What if the statues of the famous Queen Hatchepsout had not been destroyed by hatred, but to deprive them … of their power? This amazing hypothesis is now supported by a study which returns to one of the most fascinating figures in ancient Egypt. Known for having reigned from 1473 to 1458 BC, Hatchepsout has long been perceived as a pharaoh erased from history by her successor. But according to the author of the study Jun Yi Wong, doctoral student in Egyptology at the University of Toronto, some of his statues would have been “Ritually disabled” Rather than just vandalized.
Excavations made in the 1920s and 1930s in Deir El-Bahari, where the temple she built, had revealed fragments of statues buried in pits. These vestiges were so far interpreted as the traces of a revenge orchestrated by Thoutmôsis III, its stepson and Corégent, indicates the live science media. Nevertheless, Jun Yi Wong analyzed the archives and underlines a key detail: the statues were not shattered on the face and their inscriptions were not erased.
Published in the Revue Antiquity, the study is based on known methods of ritual deactivation. The royal statues were seen as powerful entities, sometimes even alive, that it was necessary to neutralize after the death of the sovereign. For this, they were broken in the neck, the waist and the feet. Jun Yi Wong adds: “Disabled statues deposits have been found on multiple sites in Egypt and Sudan”especially in the famous Karnak hiding place, where hundreds of statues disabled have been found.
The case of Hatchepsout therefore seems to be part of a widespread ritual practice and not in a singular erasure effort motivated by its genre. This does not exclude that it was also the target of a campaign of persecution. “We know that this persecution campaign was initiated by Thoutmôsis III”recognizes Jun Yi Wong, recalling that his images and names have been systematically erased on many monuments across Egypt.
Political motivations
The personal scope of these attacks remains nuanced. Although some statues have been ritually disabled, others have clearly suffered more exaggerated violence. This disparity suggests, according to the doctoral student, that Thoutmôsis III could have acted under political pressure rather than by pure family resentment. He evokes the possibility that his supporters have perceived the reign of Hatchepsout as a threat to his inheritance as a pharaoh.
This rereading also calls into question a tenacious idea. “The first Egyptologists assumed that Thoutmôsis III was to feed an intense hatred towards Hatchepsout, but that is unlikely”says Jun Yi Wong. Instead of a vendetta, the treatment of statues would reflect a ritual and pragmatic will, dictated by the political context and not by a personal enmity.
This distinction between ritual destruction and ideological persecution sheds new light on the dynastic tensions of ancient Egypt. The statues were considered mystical instruments, to be deactivated with method. As if, centuries after their reign, the pharaohs continued to exert a form of influence that only the codified destruction could contain.
While the figure of Hatchepsout has returned to a central place in historical memory for several decades, these discoveries recall how the symbols of power in ancient Egypt were thought beyond the simple tribute.
