Me in Place

(statue of Hapshepsut from her temple)
Hatshepsut was the beloved daughter of Pharoah Thutmose. Upon his death, she declared that he had wanted her to be the next in line to the throne. She married her half-brother, Thutmose II. When he died, his son (the son of a lesser wife, Isis, not Hatshepsut) was to be next on the throne. Hatshepsut acted as a Regent for him, but when the time came for him to take the throne, she declared herself queen instead.

Although Hatshepsut was not the only woman ruler of Egypt, she was one of only two females who ruled both Lower and Upper Egypt (wearing the double red and white crown). Here’s the fun part to remember: In order to continue to promote herself as the rightful heir to the throne, she would dress as a man when on her throne. She had a false beard made out of gold, even! She ended up ruling for about 22 years – the longest female reign in Egypt.

Recommended Easy Reading:

You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.