Divine Birth and Coronation Inscriptions of Hatshepsut

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Birth of Queen Hatshepsut

Utterance of Amon-Re, lord of Thebes, presider over Karnak. He made his form like the majesty of this husband, the King Okheperkere (Thutmose I). He found her as she slept in the beauty of her palace. She waked at the fragrance of the god, which she smelled in the presence of his majesty. He went to her immediately, coivit cum ea, he imposed his desire upon her, he caused that she should see him in his form of a god. When he came before her, she rejoiced at the sight of his beauty, his love passed into her limbs, which the fragrance of the god flooded; all his odors were from Punt.

Utterance by the king’s-wife and king’s-mother Ahmose, in the presence of the majesty of this august god, Amon, Lord of Thebes: “How great is thy fame. It is splendid to see thy front; thou hast united my majesty with thy favors, thy dew is in all my limbs.” After this, the majesty of this god did all that he desired with her.

Utterance of Amon, Lord of the Two Lands, before her: “Khnemet-Amon-Hatshepsut shall be the name of this my daughter, whom I have placed in thy body, this saying which comes out of thy mouth. She shall exercise the excellent kingship in this whole land. My soul is hers, my [bounty] is hers, my crown [is hers,] that she may rule the Two Lands, that she may lead all the living———.”

Utterance of Amon, presider over Karnak: “Go, to make her, together with her ka, from these limbs which are in me; go, to fashion her better than all gods; [shape for me,] this my daughter, whom I have begotten. I have given to her all life and satisfaction, all stability, all joy of heart from me, all offerings, and all bread, like Re, forever.”

[Reply of Khnum:]

“I will form this [thy] daughter [Makere] (Hatshepsut), for life, prosperity and health; for offerings———for love of the beautiful mistress. Her form shall be more exalted than the gods, in her great dignity of King of Upper and Lower Egypt.”

Utterance of Khnum, the potter, lord of Hirur (Hr-wr): “I have formed thee of these limbs of Amon, presider over Karnak. I have come to thee to fashion thee better than all gods. I have given to thee all life and satisfaction, all stability, all joy of heart with me; I have given to thee all health, all lands; I have given to thee all countries, all people; I have given to thee all offerings, all food; I have given to thee to appear upon the throne of Horus like Re, forever;  I have given to thee to be before the ka’s of all the living, while thou shinest as King of Upper and Lower Egypt, of South and North, according as thy father who loves thee has commanded.” …

Utterance of [Amon] … ———to see his daughter, his beloved, the king, Makere (Hatshepsut), living, after she was born, while his heart was exceedingly happy.

Utterance of [Amon to] his bodily daughter [Hatshepsut]: “Glorious part which has come forth from me; king, taking the Two Lands, upon the Horus-throne forever.” …

Coronation of Queen Hatshepsut

Utterance of Amon-Re, lord of [heaven to] the gods: “Behold ye, my daughter [Hatshepsut] living; be ye loving toward her, and be ye satisfied with her.”

He shows her to all the gods of South and North, who come to look upon her, [doing obeisance before her].

Utterance of all the gods, [to] Amon-[Re]: “This thy daughter [Hatshepsut], who liveth, we are satisfied with her in life and peace. She is now thy daughter of thy form, whom thou hast begotten, prepared. Thou hast given to her thy soul, thy [—], thy [bounty], the magic powers of the diadem. While she was in the body of her that bare her, the lands were hers, the countries were hers; all that the heavens cover, all that the sea encircles. Thou hast now done this with her, for thou knowest the two aeons. Thou hast given to her the share of Horus in life, the years of Set in satisfaction. We have given to her.…”

Her majesty saw all this thing herself, which she told to the people, who heard, falling down for terror among them. Her majesty grew beyond everything; to look upon her was more beautiful than anything; her [—] was like a god, her form was like a god, she did everything as a god, her splendor was like a god; her majesty was a maiden, beautiful, blooming, Buto in her time. She made her divine form to flourish, a [favor of] him that fashioned her.

Her majesty journeyed to the North country after her father, the King of Upper and Lower Egypt, Okheperkere, who liveth forever. There came her mother, Hathor, patroness of Thebes; Buto, mistress of Dep; Amon, lord of Thebes; Atum, lord of Heliopolis; Montu, lord of Thebes; Khnum, lord of the Cataract; all the gods that are in Thebes, all the gods of the South and North, and approached her. They traversed for her, pleasant ways, (they) came, and they brought all life and satisfaction with them, they exerted their protection behind her; one proceeded after another of them, they passed on behind her every day.

They said, “Welcome, daughter of Amon-Re; thou hast seen thy administration in the land, thou shall set in order, thou shalt restore that which has gone to its ruin, thou shalt make thy monuments in this house, thou shalt victual the offering-tables of him who begat thee, thou shalt pass through the land and thou shalt embrace many countries. Thou shalt strike among the Tehenu, thou shalt smite with the mace the Troglodytes; thou shalt cut off the beads of the soldiers, thou shalt seize the chiefs of Retenu, bearing the sword, the survivals of thy father. Thy tribute is myriads of men, the captives of thy valor; thy [reward] is thousands of men for the temples of the [Two Lands]. Thou givest offerings in Thebes, the steps of the king, Amon-Re, lord of Thebes. The gods have [endowed] thee with years, they [present] thee with life and satisfaction, they praise thee, for their heart hath given understanding to the egg which [they] have fashioned. They shall set thy boundary as far as the breadth of heaven, as far as the limits of the twelfth hour of the night; the Two Lands shall be filled with children—, thy numerous children are (as) the number of thy grain, [which] thou [—] in the hearts of thy people; it is the daughter of the bull of his mother—beloved.” …

[Inscriptions:] Presented to thee is this red crown, which is upon the head of Re; thou shalt wear the double crown, and thou shalt take the Two Lands by this its name.

Presented to thee is this white crown, mighty upon thy head; thou shalt take the lands by its diadem, by this its name.…

[Inscriptions (Words of Thoth):] “Thou hast set these thy diadems [upon thy head].”…

[Inscriptions:]

There saw her the majesty of her father, this Horus; how divine is her great fashioner. Her heart is glad, (for) great is her crown; she advocates her cause [in] truth, [exalter] of her royal dignity, and of that which her ka does. The living were set before her in his palace of [—]. Said his majesty to her: “Come, glorious one; I have placed (thee) before me; that thou mayest see thy administration in the palace, and the excellent deeds of thy ka’s that thou mayest assume thy royal dignity, glorious in thy magic, mighty in thy strength. Thou shalt be powerful in the Two Lands; thou shalt seize the rebellious; thou shall appear in the palace, thy forehead shall be adorned with the double diadem, resting upon the head of the heiress of Horus, whom I begat, daughter of the white crown, beloved of Buto. The diadems are given to thee by him who presides over the thrones of the gods.”

My majesty caused that there be brought to him the dignitaries of the king, the nobles, the companions, the officers of the court, and the chief of the people, that they may do homage, to set the majesty of the daughter of this Horus before him in his palace of [—]. There was a sitting of the king himself, in the audience-hall of the right of the [court], while these people prostrated themselves in the court.

Said his majesty before them: “This my daughter, Khnemet-Amon, Hatshepsut, who liveth, I have appointed [her]—; she is my successor upon my throne, she it assuredly is who shall sit upon my wonderful seat. She shall command the people in every place of the palace; she it is who shall lead you; ye shall proclaim her word, ye shall be united at her command. He who shall do her homage shall live, be who shall speak evil in blasphemy of her majesty shall die. Whosoever proclaims with unanimity the name of her majesty, shall enter immediately into the royal chamber, just as it was done by the name of this Horus.… For thou art divine, O daughter of a god, for whom even the gods fight; behind whom they exert their protection every day according to the command of her father, the lord of the gods.”

The dignitaries of the king, the nobles and the chief of the people hear this command for the advancement of the dignity of his daughter, the king of Upper and Lower Egypt, Makere … living forever. They kissed the earth at his feet, when the royal word fell among them; they praised all the gods for the King of Upper and Lower Egypt, Okheperkere … , living forever. They went forth, their mouths rejoiced, they published his proclamation [to] them. All the people of all the dwellings of the court heard; they came, their mouths rejoicing, they proclaimed (it) beyond everything, dwelling on dwelling therein was announcing (it) in his name; soldiers on soldiers [—], they leaped and they danced for the double joy of their hearts. They [proclaimed], they [proclaimed] the name of her majesty as king; while her majesty was a youth, while the great god was [turning] their hearts to his daughter, Makere …, living forever, when they recognized that it was the fa[ther] of the divine daughter, and thus they were excellent in her great soul beyond everything. As for any man who shall love her in his heart, and shall do her homage every day, he shall shine, and he shall flourish exceedingly; [but] as for any man who shall speak against the name of her majesty, the god shall determine his death immediately, even by the gods who exercise protection behind her every day. The majesty of this her father hath published this, all the people have united upon the name of this his daughter for king. While her majesty was a youth, the heart of his majesty inclined to [her] exceedingly.

His majesty commanded that the ritual priests be brought to [proclaim] her great names that belonged to the assumption of the dignities of Her royal crown and for insertion in (every) work and every seal of the Favorite of the Two Goddesses, who makes the circuit north of the wall, who clothes all the gods of the Favorite of the Two Goddesses. He has recognized the auspiciousness of the coronation on New Year’s Day as the beginning of the peaceful years and of the spending of myriads (of years) of very many jubilees. They proclaimed her royal names, for the god caused that it should be in their hearts to make her names according to the form with which he had made them before:

Her great name, Horus: [Woaretkew], forever;

Her great name, Favorite of the Two Goddesses: “Fresh in Years,” good goddess, mistress of offering;

Her great name, Golden Horus: “Divine of diadems”;

Her great name of King of Upper and Lower Egypt: “Makere, who liveth forever.”

It is her real name which the god made beforehand.

[Horus says:] “Thou hast established thy dignity as king, and appeared upon the Horus-throne.”