You turn people back to dust, saying, "Return to dust, you mortals." – Psalm 90:3

Today's Scripture Reading (January 31, 2025): Psalm 90

Hatshepsut was the eldest daughter of the Pharaoh Thutmose I. However, life moves fast and sometimes unexpectedly. When Thutmose I died, he had reigned about twelve years. I am unsure if his death was expected, but at this moment, his son, Thutmose II, came to power. Thutmose II was the half-brother of Hatshepsut, and in what is probably a surprising fact for those living in our contemporary world, Thutmose II married his half-sister when both were only about fourteen or fifteen.  

It was a different world. Part of Thutmose II's problem was that he was the son of a minor wife of Thutmose I, while Hatshepsut was the daughter of Thutmose's Great Royal Wife. What that meant was that, other than the fact that Hatshepsut was female, her credentials for the throne were more substantial than her half-brother's. So, marrying his half-sister solidified his claim to the throne.

The marriage didn't last long, nor did Thutmose II's reign. We know very little about him; most of history is far more obsessed with the lives of his father, wife, and son (but not a son born of Hatshepsut), Thutmose III. However, we are sure he didn't reach his thirtieth birthday and may not have reached the age of twenty. When Thutmose II died, his son and heir was only two years old. As a result, he couldn't rule. 

Enter the Royal daughter of Thutmose I and widow of Thutmose II. For a long time, we assumed that Thutmose III ruled from the time of his father's death through a regent, maybe Hatshepsut. However, more recent scholarship has argued that Hatshepsut ruled over Egypt in her own stead for the next two decades. Not only did she rule, but she rose to the top of the pack as one of the best female Pharaohs Egypt had ever experienced. In the assessment of James Henry Breasted (1865-1935), Hatshepsut was "the first great woman in history of whom we are informed." Kara Cooney says Hatshepsut was "arguably, the only woman to have ever taken power as king in ancient Egypt during a time of prosperity and expansion." Hatshepsut was known for her building projects and the furthering of the economy of Egypt, but the most significant female Pharaoh (and at the time, female rulers in Egypt were never Queens but always Kings) was instrumental in setting up the reign of the most significant male Pharaoh in Egyptian history, Thutmose III

Approximately a hundred years after the beginning of Hatshepsut's reign, Moses began the Exodus of Israel. I am not sure what he was thinking, but it might have been that even powerful Pharaohs would die and return to the dust from which they came. Two of the greatest Pharaohs Egypt knew had died, and unlike the belief of the Egyptians, they were not gods and held no power. Egyptian mummification might have slowed the process, but even they were returning to dust, and everything that had made them great was gone as a new king reigned in their place.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Numbers 21