Queen Hatshepsut was the stepmother to Tuthmose III, who was too young to ascend to the throne. Hatshepsut was to serve in his stead, but was able to draw enough supporters and become queen in her own right—one of the few female rulers of Egypt. She even dressed in the male ceremonial garb. She built her temple in Luxor to reinforce her claim that she deserved the throne because she was a direct descendant of the sun god. Her temple was built by her lover (she couldn't marry or else lose her title to him).

As you can imagine Tuthmose III wasn’t happy about this, as he grew to an age where he could assume power. Hatshepsut died mysteriously, and when she did, he took back the kingdom that he thought had been ripped from him. He wanted revenge, so he set out to destroy all references to Hatshepsut—including "redecorating" her temple, scratching out her cartouche in all the reliefs on the temple walls.

Hatshepsut, however, had built the temple for the god, and to destroy her temple completely would be to disrespect the god, drawing the people’s anger. So he couldn’t erase her totally from history, so she lives on.

The temple is built into the rock, and has three levels for worship for the sun god. It also had a room dedicated to Anubis, the funerary god. The reliefs still show vibrant colors (where Thutmose III didn’t scratch them out) and are just beautiful (we were told that they were the originals)

There is an admission charge of about 20 Egyptian pounds, but you can take your cameras in. A little tram train will save you the walk from the admissions booth to the entrance of the temple. It’s not an unreasonable walk, but save your energy when it’s hot.

This is a must see in Luxor!

After our visit to the Valley of the Kings we hiked out and over the hills towards Deir Al-Bahri. We had spectacular views of Hatshepsut Temple from directly above on the cliffs. The sun was hot, so a hat and plenty of water is highly recommended.

The temple itself appears to be cut right out of the cliffs in an eye-pleasing manner. However, as far as temples go, it wasn't very exciting. Maybe that's because it was the millionth temple we'd seen, but the reliefs weren't spectacular and the ramps are a bit of a climb in the hot sun.

I loved the marvelous temple of Hatshepsut, now ill-fated to the world as the site of a terrorist massacre that killed about 60 people, mainly tourists, in November 1997. It is said that Hatshepsut referred to her temple as 'the splendour of the splendours' and it probably deserved it. Built in three levels, decorated with columns and reached by ramps, it is believed that an avenue with trees and fountains linked it to the Nile. On the middle terrace, we visited the chapel of Hathor, the goddess with cow ears. Near the columns, painted carvings show the expedition Hapshepsut sent by the Red Sea to a land that it is believed to be today's Somalia. The chapel of Anubis has carvings with impressively well preserved colors.

Hatshepsut was the only female pharaoh of Egypt, the fifth ruler of the 18th Dynasty. As was common in royal families, she married her half-brother, Tuthmosis II, who had a son, Tuthmosis III, with another wife. When Tuthmosis II died, Hatshepsut was appointed regent due to the heir's young age. They ruled jointly until 1473 when she declared herself pharaoh. When Tuthmosis III took over the power, he had Hatshepsut's figure destroyed from all temples, including Deir el Bahari.