![]() As texts of royal propaganda, the obelisk inscriptions of Hatshepsut emphasize her divine election by Amun the legitimacy of her "kingship", and the universality of her dominion. The history of mythical or folkloric gift-bringing figures who appear in winter, often at or around the Christmas period, is complex, and in many countries the gift-bringer and the gift-bringer's date of arrival has changed over time as native customs have been influenced by those in other countries. Finally, to commemorate her achievements on the occasion of the Sed Festival, Hatshepsut transported from Aswan two granite obelisks to the temple of Amun at Karnak and carved on them an inscription which reveals her needs of government: legitimacy, general consensus, and reinforcement of the socio-economical system. This is a list of Christmas and winter gift-bringer figures from around the world. Also, the control of raw materials and prestigious goods, and the transport of exotic trees, such as myrrh and persea (ished), and their replanting in Egypt had, besides economic advantages an important ideological role related to the Egyptian control of "chaos" in the foreign lands. Establishing direct links with these remote regions was a great step in the economic organization of Egypt. The expedition returned with ships laden with gold, ivory, ebony, animal hides, myrrh and perfumes. ![]() Following once again an Old Kingdom tradition (the southern expedition of the Fifth Dynasty king Sahure), she sent out a mission to Punt (in southern Sudan or Eritrea) guided by Amun-Re and Hathor, the "Lady of Punt". With regard to foreign policy she initiated an ambitious political and economical program directed towards the south, as opposed to the traditional northeastern orientation of her predecessors. In doing this she took up an old tradition from the Fourth Dynasty, when Khent-Kaues, daughter of Menkau-Re, married a priest of Re claiming divine origin from the god Re himself. To achieve these goals Hatshepsut launched a multi-faceted propagandistic campaign addressing various aspects of her rulership: On the ideological level she claimed to be not only the favorite daughter of her charismatic father, Thutmose I, but also the physical daughter of Amun-Re. She had to surmount potential threats of revolt, to win over the support of both elites and commoners, and to protect her rule in face of the growing influence of her nephew Thutmose III. Hatshepsut, the only full-fledged female Pharaoh in the Eighteenth Dynasty, had to overcome many obstacles in her quest for legitimacy.
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