Book of the Forgotten: the Bearded Queen

Chapter 13

From the Journal of Ava Jane Dumoulin

Hatshepsut was the pharaoh of Egypt for twenty years. She accomplished many things throughout her reign that helped Egypt flourish and prosper for many more years after her reign.

Hatshepsut was mainly known for two things: trade routes and buildings. She re-established trade routes to multiple neighbouring kingdoms and brought prosperity to her kingdom. She also organized a major expedition into the Land of Punt, a neighbouring kingdom from which travelers brought back many treasures, some of which were frankincense, and myrrh trees. From the frankincense resin, she invented kohl eyeliner (not entirely essential to her kingdom, but a pretty cool accomplishment anyway)! Little is known of the Land of Punt, but Hatshepsut had the expedition carved in relief, so historians now have an image of the Queens of Punt, Ati.

Hatshepsut was also the most productive builder in Egyptian history. She is responsible for commissioning hundreds of construction projects, and her buildings were grander and more numerous than those of any of her predecessors (that means kings who ruled before her). She built temples, obelisks (a very tall four-sided column; the tallest in the world at the time), a mortuary temple, and statues (so many that almost every major museum in the world has a statue constructed by Hatshepsut).

Even though Hatshepsut was so powerful, her stepson erased her existence and her accomplishments from history for a really long time (we think. It might have been her stepson's son who erased her memory). When historians found her name upon the walls of a temple, they couldn't figure out who she was. They searched for decades before uncovering more carvings about her and finally discovering who she was and what she did.

Ava J. Dumoulin