Hatshepsut as Manned Sphinx Letter

Hatshepsut as Manned Sphinx

Letter to Zeus

A letter to Zeus from Goddess Hera

A letter to Zeus from Goddess Hera

Oh God of all Gods,

There is nothing alive more agonized than man & #8230;of all that breathe and crawl across the earth. I am writing this letter to convey my feelings and desire that arose when I saw "Hatshepsut as Manned Sphinx." And after witnessing this art work I am feeling that I am not the Goddess as that damn Queen of Ancient Egypt has been depicted in this monument like a Goddess and in such a beautiful and royal way which impresses the viewer so that he/she can feel her alive as a female king with great authority.

Zeus she has the face of her own in this art work while the body of a lioness. I know Hatshepsut ruled New Kingdom of Egypt for almost twenty long years which is quite significant period for a female or even male king to rule in ancient times. Before her rule there were only three women rulers in Egypt and these are Queen Meryt-Neith (first dynasty), Queen Nitocris (sixth dynasty), and Queen Sobeknofru (twelfth dynasty). But the period of their reign was less than three years and left they did not leave any noticeable imagery of their reign. Hatshepsut we the only one who got the honor of ruling for a long period of time and being successful to create her identity as a famous female king in the ancient times.

Zeus, Look at this snap of her statue and you will be forced to feel that Hatshepsut was a dominant queen and she took decision and used her authority like a male king (that has been shown from beard and lion shape in the Sphinx). Hatshepsut was fully aware of her status and she employed it in her life and decisions. In Manned Sphinx she has been depicted and represented as displaying physically as male form decorated with canonical male king accessories.

Hatshepsut as a Manned Sphinx represents her as a dual gender with the face of her own and male accessories (beard) as well as body of lion. In this portrait Hatshepsut represented her alone which symbolizes that she does not need any partner to continue or share her rule. She also used different aspects of androgyny by including both genders while establishing her imagery and thus she was able to convey to her subjects to change their formal beliefs of male kinship. It seems that the purpose of queen was to make her acceptable for her subject as a female king.

And this is another photo of the statue; you can see her wearing kingly nemes headdress with royal uraeus that is cobra on the front of the headdress. In her statue you can also see two carved images of the goddess Taweret that point to an association to the Divine birth as the Goddess Taweret was considered the one who protects women while giving birth to child. Why she used this symbol!

While looking at her eyes I feel that she is gazing at me beneath her arched eyebrows. Also her lips are larger than preceding kings and queens. Her chin is small and moves away her nose is short is somewhat curved.

This portrait is much different than the formal standardized image of Kings and Queens of Ancient Egypt. While seeing this statue I can imagine her authority and power because its size and also because of her real personal features predicting as she is in real present and alive in this statue. Another imminent feature of this artwork that I am feeling is that though beard and royal headdress have been used yet the focus of this art work is her femininity. She has been shown wearing a translucent dress that displays shape of her breasts and feminine curves. This was the way the typical queens of ancient Egypt were represented.

As well I can see that she has wore royal headdress that usually a king wears but the uraeus (cobra) is linked with the female individuals, though both kings and queens use it. The uraeus is linked to the sun god. Here I remember and you also know dear Zeus one of our beliefs that God took the eyes from Sun. This uraeus in front of her headdress makes me feel like she is the goddess though it symbolizes her kinship.

Yet I am feeling that her portrayal and imagery is different from the Canonical practice however, I am also feeling that it was essential for creating her female king identity. It also makes me feel that Hatshepsut created her image very carefully and slowly and was able to cultivate her identity because in her images she is portrayed as female king and not as a male king.

And tell me why I have not been depicted and portrayed like this because in the ancient Egypt, such type of portraits were utilized to create an image of authority and dignity of the kings and queens. We everlasting gods . . . Ah what chilling blows we suffer -- thanks to our own conflicting wills -- whenever we show these mortal men some kindness. As education was only allowed for upper elite class and that is why these portraits were used to propagate Kings' status among the general public. These visual representations have been very influential in Egyptian society and this is evident from the huge heritage of monuments in Cairo Egypt. The importance of these visual representations is evident from the way these have been made and reserved to witness all the ages. Hatshepsut's monuments particularly her Manned Sphinx can be located in different areas in Egypt.

The images are vital to construct her identity and promote her power among Egyptians. In the Ancient Egypt woman had significant role in the Kinship and that is why there was a custom of brother and sister marriages in royal families to limit the royal line within family. From this piece of art there seems that Hatshepsut was an iconographic male king having female captions and promoted herself as a female king as a substitute of queen or male king. Hatshepsut seems to be dealing with the challenge of creating female king identity. Through her authority and ruling she was successful in making women rulers acceptable for the Egyptians.