Hatshepsut was one of the few women to rule ancient Egypt as pharaoh, and one of the most successful. She reigned for about 20 years in the 15th century BC, around 1479 to 1458 BC, a time of peace, wealth and great building.
From queen to king
Hatshepsut was the daughter of Thutmose I and the wife of her half-brother, Thutmose II. When he died young, the heir, Thutmose III, was a small child, and Hatshepsut ruled for him. Within a few years she took the full titles of king. Her statues often show her with a king’s headdress and false beard, though some show her as a woman.
Her achievements
She sent a famous trading expedition to the land of Punt on the Red Sea coast, which brought back incense trees, ebony, ivory and exotic animals. She raised tall obelisks at Karnak, one of which still stands, and built her beautiful terraced memorial temple at Deir el-Bahari.
Erased and rediscovered
Late in the reign of Thutmose III, her images and names were cut from many monuments, probably to secure the throne for his own line. In 2007, a mummy from a small tomb in the Valley of the Kings was identified as Hatshepsut, partly by matching a tooth found in a box with her name. It is now in the Royal Mummies Hall of the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization.
