Valley (of the Kings) Girl

Interesting news out of Egypt this week. Archaeologists from that august institution, The Discovery Channel, have found the long-lost mummy of Queen Hatshepsut, one of the few female Pharoahs. It is particularly interesting, because one of the the finest buildings of antiquity is her mortuary temple Djeser-Djeseru at Deir el-Bahri (seen to the right, photo courtesy Wikipedia), where her body isn't buried.

I'm a sucker for the old tales of Howard Carter stumbling into the tomb of Tutankhamen, and the misdirection angle makes this even more intriguing. There is evidence that Hatshepsut's stepson, Thutmose III, attempted to destroy all records of her, including removing statues from her temple, deleting her from official histories, even chipping her images out of hieroglyphics. Blended families are challenging, even when you are a God-King.

Regardless, it is a fascinating discovery. And the location the mummy was found may shed some evidence on the presumed actions of Thutmose III. It also gives me an excuse to put up a picture of Djeser-Djeseru, one of my favorite buildings. A grand stepped series of colonnades, set into the side of a stark sandstone cliff. Very cool.