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Hello from Wonder Media Network.

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I'm Jenny Kaplin and this is Encyclopedia

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Wamanica. Today's leader.

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Was one of the few female pharaohs

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in each in Egypt and one of its

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most successful pharaohs overall. Ruling

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for over twenty years, she led

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Egypt through a period of prosperity, completed

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ambitious building projects, and increased

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trade with surrounding lands.

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She sometimes called the first great woman

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of history. Let's talk

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about hut Shepsik. Hutschepsot

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was born in around fifteen oh seven

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BC to the eighteenth

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Dynasty Egyptian king Tutmosa

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the First and his primary wife.

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Very little was known about her early childhood.

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Around the age of twelve, Hutschepsot

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was married to her half brother, Tutmosa

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the Second, who was a younger son of

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hut Shepsot's father and his secondary

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wife. Tutmos of the Second

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had three older brothers, so

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he wasn't originally next in line for the

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throne, but each of his older brothers

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died before coming of age. As

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the eldest living son of Tutmosa the First,

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Tutmos of the Second, ascended to the throne

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around fourteen ninety two BC. Hat

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Shepsit became his primary wife and

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queen. She gave birth to a daughter,

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but never had a son to inherit the throne.

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When Tutmos of the Second died around

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fourteen seventy nine b CE,

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his eldest son, Tutmos of the third,

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was named King. Tutmos of

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the third was the eldest son of a lower

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Harem queen and was only

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an infant when he took power. As

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such, hat Shepsit acted as

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regent for the baby. This was a

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fairly common arrangement at the time, but

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by Tutmos of the third seventh year in power,

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hat Shepsit herself had been crowned king

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and was given the full titles and regalia

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of a traditional pharaoh. Technically,

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she co ruled with the young Tutmos of the

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third, but there was no question about

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who the primary ruler really was. It's

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unclear exactly how hutsheps It

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gained that level of power and how

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she convinced the Egyptian elite to accept a

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female pharaoh. It's generally

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thought that she spent years promoting loyal

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officials into major positions of power,

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and they in turn supported her bid for the

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throne. During hutshps

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Its reign, Egypt enjoyed a period

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of peace with its neighbors.

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She went on a short, successful military

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campaign in Nubia when she first came to power.

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After that, her government's foreign

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policy was almost entirely focused

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on trade. Scenes on the walls

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of Hutshepsut's dare al Bahari Temple

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showed trade expeditions and imports of valuables

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like gold, animal furs, ebony,

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and spices. As part

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of their duties, Egyptian pharaohs were

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expected to take on major building projects

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and restore the buildings of former pharaohs

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that had gone into disrepair. In

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this regard, Hutshepsu didn't

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buck the norm. She took on

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a massive building program that included

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a temple to the god a Monree and

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Thieves, a full remodeling

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of her father's hall, and the addition

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of her own shrine at the Great Karnak Temple

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complex, and a beautiful temple

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cut out of rock at Benny Hassan, among

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others. Hutshepsu's

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greatest building achievement of all was

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the Daira al Bahari Temple. It

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was meant to serve as a living memorial and

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temple that would continue to be used by her subjects

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after her death. For her actual

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burial spot, Hutschepsit added

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on to her father's tomb in the Valley of

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the Kings so she could be buried next

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to him. As

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Hutschepsu got older, she gave

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her co ruler Tutmos of the Third, more

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power and a larger role in state

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government. After Hutchetsu

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died around fourteen fifty eight BC, tutmost

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of the Third ruled alone for more than thirty

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years. During

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his rule, he i to remove all

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traces of hut sheeps Its existence. He

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removed statues of her, and even wiped

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her name off the official list of Egyptian

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kings. Modern

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scholars originally thought that this must have

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been an act of revenge, but it's

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now believed that it probably had more to do

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with cleaning up the line of succession. It's

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worth noting that other pharaohs did similar

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things to their predecessors, including

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scrubbing building inscriptions and claiming

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the buildings as their own. Because

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of this campaign of erasure, hutsheps

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It became essentially unknown to history

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until eighteen twenty two, when

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the new found ability to understand hieroglyphics

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finally allowed archaeologists and scholars

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to read the descriptions at her temple and

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rediscover this incredible pharaoh.

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Tune in tomorrow for the story of another

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leader. This

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week of Encyclopedia Wamanica is

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brought to you by the Great Course Plus.

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To learn more about hot cheps It, I

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highly recommend checking out the Great Courses

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Egypt. You'll

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learn more about the glamour period of each

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in Egypt and about what was behind

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hot scheps At getting erased from the record. If

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the Great Coursesplus dot com Slash

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Encyclopedia. That's the

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Great Coursesplus dot Com Slash

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Encyclopedia special

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thanks to Liz Kaplan, my favorite sister and

5:47

co creator. Talk to

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you tomorrow two