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Primary sourceArtifact

Relief with Hatshepsut's Cartouche Name Maatkara

A carved stone fragment showing Hatshepsut's throne name Maatkara enclosed in a cartouche.

Carries Hatshepsut's throne name Maatkara, direct evidence of her official royal identity.

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Photograph of a pale limestone relief fragment, broken and cracked diagonally, carved with an oval cartouche containing hieroglyphic signs, including a sun disk and a figure, on a grey background. Label MM 11431 in the corner.
Relief fragment with Hatshepsut's cartouche name Maatkara. Museum of Mediterranean and Near Eastern Antiquities, Sweden.

About this source

What it is

This is a fragment of a limestone relief carved with a cartouche, an oval frame used for royal names, containing the hieroglyphs for Hatshepsut's throne name, Maatkara. It is held by the Museum of Mediterranean and Near Eastern Antiquities in Sweden.

Why it matters

Egyptian pharaohs took special throne names upon taking power, and Maatkara was the one Hatshepsut used. A carved cartouche like this is direct evidence of how her royal identity was written and displayed in official contexts.

Look closer

  • What symbols can you identify inside the cartouche, and what might they represent?
  • Why do you think the relief is broken and cracked? What might that suggest about its history?
  • Why would a ruler need a special throne name in addition to a birth name?

This artifact is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Hatshepsut on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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