Cheng Tang of Shang vs Hatshepsut

Cheng Tang led a coalition of tribes against the Xia dynasty at Mingtiao. The Shang forces defeated the Xia army, leading to the overthrow of King Jie. This battle established Cheng Tang as the first king of the Shang dynasty.

After defeating the Xia, Cheng Tang established his capital at Bo (near modern-day Shangqiu, Henan). This city became the political and ritual center of the early Shang state, consolidating control over the Central Plains.

Cheng Tang issued a public edict justifying the overthrow of the Xia dynasty, accusing King Jie of moral depravity and misrule. This document established the concept of the 'Mandate of Heaven' as a justification for dynastic change.

Cheng Tang implemented new state rituals and sacrifices to Shangdi (the high god) and ancestral spirits. These reforms standardized religious practices across the Shang domain, reinforcing the king's role as chief priest.

Hatshepsut assumed the throne as pharaoh after the death of her husband Thutmose II, initially as regent for her stepson Thutmose III. She later declared herself king, adopting full royal titulary and male iconography to legitimize her rule.

Hatshepsut dispatched a trading expedition to the Land of Punt, likely located in the Horn of Africa. The mission returned with myrrh trees, gold, ivory, and exotic animals, which were depicted in reliefs at her mortuary temple at Deir el-Bahri.

Hatshepsut commissioned a terraced mortuary temple at Deir el-Bahri, designed by her architect Senenmut. The temple featured colonnades, reliefs of her divine birth and the Punt expedition, and became a masterpiece of Egyptian architecture.

After Hatshepsut's death, Thutmose III ordered the systematic erasure of her name and images from monuments and temples. Her cartouches were chiseled out, and her statues were smashed, likely to consolidate his own legitimacy and remove her from official records.

Hatshepsut erected two massive obelisks at the Karnak temple, one of which still stands. The obelisks were carved from single blocks of granite and inscribed with texts proclaiming her devotion to the god Amun and her right to rule.