Queen Hatshepsut

Reign 1479-1458 BC

Colossal head of Queen Hatshepsut from Deir el-Bahri, Egypt excavated by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1926.

Wall relief of Queen Hatshepsut from Deir el-Bahri, Egypt

Hatshepsut wearing the nemes headdress

Dynasty 18, reign of Hatshepsut (1473-1458 BC)

Red granite, H 66 inches

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Daughter of of King Thutmose I and Queen Ahmose, Hatshepsut became Queen when her husband and half-brother Thutmose II succeeded his father. Thutmose and Hatshepsut had a daughter together. Thutmose II declared this son (Thutmose III) his successor before he died in his early thirties. When Thutmose III inherited the throne he was still a child so his step-mother/aunt acted as his regent.

She took the title "King of Upper and Lower Egypt". She had herself portrayed in all the trappings of the kings including a false beard. This apparently caused a great deal of difficulty for those doing inscriptions. Within the same inscription she is often refered to as king and later as queen.

Hatshepsut was one of the first women rulers in history and one of only a handful of female egyptian kings. Her reign was generally peaceful and she increased the trade borders of the country.

Bas-relief from the Hatshepsut's Temple. This is a masterpiece in the temple showing queen Ahmose, queen Hatshepsut's mother.

Hatshepsut was the daughter of King Tuthmosis I and Queen Ahmose. She was the fifth pharaoh of the eighteenth dynasty of Ancient Egypt for two decades. Her reign was generally peaceful and she increased the trade borders of the country. She also oversaw the preparations and funding for a mission to the Land of Punt. Her hieroglyph cartouches style her the Horus, Golden Horus, Two Ladies, Son of Re, Lord of the Two Lands, King of Upper and Lower Egypt, Hatshepsut-united-with-Amun.

About twenty years after her death her stepson Tuthmosis III undertake to eliminate all trace of her, smashing statues, and effacing inscriptions. That’s a little mystery is curled within the immense mystery that is ancient Egypt.