Queen Hatshpesut

by BugBug Milliken

Queen Hatshpesut has long been one of my favorite women in history. Not only was she beautiful, but she was intelligent and powerful. Queen Hatshepsut lived in Ancient Egypt from about 1504 to 1458 BC. She was a ruler during the 18th dynasty. She was the daughter of King Thutmose I and Queen Ahmose, and while she was neither the first nor the last woman to rule Egypt in ancient times, she was perhaps one of the most special. She actually ruled as the Pharoah, not merely as a regent. She was a strong and powerful woman, who had many accomplishments in her life. She sent an expedition to Punt, a wealthy region in the ancient world (possibly Somalia today, where she opened up trade and brought back many wonderful things to Egypt, such as ivory, gold, incense and tropical trees. She also had cut two granite obelisks in Aswan, which she had erected at the great temple in Karnak. Perhaps her greatest achievement was the building of her beautiful temple, Deir el-Bahri. I cannot prove positively that Queen Hatshepsut had a pet cat as no record of such a relationship is shown on the walls of her temple. But I can say that I am over 90% sure that she must have had at least one special cat in her life, just from circumstancial evidence. Cats were considered demi-gods demi-gods in Egypt, and were also considered to be the property of the Pharoah. Certainly, every household had its cat, and the cat was worshipped and revered. It was actually illegal and punishable by death to kill a cat in ancient Egypt. Cats were worshipped, and the great Cat Godess, Bastet, is often shown with a woman’s body. The ancient Egyptians loved their cats, worshipped them, and held them in reverence. Cats were dearly loved family members. From this, I surmise that Queen Hatshepsut must have had at least one special cat in her life that she considered to be a pet.