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Queen Hatshepsut (1473 - 1458 BC)
Queen Hatshepsut was the daughter of King Thutmose I. When the king died the
throne was inherited by his son. In keeping with traditional Egyptian rule, the new
king married his father's oldest daughter which meant that he married his half
sister, Hatshepsut.
The new king did not live long and after he died his young son (Thutmose III) became
Pharaoh but he was too young to rule so Hatshepsut helped rule the country. After 6
years she decided she had had enough of ruling on behalf of the child and declared
herself to be pharaoh. This was a bold move for the female ruler.
Hatshepsut did not wear traditional female clothing but wore clothes that a male
pharaoh would wear. Some artwork shows the female pharaoh wearing a fake beard.
She called herself King of Egypt.
She traded with other countries and helped make Egypt a rich country. She had many
temples built. One of these magnificent buildings was the temple at Deir el Bahari
(see below).
She vanished mysteriously after 20 years on the throne. Legend had it that her
nephew Thutmose III had her killed as he wanted to be Pharaoh.
Hatshepsut's mummy was not found until 2007 in an undecorated tomb in the Valley
of the Kings. It was identified by matching a tooth with an empty toot socket of the
mummy's skull. It took so long to find the mummy as Thutmose III wanted to hide all
the information about her. After taking the throne he had Hatshepsut's name cut
from the temple walls and tried to erase her name from history.
Thutmose III (1479 - 1425 BC)
The name Thutmose means ‘Thoth is born’. He was 7 when he became Pharaoh but he
was too young to rule so his aunt, Hatshepsut made herself Pharaoh. Legend says
Thutmose III was responsible for the mysterious disappearance of his aunt
Hatshepsut, but he was still a great ruler.
After taking the throne from his aunt he had her name cut from the temple walls and
tried to erase her name from history.
Thutmose was known as a warrior king and never lost a battle. Thutmose III was a
national hero and he was respected throughout Egyptian history. He built many large
buildings.
He built many obelisks (see below). These were later moved to different cities around
the world including New York, Paris and London.
Known as Cleopatra’s’ Needle, London
Akhenaten
Akhenaten was Pharaoh of Egypt from about 1350 to 1334 BC, and husband of
Nefertiti who was known for her beauty.
Akhenaton was the last important ruler of the 18th dynasty.
He did not want Egyptians to worship many gods but one god called Aten. He fought
with the priests to stop them worshipping other gods. He used his army to destroy
the old religion of many gods. He spent too much time destroying the religion and did
not look after the country well.
Akhenaton was originally called Amenhotep but changed his name Akhenaten meaning
"Aten is satisfied". He moved his capital from Thebes to Akhenaten, a new city that
was named after the god.
He ruled for 17 years and was forced to step down as Pharoah. He died soon
afterwards.
Menes
King Menes (sometimes called Narmer) was the first Egyptian pharaoh. He united the
two parts of Egypt lands which were called Upper Egypt and Lower Egypt. Menes
ruled for 62 years.
Menes was also known as Hor-Aha meaning the Hawk King.
Princess Neihotpe.
His chief wife was
Menes also established the famous capital of Memphis. Egypt became a rich place
when Menes was Pharaoh and he traded with many other countries.
The legend tells that when Menes was out hunting one day, his dogs began to attack
him so he fled into the river Nile and rode on a crocodile to escape them. He then
named a town Crocodilopolis.
He was killed by a hippopotamus.
Nefertiti
Nefertiti meant "the beautiful woman has come". She was known as'The Most
Beautiful Woman in the World.'
She was married to consort of Amenhotep who would become known as Akhenaten.
She was queen for 14 years. She had six daughters. One of her daughters married
Tutankhamun and the Pharaoh Ay.
Nefertiti invented her own kind of make up using the Galena Plant.
After Cleopatra, she is the most famous Egyptian woman.
Nefertiti had 4 different names - Nefertiti, Smenkhkara, Nefernefruaten, and
Ankhkheprura Nefernefruaten
Nefertiti and her husband decided to abaondon all the gods and worshipped the god
of Aten.
Rameses II
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Birth: 1303 BC
Death: around 1213 BC (90 years old)
Wife: Nefertari
Reign: 66 years and 2 months
Ramses II was one of the most powerful pharaohs of Egypt. He is known as Ramses
the Great.
King Ramses II took the throne of Egypt in his early twenties and ruled for 66 years
until his death. He was one of the longest ruling pharaohs of ancient Egypt. It is said
that Ramesses lived for over 80 years. The average person lived to about 40 so he
must have seemed like a god. Ramses was well known as a builder and a warrior. He
had over a dozen wives and more than 100 children. Some stories say he had 111 sons
and 51 daughters.
Others recognize his name because he ordered the construction of the temple of Abu
Simbel, the huge temple that is 180 feet long, 90 feet high, and decorated with four
60 foot high statues of Rameses II.
Abu Simbel
Cleopatra VII
Seven Egyptian queens were known as Cleopatra, but the most famous was the last;
Cleopatra VII. Cleopatra was also known as Cleopatra VII Thea Philopator. She was
about 17 years old when she became queen. She was born in 69 BC and lived for 69
years.
Cleopatra and her family were not Egyptian, but from Greece, descended through a
general of Alexander the Great. Cleopatra was the first ruler of her family who could
speak the Egyptian language.
She had 3 husbands - Ptolemy XIII, Julius Caesar and Mark Antony.
In keeping with ancient Egyptian tradition, Queen Cleopatra of Egypt married her
then 12 year old brother. She then went on to have one son with Julias Ceasar who
reigned with her. When she married Mark Antony they had twins then a son.
She was queen for 51 years. She was the last Queen of Egypt and the last pharaoh.
Following her death, and after the Ancient Egyptian civilisation had spanned over
3000 years, Egypt became a Roman province.
She was a clever, ambitious and determined woman who was also known for her
beauty. The famous death of Cleopatra was from the snakebite of an asp.
King Khufu
King Khufu ordered the building of the Great Pyramid of Giza over the 26 years he
was pharaoh. He was known as a cruel pharaoh as he worked the Egyptians hard to
make the great pyramid. But he was a good leader as he could organise so many men.
He is known to have had at least three wives and 9 sons and 15 daughters.
The pyramid was built for his journey to the afterlife. His mummified corpse has
never been found.
The pyramid took 23 years to build. Khufu managed to do what no other pharaoh
could do and that is to build a temple and pyramid larger than any other in Egypt.
The pyramid lies just outside the city limits of Cairo. It is 145 metres high.