
Queen Hatshepsut constructed two Obelisk's around 1464 B.C. They stand 97 feet tall and the top point was originally gilded and decorated with scenes from her coronation.
Verbiage in her red chapel describe construction of the Obelisk's as follows, "His Majesty had two great obelisks erected for his father Amun-Re before the glorious hypostyle hall, cladding them in gold in great quantities" (Seidel & Schulz 340).
Hatshepsut's claim to the title Pharaoh was rather tenuous as she first gained power as regent to her six year old nephew, the only son of Tuthmosis II and Hatshepsut's husband. Tuthmosis II left behind only two legitimate daughters. As the child of Tuthmosis II's concubine, Hatshepsut's six year old nephew (Tuthmosis III) also had a tenuous claim to the throne.
Hatshepsut claimed that her father, Tuthmosis I had always meant for her to be Pharaoh. To this end, she created the story that she was the direct off spring of Amen-Re, thus clearing her for position of Pharaoh. She used the masculine term in self reference, dressed as a man and was depicted in the masculine form and without breasts. Hatshepsut surrounded herself with intelligent and highly capable advisers and maintained her rule for twenty years. One wonders if a couple thousand years later, Queen Elizabeth I of England was an admirer of this Pharaoh...
When her nephew Tuthmosis III gained power he attempted to obliterate all record of his Aunt Hatshepsut by both destroying or covering many of her buildings and images. At this time the Obelisks were encased in a stone wall. If you look carefully, you can just make out the fade line in the red granite which marks the top of Tuthmosis's wall (340 Seidel & Schulz, 166 White).
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