← Section III (Personalities): Hatshepsut, Pharaoh of the 18th Dynasty
What was the historical context of Hatshepsut's reign?
The historical context and family background of Hatshepsut, including the early 18th Dynasty, the reigns of Ahmose I, Amenhotep I, Thutmose I, and Thutmose II, and the political and religious landscape of New Kingdom Egypt
A focused answer to the HSC Ancient History dot point on Hatshepsut's historical context. The early 18th Dynasty, the expulsion of the Hyksos, the reigns of Ahmose I, Amenhotep I, and Thutmose I, the rise of Theban kingship, and the political role of the Great Royal Wife in Hatshepsut's lineage.
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What this dot point is asking
NESA expects you to set Hatshepsut's reign in the wider context of early 18th Dynasty Egypt: the post-Hyksos reunification, the imperial expansion under Ahmose I, Amenhotep I, Thutmose I, and Thutmose II, the rise of Amun-Re of Thebes, and the institutional and religious framework that made a female pharaoh's reign possible.
The answer
The Second Intermediate Period and the Hyksos
Egypt before the 18th Dynasty was divided. The Hyksos (foreign rulers of Semitic origin) had controlled northern Egypt from their capital at Avaris in the eastern Delta for over a century (around 1650 to 1550 BC). Southern Egypt was ruled by Theban kings of the 17th Dynasty.
The Theban kings Seqenenre Tao II and Kamose began the war of liberation. The mummy of Seqenenre Tao II shows axe wounds consistent with death in battle against the Hyksos. Kamose's stelae (recovered at Karnak) record his campaigns.
Ahmose I and the start of the 18th Dynasty (c. 1550 to 1525 BC)
Ahmose I, brother of Kamose, completed the expulsion. He captured Avaris and pursued the Hyksos into Palestine. The autobiography of Ahmose son of Ebana, inscribed in his tomb at El-Kab, records the campaigns.
Ahmose reunified Egypt and is conventionally treated as the founder of the New Kingdom and the 18th Dynasty. His mother Ahhotep was politically powerful; she received the Order of the Fly (a high military honour) for her role in the liberation. His wife Ahmose-Nefertari became one of the most important religious figures in Egyptian history, later deified and worshipped at the Theban necropolis.
Amenhotep I (c. 1525 to 1504 BC)
Son of Ahmose I. Consolidated the reunification. Established the workmen's village at Deir el-Medina (where the royal tomb workers lived). Beginning of major Theban construction at Karnak. After his death he was deified along with his mother as patron of the Theban necropolis.
Thutmose I (c. 1504 to 1492 BC)
Hatshepsut's father. Possibly not of strictly royal birth (his parents are not named in the inscriptions, suggesting non-royal origin); his marriage to Ahmose, the Great Royal Wife, gave him legitimacy.
Thutmose I extended Egyptian power further than any previous pharaoh. His Nubian campaigns reached the Fourth Cataract of the Nile. His northern campaigns reached the Euphrates, where he set up a boundary stela recording his victory over the kingdom of Mitanni.
He began major construction at Karnak: the Fourth Pylon, the Fifth Pylon, and the first set of obelisks in the temple. He was the first king to be buried in the Valley of the Kings (KV 38, although his original burial may have been at KV 20, the tomb later used for Hatshepsut).
His successor was his son by a secondary wife (Mutnofret), Thutmose II.
Thutmose II (c. 1492 to 1479 BC)
Hatshepsut's half-brother and husband. The marriage was a typical New Kingdom royal marriage between half-siblings, designed to consolidate the royal line.
Thutmose II's reign was short and produced few major achievements. He suppressed minor revolts in Nubia. He had one son by Isis, a secondary wife: this son became Thutmose III. With Hatshepsut he had only daughters (Neferure being the most prominent).
Thutmose II's poor health is suggested by his mummy. He died young, leaving Thutmose III a small child.
The status of the Great Royal Wife and the God's Wife of Amun
The senior royal woman in the early 18th Dynasty was politically and religiously powerful.
The Great Royal Wife (hemet nesu weret). The principal queen. She authenticated the pharaoh's lineage and could rule as regent for a child king. Ahhotep had played this role; Ahmose-Nefertari extended it.
God's Wife of Amun (hemet netjer en Imen). A religious office at the Karnak temple. The God's Wife had her own estate, priesthood, and substantial revenues. Ahmose-Nefertari held the title; she was succeeded by her daughter, and eventually the title passed through royal women of the dynasty. By Hatshepsut's time, the office was a major independent power base.
Hatshepsut's family position
Hatshepsut was the eldest daughter of Thutmose I and Ahmose. As the senior princess of the royal house, she held the strongest claim to the religious office of God's Wife of Amun. Her marriage to Thutmose II preserved the lineage. Their daughter Neferure was the senior princess of the next generation.
On Thutmose II's death (around 1479 BC), Thutmose III (the son of Thutmose II by Isis, a secondary wife) became pharaoh as a small child. Hatshepsut, as the Great Royal Wife of Thutmose II and as God's Wife of Amun, became regent.
18th Dynasty chronology
| Reign (approximate) | Pharaoh | Significance |
|---|---|---|
| c. 1550-1525 BC | Ahmose I | Expelled Hyksos, founded 18th Dynasty |
| c. 1525-1504 BC | Amenhotep I | Consolidated reunification, Karnak begins |
| c. 1504-1492 BC | Thutmose I | Hatshepsut's father; Euphrates and Fourth Cataract |
| c. 1492-1479 BC | Thutmose II | Hatshepsut's husband; short reign |
| c. 1479-1458 BC | Hatshepsut (as regent then pharaoh) | Subject of this study |
| c. 1479-1425 BC | Thutmose III (co-regent then sole) | Sole pharaoh after 1458 BC |
Modern scholarship
Joyce Tyldesley (Hatchepsut: The Female Pharaoh, 1996) is the standard biographical study and a recurring reference in HSC source materials.
Catharine Roehrig (Hatshepsut: From Queen to Pharaoh, 2005, the catalogue of the Metropolitan Museum's major exhibition) collects current scholarship.
Ann Macy Roth treats the 18th Dynasty as the institutional context in which a female pharaoh's reign became possible: the strengthening role of the Great Royal Wife and God's Wife of Amun across the dynasty's early reigns.
How to read a source on this topic
Section III sources on Hatshepsut's context typically include the autobiography of Ahmose son of Ebana, the Karnak inscriptions of Thutmose I, the mummy of Thutmose II, or modern dynastic tables. Three reading habits.
First, separate dynasty-level context from Hatshepsut-specific evidence. The 18th Dynasty's imperial expansion is the background; Hatshepsut's specific situation is the focus.
Second, watch the matrilineal pattern. Ahmose-Nefertari to Ahmose to Hatshepsut to Neferure is a chain of royal women through whom legitimacy passed. The system made a female pharaoh institutionally plausible.
Third, fix the chronology approximately. Egyptian dates are conventional. Use "around 1479 BC" rather than precise years.
Common exam traps
Treating Thutmose I as Hatshepsut's husband. He was her father. Thutmose II was her husband.
Forgetting Thutmose III's parentage. Thutmose III was the son of Thutmose II by Isis, a secondary wife, not by Hatshepsut.
Missing the God's Wife of Amun. This is the institutional power that supports Hatshepsut's later claim to the kingship.
Overstating Hatshepsut's father's royal birth. Thutmose I may not have been of fully royal origin; his marriage to Ahmose gave him legitimacy.
In one sentence
Hatshepsut's reign emerged from the early 18th Dynasty context of post-Hyksos reunification under Ahmose I, imperial expansion under Thutmose I to the Euphrates and the Fourth Cataract, the rise of Amun-Re of Thebes as the dominant state god, and the institutionalisation of the offices of Great Royal Wife and God's Wife of Amun under royal women from Ahhotep and Ahmose-Nefertari to her mother Ahmose, all of which made plausible the regency, and then the pharaonic reign, of Hatshepsut, the eldest daughter of Thutmose I.
Past exam questions, worked
Real questions from past NESA papers on this dot point, with our answer explainer.
Practice (NESA)5 marksOutline the historical context of Hatshepsut's rise to power.Show worked answer →
A 5-mark response needs the 18th Dynasty context and Hatshepsut's family.
The early 18th Dynasty. The 18th Dynasty (around 1550 to 1295 BC) began with Ahmose I expelling the Hyksos from Egypt after the Second Intermediate Period. Ahmose I reunified Egypt and re-established native rule. His successors (Amenhotep I, Thutmose I, Thutmose II) consolidated the new dynasty's power, expanded Egyptian influence into Nubia and the Levant, and made Amun-Re of Thebes the dominant state god.
Thutmose I (c. 1504-1492 BC). Hatshepsut's father. He extended Egyptian military reach as far north as the Euphrates and south to the Fourth Cataract of the Nile. He began major building works at the Karnak temple of Amun. He may not have been of fully royal birth; his marriage to Ahmose (Hatshepsut's mother), the Great Royal Wife, strengthened his legitimacy.
Thutmose II (c. 1492-1479 BC). Hatshepsut's half-brother and husband. A weaker king than his father, he ruled briefly and produced no son by Hatshepsut. His son by a secondary wife (Isis) was Thutmose III, who succeeded as a young child under Hatshepsut's regency.
The Great Royal Wife. The role had become increasingly important by the early 18th Dynasty. Ahhotep, the mother of Ahmose I, was politically active. Ahmose-Nefertari, wife of Ahmose I, was deified as God's Wife of Amun. The institutional and religious authority of the senior royal woman was substantial.
Hatshepsut's claim. She was the eldest daughter of Thutmose I and his Great Royal Wife Ahmose, making her the senior princess of the dynasty. Her marriage to Thutmose II preserved the royal bloodline; her status as God's Wife of Amun gave her independent religious authority.
Markers reward the dynastic context, the family relationships, and the God's Wife of Amun.
Practice (NESA)4 marksIdentify the major changes in Egypt between the Second Intermediate Period and the early 18th Dynasty.Show worked answer →
A 4-mark "identify" needs four substantive changes.
Reunification. Ahmose I reunited Egypt by expelling the Hyksos (foreign rulers of the Second Intermediate Period) and ending the division between northern and southern Egypt. His campaigns against the Hyksos capital at Avaris are recorded in the autobiography of Ahmose son of Ebana.
Imperial expansion. The 18th Dynasty extended Egyptian control south into Nubia (beyond the Second Cataract) and north into Palestine and Syria. Thutmose I claimed campaigns as far as the Euphrates.
Rise of Amun-Re. The Theban god Amun, now fused with the sun god Re as Amun-Re, became the dominant state deity. Karnak temple grew into the largest religious complex in the ancient world. The wealth of the Amun priesthood expanded.
Royal women's prominence. The roles of Great Royal Wife and God's Wife of Amun became politically and religiously important. Ahhotep, Ahmose-Nefertari, and Ahmose laid the institutional foundation that Hatshepsut would inherit.
Markers reward four distinct changes with named individuals or institutions.
Related dot points
- Hatshepsut's rise from Great Royal Wife to regent to pharaoh, including the political and religious basis of her authority, the chronology of her coronation, and the iconographic shift to male royal regalia
A focused answer to the HSC Ancient History dot point on Hatshepsut's rise to power. From Great Royal Wife of Thutmose II to regent for Thutmose III, then to co-ruler and pharaoh by around year 7 of his reign, with the divine birth and coronation iconography and the verdicts of Tyldesley and Roehrig.
- 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
A focused answer to the HSC Ancient History dot point on Hatshepsut's building program. The Deir el-Bahri mortuary temple (Djeser-Djeseru) designed by Senenmut, the obelisks at Karnak, the Red Chapel, the Speos Artemidos, and the purpose of construction as religious legitimation and political display.
- Hatshepsut's religious policy and propaganda, including the cult of Amun-Re, the divine birth narrative, the office of God's Wife of Amun, the Opet and Valley festivals, and the role of religious legitimation
A focused answer to the HSC Ancient History dot point on Hatshepsut's religious policy. The cult of Amun-Re, the divine birth at Deir el-Bahri, the role of God's Wife of Amun, the Opet and Beautiful Festival of the Valley, the Speos Artemidos restoration claim, and the verdicts of Tyldesley and Roehrig.