so marked,
and are characterised by greater gentleness. He had scarcely reached the
age of thirty when he fell a victim to a disease of which the process of
embalming could not remove the traces. The skin is scabrous in patches,
and covered with scars, while the upper part of the skull is bald; the
body is thin and somewhat shrunken, and appears to have lacked vigour
and muscular power. By his marriage with his sister, Thutmosis left
daughters only,* but he had one son, also a Thutmosis, by a woman of
low birth, perhaps merely a slave, whose name was Isis.** Hatshopsitu
proclaimed this child her successor, for his youth and humble parentage
could not excite her jealousy. She betrothed him to her one surviving
daughter, Hatshopsitu II., and having thus settled the succession in the
male line, she continued to rule alone in the name of her nephew who was
still a minor, as she had done formerly in the case of her half-brother.

* Two daughters of Queen Hatshopsitu I. are known, of whom
one, Nofiruri, died young, and Hatshopsitu II. Maritri, who
was married to her half-brother on her father's side,
Thutmosis III., who was thus her cousin as well. Amenothes
II. was offspring of this marriage.

** The name of the mother of Thutmosis III. was revealed to
us on the wrappings found with the mummy of this king in the
hiding-place of Deir el-Bahari; the absence of princely
titles, while it shows the humble extraction of the lady
Isis, explains at the same time the somewhat obscure
relations between Hatshopsitu and her nephew.

Her reign was a prosperous one, but whether the flourishing condition
of things was owing to the ability of her political administration or
to her fortunate choice of ministers, we are unable to tell. She pressed
forward the work of building with great activity, under the direction
of her architect Sanmut, not only at Deir el-Bahari, but at Karnak, and
indeed everywhere in Thebes. The plans of the building had been arranged
under Thutmosis I., and their execution had been carried out so quickly,
that in many cases the queen had merely to see to the sculptural
ornamentation on the all but completed walls.

This work, however, afforded her sufficient excuse, according to
Egyptian custom, to attribute the whole structure to herself, and the
opinion she had of her own powers is exhibited with great naiveness in
her inscriptions. She loves to pose as pre