. It is a mortuary temple. The tomb is KV 20. Different functions.

Forgetting Senenmut. He is credited with the architectural design and is routinely asked about.

Misdating the Punt expedition. The expedition is dated to year 9 of Thutmose III's reign, not the start of Hatshepsut's pharaonic rule.

Missing the Speos Artemidos. The inscription's restoration claim is canonical and often appears in source questions.

In one sentence

Hatshepsut's building program centred on the mortuary temple of Djeser-Djeseru at Deir el-Bahri (designed by Senenmut, with three terraces and the divine birth and Punt expedition reliefs), the two pairs of granite obelisks at Karnak (one of around 29 metres still standing as the tallest in Egypt), the Red Chapel, and the Speos Artemidos with its restoration inscription at Beni Hasan, a coherent project of religious legitimation, political display, and administrative organisation that Tyldesley and Roehrig treat as the central evidence for the reign.