Pharaoh Hatshepsut was not persecuted by her nephew Thutmose III, but rather received treatment similar to that of the other kings of Egypt.

Hatshepsut was the second female pharaoh in history, after the short-lived Sobekneferu. Daughter of Thutmose I, she married her half-brother Thutmose II and reigned for 22 long years, assuming all the masculine attributes of her office, except that of "Mighty Bull." She even had herself depicted with a false pharaonic beard.

In the 1920s, excavations at the Deir el-Bahari site in Luxor, Egypt, uncovered numerous fragmented statues of Hatshepsut. This damage has traditionally been considered a violent act of retaliation perpetrated by her nephew and successor, Thutmose III, son of Thutmose II and a secondary wife named Isis.

The 'shattered face' of the famous pharaoh

“While the 'shattered face' of this famous pharaoh has dominated popular perception for years, this image does not reflect the treatment given to her entire statuary group,” says Jun Yi Wong, a researcher at the University of Toronto.

Wong led a study, published Tuesday in the journal Antiquity , in which she re-evaluated the damaged sculptures and analyzed previously unpublished documents to reveal that what actually happened was that Hatshepsut was treated similarly to previous male pharaohs when she died.

The damage to the statues, archaeologists say, is consistent with practices applied to many ancient Egyptian kings upon their deaths, possibly as a ritual “deactivation” of power to build the legend of a new monarch.

“Many of Hatsheptsut's statues have actually survived in relatively good condition, with their faces virtually intact,” notes Jun Yi Wong. Despite political persecution, the ancient Egyptian ruler has achieved iconic status today for her role as a female pharaoh.

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Her iconographic representations of the pharaoh have two important stages. In the first, she is depicted as a female pharaoh with a feminine body and typical pharaoh-like elements such as the nemes headdress, the kilt, the pharaonic goatee, and the uraeus , but always with breasts, a narrow face, and a slight smile.

The second stage, on the other hand, depicts Hatshepsut in a male form, as the role of king could only be played by a man, and women had other roles, such as that of royal wife. This change would have been a way for Hatshepsut to legitimize herself and be accepted as a ruler despite being a woman.

Wong examined field notes, drawings, photographs, and unpublished correspondence from the 1922-1928 excavations, re-evaluating the archaeological evidence to determine the true reason for the destruction of some sculptures. These documents indicate that many of the works suffered damage not caused by Thutmose III.

What happened, researchers say, is that many statues were reused in later periods as building materials and tools, which exacerbated their damage. Furthermore, the few that were damaged during Thutmose's reign were broken in a specific way: at their weak points (the neck, waist, and knees).

This phenomenon is known in Egyptology and is often referred to as "deactivating" statues. This practice seeks to neutralize the inherent power of images and has been applied to figures of various kings throughout pharaonic history. "In other words, this treatment does not necessarily denote hostility toward the individual depicted," explains the University of Toronto expert.

The damage to these statues, therefore, likely occurred as a result of their ritual deactivation and subsequent pragmatic reuse, rather than malicious and iconoclastic destruction. This would indicate that Hatshepsut received similar treatment to her predecessors after her death.

“For a long time, it has been assumed that Hatshepsut's statues suffered a vengeful attack by Thutmose III,” says Wong. “However, a careful re-evaluation of the archives indicates that this is not the case, and that several other agents contributed to the destruction of these objects.”

However, this does not rule out the possibility that at least part of this destruction was intended to damage Hatshepsut's legacy. "Unlike the other rulers, she suffered a program of persecution, and its broader political implications are undeniable," Wong concludes.

Thutmose III's actions may have been motivated by ritual necessity rather than outright antipathy. Curbing the claims of Hatshepsut's powerful family, who might have challenged the new pharaoh's accession to the Egyptian throne, would have been a compelling motive.