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As a woman living in Egypt’s Golden Age, Hatshepsut was not destined to become king.
Her gender prevented her from ascending the throne, even though she was of royal lineage.
The gods of Egypt supposedly decreed that the role of king could never be filled by a woman, and although a pharaoh needed a queen to rule with him, she could never rule alone – although there were later notable exceptions.
Hatshepsut refused to submit to this order, and to circumvent the rule, she claimed that she was married to the king of the gods and therefore had as much right to sit on the throne as any previous pharaoh.
Her bold style worked and she was crowned herself in around 1473 BC, changing her name from the female version, Hatshepsut – meaning “the oldest of the noble ladies” – to the male version, Hatshepsu.
As a woman living in Egypt’s Golden Age, Hatshepsut (pictured) was not destined to rule. Her gender prevented her from ascending the throne, even though she was of royal lineage
She consolidated her power by decorating the temples of the gods with images of herself in the traditional kilt of the pharaoh, wearing all the symbols of his office including the black pointed royal beard.
While conducting affairs of state surrounded by courtiers, she may have been wearing men’s clothing.
However, previously found statues show that early in her reign she loved tight-fitting gowns that showed off her figure and is said to have been a frequent bedrider of her government ministers.
Hatshepsut was the first woman to rule ancient Egypt, but she was not the only one.
Nefertiti followed, then Cleopatra took power 1,500 years later, but she did not obtain the title of pharaoh like Hatshepsut.
She demonstrated ruthless ambition and extraordinary perseverance for the era in which she lived.
As a result, this enigmatic and courageous ruler rewrote the early story of her country, and was dubbed history’s first great woman.
Hatshepsut insisted that she be made official heir to the throne by her father, Pharaoh Thutmose I.
The pharaoh had several sons who preceded him and turned to his daughter to protect the throne.
What immediately followed was not unusual. Hatshepsut married a much younger half-brother, also named Thutmose, whereupon she became queen.
Sibling marriage was the custom in those days and initially the couple ruled together.
But then her brother/husband died, and the marks on his mummy indicated that he was suffering from a hideous skin disease.
Hatshepsut became regent for another Tuthmosis, her stepson from a harem girl. So far she has not been content to be regent.
Within two years, she had seized all power for herself, running the country from her capital, Thebes, and wearing a false beard and all the traditional garb of royalty.
For many years she and her stepson seemed to live happily with this arrangement.
She ruled while Thutmose focused on his military career. He was so successful that historians know him as the Napoleon of Egypt.
Historians suspect that these campaigns were a pretext to escape the influence of his cruel stepmother.
She became so obsessed with power in her final years that Thutmose feared for his life.
In his absence, Hatshepsut built picturesque temples in her honor. It was decorated with inscriptions telling how it reached the throne of Egypt and with stories far from its divine connections.
Hatshepsut ruled as an accomplished politician and stateswoman for 20 years.
She died at the age of 50 from cancer, according to recent research, and is expected to be buried in her finest and most famous temple near the Valley of the Kings.
But it seems that Tuthmosis III turned his back on the woman who usurped his throne, and buried her in a lower place.
He outlived Hatshepsut by forty years, and appears to have embarked on a campaign to erase her name from history.
He threw her statues into quarries in front of the great temples she built, and even distorted the images of her entourage.
(tags for translation)dailymail