Before the Throne

16

HORUS HERALDED, “Queen Hatshepsut!”

A full-figured woman of medium height came in. She walked in her winding sheet until she stood before the throne.

Thoth, Recorder of the Divine Court, read aloud, “Her reign passed in peace and prosperity. She erected the temple of Deir al-Bahari, and restored intercourse with the Land of Punt, whence she procured myrrh trees and their seedlings for the temple’s grounds. Tribute rained down on her as she spread wealth everywhere, contenting the people.”

Osiris asked her to speak.

“I was the only one worthy of the throne,” Queen Hatsheput replied. “I was the last who remained in the line of Queen Ahmose and the divine royal blood, in contrast to my brother, Thutmose II, son of a morganatic wife named Mutnofret, and to my brother Thutmose III, whose mother was the concubine called Isis. Out of respect for an antiquated custom that rejects women’s rule, I was forced to marry Thutmose III, who served as a priest in the Temple of Amun, and who — with the aid of the priests of that cult — never ceased scheming to put himself on the throne. Then the kingdom was wrenched from us as my brother Thutmose II took power with the support of his own party. When he died, rule returned to me, along with my brother Thutmose III. I imposed a wall of surveillance around him, to put an end to his machinations — and he crawled away into the shadows like a thing of no value. Meanwhile, I was helped by men such as Senenmut, Senmen, and Hapuseneb, who are considered among the greatest Egypt has known. I bestowed upon the masses a golden age of affluence and tranquility, until they came to believe that women are indeed capable of rule.”

“In our time, which you have dismissed as an age of darkness, reigned two awesome queens,” boasted Abnum.

“Why didn’t you bolster your rule by sharing the throne with your brother?” wise Imhotep asked her.

“He was not, like me, of the sun god’s lineage,” she rejoined. “His interest was in weaving intrigues, and I had to be on guard from him. I was advised to have him murdered, but I detested treachery and the spilling of blood.”

“Should it be understood from what you have said that the marital relations between you were merely official?” probed the Sage Ptahhotep.

“Yes,” said Hatshepsut.

“Did you spend your life as a virgin?” he continued.

“You have no right to pose such a question, and the queen is free to disregard it,” snapped Osiris.

Isis stepped in, “A daughter that would make any mother proud, and in need of no defense.”

Osiris then directed, “Onto your seat among the Immortals.”