Wednesday 2 June 2010

Why Hatshepsut? Why is she so special?

The decision to look at Hatshepsut was very easy for me to make.

I was married in 2008 to Julie and we decided to go to Egypt on a cruise- to start off our married life in style. We decided on a 7 day cruise, to cut a long story short- it was fantastic.

Our excursions included, among others, trips to:

  • Deir El Bahri
  • Valley of the Kings
  • Karnak

I had already been interested in Egypt for around 2 years by then, so i knew a bit (not much, but a bit). I took a pad-and-pen everywhere we went and my wife was in control of the camera. I wrote and pointed excitedly at many things and Julie clicked away until it was time to leave.

When we got home i decided to study all our photos so that i would one day know all the inscriptions, locations, gods, etc,etc on these photos. I could then use this information in some way to share my knowledge. The photo project is ongoing......

After 18 months or so, the Deir el Bahri photos and the broken obelisk photos are the ones that stand out the most. My first ever inscription translation was "beloved of Hathor, Chief of Thebes" on a stone pillar in the Hathor Temple at Deir el Bahari. I must add that i was generously helped by someone on GLYPHDOCTORS. Edmund Meltzer is his name and i hope he doesn't mind me acknowledging his help here.

When we discussed our honeymoon- my wife and I named Deir el Bahri as one of the most memorable of the sites we visited. I have since tried to find out as much as i can about Hatshepsut - The Female Pharaoh.

I now have too much to keep to myself, so i have to share it and I hope this blog (my first, so no miracles to be expected here) will help others in their pursuit of knowledge about this great Pharaoh.

Regards,
Stuart

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