November 16th, 2011
Hatshepsut
Hatshepsut is one of the best know female rulers, next to Cleopatra. She was born circa 1508 BC. She was an 18th dynasty, a sequence of rulers considered members of the same family, pharaoh. She was the daughter of Thuthmose I and Ahmose. When her father died her half-brother Thuthmose II ascended to the throne. Thuthmose II ended up marrying Hatshepsut, the women in Egypt carried the royal blood, not the males. To become pharaoh, the men had to marry a female of royal blood, usually a sister, half-sister, or other close relative, can you say ew? Thuthmose II died soon after becoming pharaoh leaving Hatshepsut, their daughter Neferura, and his son by another wife, Thuthmose III behind.
Hatshepsut and Thuthmose III ruled together for a number of years until she proclaimed herself pharaoh, something almost unheard of, despite the higher status of women in Egypt compared to women in other countries at that time. Women could own land, inherit from family members, and even go to court to defend her rights. But before Hatshepsut there were queens who had ruled Egypt, but not a female pharaoh. Since sacred tradition required that every Egyptian ruler should be a son of the great god Amon she assumed all of the regalia, the privileges and the insignia characteristic of a Sovereign, and symbols of the pharaonic office in official representations; the Khat head cloth, topped with the uraeus, the stylized upright form of an Egyptian spitting cobra used as a symbol of sovereignty, royalty, deity, and divine authors in ancient Egypt, the traditional false beard and shendyt kilt.
Hatshepsut established the trade networks that had been disrupted during the Hyksos occupation of Egypt. Hatshepsut was one of the most prolific builders in ancient Egypt, commissioning hundreds of construction projects throughout both Upper and Lower Egypt. Following the tradition of most pharaohs she had monuments constructed at the Temple of