Archaeologists have uncovered approximately 1,500 richly-decorated stone blocks that were once part of the Valley Temple of 18th Dynasty pharaoh Queen Hatshepsut.

Unearthed near the causeway of her grand mortuary temple at Deir El-Bahari in Luxor, Egypt, the polychrome paint on the blocks is still bright and the reliefs and carvings are in excellent condition, considering the passage of so much time.

Queen Hatshepsut ruled from 1479 to 1458 B.C., one of only a handful of female pharaohs known, and ascended the throne after the death of her husband Thutmose II. She was supposed to be acting as regent for her stepson, the child Thutmose III, until he came of age, but after a few years, she declared herself pharaoh (power corrupts!). She conveyed her power in portraiture, depicting herself with the customary pharaonic false beard and with the musculature and bare chest of a male pharaoh.

She was an effective monarch, investing in public works and infrastructure, and her architectural bent reached its pinnacle with the construction of her enormous mortuary temple at Deir el-Bahri. The temple was built at the base of limestone cliffs on the east side of the Valley of the Kings and features terraced colonnades, pools, gardens and more than 100 colossal statues as much as ten feet high, of Hatshepsut.

Thutmose III was in his 20s when she died and he finally took the throne. Two decades later, he decided to erase her from history, to eliminate the evidence of her kingship and therefore of the gap between his father’s rule and his own. He ordered the destruction of her monuments, defacement of her portraits and the cartouches of her name. The colossal statues of her temple was smashed to smithereens.

Thutmose III clearly had issues with his mom, the lady pharaoh.

Be that as it may, the architecture and art so well preserved prove the talent and ambition of this culture from so long ago.

Via the always good History Blog.