Why is Hatshepsut remembered today?

Answer 1

Hatshepsut was a well known female pharaoh of Egypt.

She started out as regent for Thutmosis the III, but that wasn't enough. When he finally took over he did his best to wipe all mention of her name from the Egyptian landscape. Her beautiful temple at Deir el-Bahri was defaced but still exists as a significant example of ancient Egyptian architecture.

Obliterating her name had a magical significance to the ancient Egyptians. The existence and repetition of the Name kept one alive in the afterlife, removal by an enemy was an attack on the person in the afterlife.

Answer 2

In terms of trade, Hatshepsut was not blind to the need of bolstering Egypt's economy' and indeed, the Punt expedition is but the climax of her consistent trading enterprises with Lebanon, Crete, Syria, West Africa, South Africa, Aswan and the reopening of mines in Mt. Sinai. Hatshepsut's legacy is also extant in the enduring architectural innovations she incorporated into her building program. The design of Djeser-Djeseru is a prime example; although there exist a few doubtful precursors of the terraced template originality of the design cannot be gainsaid.' The thematic structure of the three terraces, from her role as pharaoh, to legitimization of her rule and achievements, to the worship of the deities is indisputably her own invention, as were the ramps linking them, imitating the glory of a sun's ray. Thutmose III modeled his mortuary temple on Hatshepsut's whilst Akhenaten incorporated the design of the ramps into his own buildings. Similarly, the design of Hatshepsut's tomb, with the three successive passageways leading to the burial chamber, her royal sarcophagus, her resting stations for Amun's barque were likewise replicated by her successors. Therefore, Hatshepsut's reign was characterized by a myriad of architectural innovations that became her legacy, to be admiringly integrated into the buildings of the future generations of pharaohs.