The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-12-22
QUEEN RArAsU,s CAREER,
Prof. Nayinc's Account Of the man VII.
Ruled An Egypt.

from me ltbeHuuW,
Prof. Naville traces the life and monumsr,-
Of the only woman who in the course OF = ooo
years ever ruled over unit ed Egypt. uatasu
Hatshepsut or H~atshopsitl. as the vageres
of Egyptian reconsideration have cuuscd bpr
to be successfully called. was the daucbtar
of Thothmes |. and Queen Aahmes. "A -hs
was OF royal blood on both sides, she had
claims to the throne superior to those or L,r
half-brother. also called Thothmes and as sbs
must have early shown a capacity for SOW.
ereignty. she was during her fathers lfeim.
associated with him on the throne and brought
up with the masculine name Of ka-ma-ra.
or. as M. Maspero prefers TO read IT. Maker.
Yet the Egyptians evidently did not take
kindly to the idea of a female sovereign, and
Hatasu found it. expedient-as NJ. NayllI.
thinks. while her father was alive-to marry
her half brother. who later reigned With her
as her consort unde the title of Thothmps II.
On her husbands death. which, according
TO M. Nsville. occurred about the third year
Of his reign. Hatasu usurped the throne.
though acknowledging the right OF her
nephew to succeed her husband. For soma
twenty years she thus reigned. calling her
self King and not Queen Of Egypt, as she had
lone during her husbands lifetime. Yet shs
associated her nephew with her on the throne.
as her father had done with herself; and when
she died he succeeded her and became III.
greatest ~onuusror that Egypt ever produced.
M Naville thinks that the rela tons Of the
aunt and the nephew were better than Ia gen.
orally supposed. and points out that the whole
sale erasure OF Hatasu's name from the monu-
ments did not take place until the close ~
the conqueror's sole reign But all the fact,
that can be verified about Hatasu are az hers
stated. and the recent ATTEMPT Of the Berlin
School TO establish a series Of dethronement,
and restorations. In the course Of which
Thothmes III. married his aunt and Thothme,
Ii. allied himself with his still living father
and cast the pair OF the throne. has been
entirely knocked on re head by Nj. Legrsln's
sho wing Thothmes ii, as King, with hdtdsu.
behind him.
In other matters, too, NJ. Naville, without
ira yelling out of the record OF ascertdluei
facts, gives us much needed Information ne
points out that Egypt at Hatasu's accession
was. still suffering from the waste anu rum
OF the Hyksos Invasion. ana that II was prob-
ably due to her wise ana peaceful RUE thdI
Ihothmes Ill; found the lana auIe to support
the drain of blood aud treasure imposed Dy
his own Napoleonic policy. That she through
out strove with success to establish CONNER
clai relations with neighboring nations 10
shown Dy her famous expedition TO Punt, ana
VI. Naville explains that much OF the treasure
which Egyptian kings were in the habit OF
displaying on their monuments a. Tribute
really consisted OF foreign goods obtained
by purchase or barter.
He is also very instructive on the cere-
monies attaching TO Egyptian royalty. aud
shows from many examples taken from
Hatasus monuments that the royal Ia. or
double. was worshipped during the life OF ls
wins counterpart, and that the many cor
onation scenes where the Pharaoh is depicted
as being crowned. baptized and installed on
different thrones by various animal headed
gods represent ceremonies that were actu-
ally performed, the parts Of the deltpes being
nlled by. masked priests. It is curious also
TO note that the cutting out of a former Kings
name from public Monuments practice
which, has descended TO modern times-was
thought, really TO lead to his humiliation In
the under world, and that the fashion OF
walking backward in the presence of royalty
seems to be also derived from the ways OF
the priests in the sanctuary where the royal
image was set up. In all these matter NJ,
Naville's long study of the temples that he
has for many years successfully excavated al
DER el Bahari makes his conclusions espe.
cially valuable.