Ancient Egyptian history: The Speos Artemidos inscription by Hatshepsut mentioning the Hyksos

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Hatshepsut's Inscription on the Hyksos

Hear ye, all people and folk as many as they may be, I have done these things through the counsel of my heart. I have not slept forgetfully, (but) I have restored that which had been ruined. I have raised up that which had gone to pieces formerly, since the Asiatics were in the midst of Avaris of the Northland, and vagabonds were in the midst of them, overthrowing that which had been made.
From the Speos Artemidos Inscription
Pritchard, James B. ed. Ancient Near Eastern Texts, Princeton, 1969, p. 231.

This self-justification by the Queen pharaoh Hatshepsut links her with the expulsion of the Hyksos rulers and promotes her as a restorer of Egyptian cult and society to the lands of Middle Egypt, a territory under dispute between the last Hyksos kings and the Egyptian monarchs in Thebes.

Pakhet, Hatshepsut, Amen
Speos Artemidos, Beni Hassan

It is doubtful whether Hatshepsut did much real "raising up that which had gone to pieces" during the rule of the Hyksos, but like a number of pharaohs [1], some of whom may have had legitimacy issues, she wanted to be remembered as an upholder of justice and restorer of order - a defender of maat.

[1] For instance Tutankhamen in his Restoration stela.

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Updated: April 2004