Hatshepsut Divine Birth and Coronation Scenes

Summary

This video unravels the ingenious narratives employed by Hatshepsut to cement her rightful place as Pharaoh through her divine birth and coronation scenes at the Dier el-Bahari temple. The transcript delves into Hatshepsut being portrayed as the physical daughter of the god Amun, as depicted in the divine birth scenes where Amun, disguised as her father Thutmose I, impregnates Queen Ahmose. The subsequent coronation scenes further solidify her divine claim, showing gods like Amun and Atum legitimizing her reign, marking an unprecedented move in Egyptian history. These scenes reflect Hatshepsut's innovative approach to solidifying her rule.

Highlights

• Hatshepsut’s divine birth scenes establish her as Amun’s daughter, fortifying her throne claim 🌟.
• Amun, disguised as Thutmose I, impregnates Queen Ahmose with Hatshepsut, depicted in vivid temple imagery 📜.
• Her coronation is backed by Amun and Atum, underlining the divine will for her reign 👑.
• These innovative portrayals were unprecedented, showcasing Hatshepsut’s strategic genius 🔍.
• The scenes served as a blueprint for later kings to justify their rule in Egypt ⚡️.

Key Takeaways

• Hatshepsut innovatively used divine birth narratives to legitimize her rule 👑.
• Her divine birth scenes showcased her as Amun's daughter, boosting her claim to the throne 🌟.
• The coronation scenes had gods like Amun and Atum endorsing her reign, cementing her position ⚡️.
• These narratives hadn't been used by any previous kings, highlighting her unique approach 🚀.
• Later Egyptian kings adopted similar strategies to legitimize their own reigns 📖.

Overview

Hatshepsut, the trailblazing female Pharaoh, crafted a remarkable narrative to legitimize her reign through divine birth and coronation scenes. These scenes were set in the grand Dier el-Bahari temple, illustrating her innovative approach to rulership. Unveiling herself as the daughter of the god Amun provided an unassailable divine claim to the throne—a narrative that no Pharaoh before her had dared to use.

The enthralling depiction of Amun, in disguise as Thutmose I, impregnating Queen Ahmose underscores a masterful blend of mythology and politics. This portrayal was meant to project her unbroken divine lineage, essentially asserting that her rule was not merely political but heavenly ordained. By showcasing herself literally as Amun’s progeny, Hatshepsut set a high bar for divine legitimacy.

Complementing the divine birth narrative, Hatshepsut’s coronation scenes portrayed her being crowned by Amun and Atum, thus personifying the gods’ endorsement of her rule. This dual narrative of birth and coronation fortified her status and was revolutionary, influencing subsequent rulers who sought similar divine justifications. These temple engravings not only left a historical mark but also forecasted a legacy of divine rulership in ancient Egypt.

Chapters

• 00:00 - 00:30: Introduction The chapter focuses on significant scenes used by Hatshepsut to assert her legitimacy to the throne, specifically the 'divine birth' and 'coronation' scenes. These scenes are located at her mortuary temple, Djeser-Djeseru, in Deir el-Bahri. While the scenes are distinct, they form a connected narrative, with the coronation scenes following the divine birth scenes, both aimed at reinforcing Hatshepsut's royal status and divine right to rule.
• 00:30 - 02:30: Divine Birth Scene The chapter titled “Divine Birth Scene” describes the divine conception of Hatshepsut. It illustrates that Hatshepsut is physically portrayed as the daughter of the god Amun. The god Amun disguises himself as Hatshepsut's earthly father, Thutmose I, and impregnates her mother, Queen Amos. As a result, Hatshepsut is born from both a human queen and a deity. This remarkable event is illustrated in an image where Amun is depicted, identifiable by the jewel he wears.
• 02:30 - 03:30: Coronation Scene The chapter titled 'Coronation Scene' describes a symbolic ritual involving the god Amon and Queen Amos. Amon, in disguise, performs a ritual impregnation of Queen Amos by pressing an ankh, the Egyptian symbol of life, to her lips. This act results in Queen Amos giving birth to Hatshepsut, who is referred to as the daughter of the god. The chapter highlights the divine legitimization of Hatshepsut's birth and her connection to the gods.

Hatshepsut Divine Birth and Coronation Scenes Transcription

• 00:00 - 00:30 so in this video for hatchips we'll be having a look at a couple of really important uh scenes that hatships uses to legitimize her claim to the throne during this time period and they're called the divine birth and the coronation scenes both of which are located here at dira bari which is hatchet so it's a mortar temple in the middle colonnade which is that middle section there towards the back up on the wall they are separate scenes but they do form an overarching kind of connected narrative so the coronation scenes continue on after the divine birth scenes so the divine birth scenes what they
• 00:30 - 01:00 really demonstrate is hatshepsut being physically the daughter of the god amun and the way that happens is that amun comes down disguised as hatshepsut's father thutmose one and impregnates hatchitsu's mother queen amos so hatshepsut is then physically the daughter of queen amos and the god amon and that's what's represented here in this first image is that actually happening so that is on the right hand side we can tell it's armored because he's wearing that jewel
• 01:00 - 01:30 plumed crown and he's impregnating the queen amos who we can see wearing the vulture headdress by pressing or touching her lips with that uh ankh which is the egyptian symbol of life so almost ah sorry amon comes down in the guise of that most one and impregnates queen amos who they're uh with hatshepsut who there therefore gives birth to uh the god's daughter so hatshepsut is physically the
• 01:30 - 02:00 daughter of the god in the next scene we can see a couple of other gods leading a pregnant queen amos to the birthing room and she's led by heker and knum to give birth so we can see a slight bump it is very hard to see but we can see a slight bump here indicating that queen amos is pregnant in the next scene hatshepsut has been born there are some other scenes which i i
• 02:00 - 02:30 didn't show you but the hatchimal is born and we see hatchet suckling from another god suckling from the goddess hathor in the guise of in her cow form um and this obviously gives strengths gives strength to hatch so these scenes historians argue were used by hatchet to try and show that she has a very close relationship to amon and therefore justify her claim to the throne because she is physically the daughter of amon and these were used by some
• 02:30 - 03:00 later egyptian kings as well to justify their claim to the throne but what's important to remember is these divine birth scenes had never been done before no king had ever done them before hatchet they were a very clear innovation of hers to most likely justify her claim to the throne the next scenes are the coronation scenes and very simple seeing what we have these hatchets are crowned by both armor and another god called atum so the fact that amun is crowning hatchet indicates that it's
• 03:00 - 03:30 his desire and it's his wish that this is what should happen so this is in it's it's in the next sort of register it's in the same area in the middle color now to derail barry but it's another indication that hatshepsut's reign is the will of the god armour so there's a very brief overview of both of those scenes the divine birth and the coronation scenes