This temple was built for the 18th dynasty Pharaoh Hatshepsut, the longest reigning female pharaoh, regarded by historians as one of the most successful leaders of Ancient Egypt and as the “first great woman in history“.
The sanctuary is a mortuary, or memorial, temple, constructed in honor of the pharaoh under which it was built. Despite being around 3500 years old, its long colonnaded terrace almost looks like contemporary architecture, and the elegant symmetry contrasts strikingly with the rugged cliff face that looms above it.
Temple of Hatshepsut is located opposite Luxor, on the west bank of the Nile, famous as the site of thousands of years of royal burials during Ancient Egypt.
The temple was vandalised by Haptshepsut’s stepson Tuthmosis III and the early Christians, amongst others. Many of the artifacts and reliefs at the funerary temple of Hatshepsut, the most successful female pharaoh of ancient Egypt were destroyed, after the queen’s death, by her successor, Thutmose III, in attempts to obliterate her memory.
