My Beautiful Black Ancestry
  • News
    • World
    • Politics
    • Business
    • Sports
    • Entertainment News
    • Celebrity News
  • Talents & Achievements
  • Health & Wellness
  • Beauty & Fashion
  • History & Culture
  • Travels & Tours
  • See More
    • Relationships
      • Breakup Alert
      • Love Confessions
      • Love Tales
      • Life & Love
    • Diary of an Angry and searching Nigerian Girl
    • Kids Corner
    • Global Black Celebration
    • Trending
    • Grooming
    • Hair
  • Contact Us

Subscribe To Our Newsletter

Be the first to get breaking news, historical events, culture, fashion, politics, business, entertainment, celebrity, and healthcare updates from beautiful Africans across the globe straight to your inbox

What's Hot

Rickey Smiley’s Son Brandon Smiley Dies at age 32 

January 30, 2023

Video: 2 Nigerian men reportedly shot dead in South Africa

January 30, 2023

10 Best Places To Visit In Ghana 

January 30, 2023
Facebook Twitter Instagram WhatsApp
Trending
  • Rickey Smiley’s Son Brandon Smiley Dies at age 32 
  • Video: 2 Nigerian men reportedly shot dead in South Africa
  • 10 Best Places To Visit In Ghana 
  • The Story of Elizabeth Hobbs Keckley, the first black White House seamstress  
  • Former NFL Player Jessie Lemonier Dies at age 25 
  • Lucas Mapheto: The Disabled Black Teen Who Uses His Mouth to Draw 
  • Howard University makes history, wins $90 million contract for military research 
  • Over 50 doctors successfully separate conjoined Arciniega twins in historic surgery 
Facebook Twitter Instagram WhatsApp
My Beautiful Black AncestryMy Beautiful Black Ancestry
  • News
    1. World
    2. Politics
    3. Business
    4. Sports
    5. Entertainment News
    6. Celebrity News
    7. View All

    A coup attempt in Sao Tome and Principe has failed 

    November 25, 2022

    Senegal beats World Cup host Qatar, 3-1 

    November 25, 2022

    Statue of German colonizer pulled down in Windhoek, Namibia 

    November 25, 2022

    Sex workers in Ghana increase charges over current economic hardship 

    November 24, 2022

    Former President Trump pleads with Meta to restore his Facebook account 

    January 19, 2023

    Obiang, Son Of Equatorial Guinea President, Arrested For Alleged Corruption 

    January 17, 2023

    Lori Lightfoot, a Chicago Mayor, Under Investigation For Encouraging Children To Volunteer For Reelection Campaign 

    January 15, 2023

    Church of England, Anglican Communion apologizes for links to slavery 

    January 10, 2023

    John legend launches Affordable Personal Care Brand for Melanin Rich Skin 

    January 17, 2023

    Meet The Women Who Created The Line Of Hygienic Hijabs For Muslims In Healthcare 

    January 17, 2023

    Virginia Couple Purchase Home With 90 Acres of Land to Build Generational Wealth For Their Kids 

    January 15, 2023

    Airbnb Places Ban On Slave Cabin Rentals 

    December 24, 2022

    Former NFL Player Jessie Lemonier Dies at age 25 

    January 28, 2023

    Olympic Star Usain Bolt defrauded of $12m life savings 

    January 20, 2023

    Man City’s Benjamin Mendy cleared of six rape charges 

    January 13, 2023

    Tennis Champ, Naomi Osaka pregnant with her first child 

    January 12, 2023

    Tv Show on Ethiopia’s Queen Sheba in the Works 

    January 28, 2023

    Keke Palmer Announces She Is Having a baby boy  

    January 27, 2023

    Girls Trip 2 to be Shot In Ghana 

    January 24, 2023

    Antoine Fuqua to Direct Michael Jackson Biopic, Set to Begin Shooting This Year 

    January 24, 2023

    Sha’Carri Richardson Removed From Flight Following Argument With ‘Disrespectful’ Attendant 

    January 24, 2023

    Beyoncé Performs Live For First Time Since 2018, Duets With Blue Ivy 

    January 22, 2023

    ‘He Wanted To Change For Me’: Cardi B Reveals Why She Called Off Divorce From Offset 

    January 20, 2023

    John legend launches Affordable Personal Care Brand for Melanin Rich Skin 

    January 17, 2023

    Rickey Smiley’s Son Brandon Smiley Dies at age 32 

    January 30, 2023

    Video: 2 Nigerian men reportedly shot dead in South Africa

    January 30, 2023

    Former NFL Player Jessie Lemonier Dies at age 25 

    January 28, 2023

    Lucas Mapheto: The Disabled Black Teen Who Uses His Mouth to Draw 

    January 28, 2023
  • Talents & Achievements

    Nicholas Buamah, an 11-Year-Old Boy Creates a Sitcom About Smart Kids of Color 

    January 28, 2023

    40-Year-Old South African Woman Sthembile, Graduates From Same College Where She Cleaned For 14 Years 

    January 24, 2023

    John legend launches Affordable Personal Care Brand for Melanin Rich Skin 

    January 17, 2023

    Nigerian artists win big at AFRIMA As Asake, Burna Boy and Davido Dominate  

    January 17, 2023

    R’Bonney Gabriel, Miss USA, Crowned Miss Universe 2022

    January 17, 2023
  • Health & Wellness

    John legend launches Affordable Personal Care Brand for Melanin Rich Skin 

    January 17, 2023

    Meet The Women Who Created The Line Of Hygienic Hijabs For Muslims In Healthcare 

    January 17, 2023

    New Study Shows How Black Women Experience Depression Differently 

    January 15, 2023

    Uganda receives first batch of Trial Vaccines For Ebola 

    December 9, 2022

    Black Woman, Jenny Mitchell Sues L’Oréal and Others, Alleges Hair-Straightening Products Caused Her Uterine Cancer 

    October 31, 2022
  • Beauty & Fashion

    10 Afro-Caribbean Beauty Influencers you should follow 

    July 18, 2022

    10 Black Beauty Influencers you should follow 

    July 12, 2022

    10 African Beauty Influencers You Should Follow  

    July 5, 2022

    10 South African Beauty Influencers You Should Follow 

    June 22, 2022

    Rihanna Honoured With A Digital Statue At Met Gala

    May 4, 2022
  • History & Culture

    The State Of California, is named after a Mythical Black Queen, Calafia 

    January 20, 2023

    The Story Of Hatshepsut, The Female Pharaoh Who Ruled Egypt as a Man 

    January 20, 2023

    The Story of Kalulu Ndugu M’hali, the Enslaved boy who has the Congo River Falls Named After Him 

    December 3, 2022

    60 Cute African girl names and their meanings  

    November 29, 2022

    60 Popular African boy names and their meanings  

    November 29, 2022
  • Travels & Tours

    10 Best Places To Visit In Ghana 

    January 30, 2023

    Thousands Of Zulu Men Re-enact Historic Zulu Victory at Isandlwana 

    January 22, 2023

    3,500 years old Royal Luxor Tomb unveiled in Egypt 

    January 17, 2023

    LA Man, Dakrabo Set To Build $350million Film Studio In Ghana, Promises To Bring Hollywood To Ghana 

    January 17, 2023

    Top 10 most powerful African Passports

    January 13, 2023
  • See More
    1. Relationships
    2. Breakup Alert
    3. Love Confessions
    4. Love Tales
    5. Life & Love
    6. Diary of an Angry and searching Nigerian Girl
    7. Kids Corner
    8. Global Black Celebration
    9. Trending
    10. Grooming
    11. Hair
    12. View All

    Rickey Smiley’s Son Brandon Smiley Dies at age 32 

    January 30, 2023

    Video: 2 Nigerian men reportedly shot dead in South Africa

    January 30, 2023

    10 Best Places To Visit In Ghana 

    January 30, 2023

    The Story of Elizabeth Hobbs Keckley, the first black White House seamstress  

    January 29, 2023

    Travis Scott and Kylie Jenner Reportedly Breakup Two Years After Rekindling Relationship 

    January 8, 2023

    Relationship Coach Derrick Jackson Announces Divorce From His Wife, After Getting Caught With Another Woman 

    December 10, 2022

    After 14 Years of Marriage, Tia Mowry Files For Divorce From Cory Hardrict 

    October 4, 2022

    Crystal Renay Accuses Husband, Ne-Yo Of Cheating Weeks After Renewing Their Vows

    August 1, 2022

    Popular Polygamist Kevin Wesley, Narrates How He Successfully Manages His “Queens”

    April 16, 2021

    Singer Mya Actually Got Married To Herself, She Has Been A Sologamist For 7 Years (Update)

    February 25, 2021

    August Alsina Says Will Smith Allowed Him Have An Affair With His Wife, Jada Pinkett

    July 1, 2020

    I Fell Inlove With A Single Married Man 16

    June 5, 2020

    Ray J And Princess Love Have Called Off Their Divorce For A Second Time

    March 19, 2021

    Following Their Reconciliation, Ne-Yo & Wife Crystal Smith Share The First Sonogram Video Of Their New Baby

    March 5, 2021

    Tennessee Black Couple, Tommy And Harriet, Celebrate 70 Years of Marriage

    October 13, 2020

    RekindledLove? Princess Love Files To Dismiss Divorce From Ray J

    July 14, 2020

    African Couple Celebrates their Journey of Marriage, 53rd wedding anniversary with heart warming photos

    August 28, 2021

    Meet Tonya McCray and Racquel McCray , the Mom and Daughter Who Are Working Together on the Same U.S. Navy Ship

    August 19, 2021

    Popular Polygamist Kevin Wesley, Narrates How He Successfully Manages His “Queens”

    April 16, 2021

    NORTH CAROLINA BEAUTIFUL WEDDING STORY: ROSCO AND MATTHEW MCKNIGHT’S INTIMATE WEDDING

    January 16, 2021

    I Fell Inlove With A Single Married Man 17

    December 21, 2020

    I Fell Inlove With A Single Married Man 16

    June 5, 2020

    I Fell In Love With A Single Married Man 15

    January 6, 2020

    I Fell In Love With A Single Married Man 14

    December 23, 2019

    Nicholas Buamah, an 11-Year-Old Boy Creates a Sitcom About Smart Kids of Color 

    January 28, 2023

    60 Cute African girl names and their meanings  

    November 29, 2022

    60 Popular African boy names and their meanings  

    November 29, 2022

    Romello, a Black Teen Buys New Shoes For his Classmate After He Was Bullied 

    November 14, 2022

    Milestones In History Uses Superheroes To Entertain And Educate Fans About Black History

    June 21, 2022

    Black Teen, Valaysia Smith Makes History As First Delegate To The Congress Of Future Medical Leaders

    May 26, 2022

    A record-breaking Ernie Barnes painting steals the show at Christie’s $831 million evening sales.

    May 16, 2022

    Meet Jarrett Bell, The First Black Sports Journalist To Win The Bill Nunn Jr. Writers Award

    May 15, 2022

    Brittney Griner To Work 16-Hours per day in  Mordovia Russia Prison 

    November 29, 2022

    Ye Allegedly Showed Ex-Staff Pornography And Explicit Kim Kardashian Videos 

    November 24, 2022

    Breaking: Migos Rapper Takeoff Reportedly shot dead over dice game in Houston, Texas 

    November 1, 2022

    Kansas City Pastor Carlton Funderburke, Apologizes For Calling out His ‘Broke’ Congregation For Not Buying Him a Luxury Wristwatch

    August 21, 2022

    50+ Inspirational Success Quotes by Black Men 

    July 13, 2022

    50+ Confidence and Self Love Quotes by Black Women 

    July 1, 2022

    Check Out These Beautiful African Braids Inspiration

    October 9, 2020

    Great Fashion Tips For Plus Size Black Women

    October 6, 2020

    Black Woman, Jenny Mitchell Sues L’Oréal and Others, Alleges Hair-Straightening Products Caused Her Uterine Cancer 

    October 31, 2022

    How Hair Straightening Chemicals May Increase Black Women’s Risk Of Uterine Cancer 

    October 23, 2022

    Akon Pays $7.5K for Hair Transplant In Turkey To Get New Hairline 

    October 20, 2022

    10 natural hair influencers you should follow  

    July 19, 2022

    Rickey Smiley’s Son Brandon Smiley Dies at age 32 

    January 30, 2023

    Video: 2 Nigerian men reportedly shot dead in South Africa

    January 30, 2023

    10 Best Places To Visit In Ghana 

    January 30, 2023

    The Story of Elizabeth Hobbs Keckley, the first black White House seamstress  

    January 29, 2023
  • Contact Us
My Beautiful Black Ancestry
Home»History and Culture»The Story Of Hatshepsut, The Female Pharaoh Who Ruled Egypt as a Man 
History and Culture

The Story Of Hatshepsut, The Female Pharaoh Who Ruled Egypt as a Man 

By AdaugoJanuary 20, 2023Updated:January 20, 2023No Comments10 Views
Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn WhatsApp Reddit Tumblr Email
Share
Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Email

Hatshepsut (c. 1508–1458 B.C.) seemed content for a long time to play the stereotypically subordinate female role among the Egyptian pharaohs. She was the queen wife of one pharaoh, Thutmose I, and the daughter of another (her half brother, Thutmose II). Hatshepsut obediently accepted the additional duty of regent to the young Thutmose III after her husband passed away in 1479 B.C. and her stepson was designated as heir. 

But as the years went by, Hatshepsut began to behave more like Egypt’s legitimate ruler and began addressing herself as “Lady of the Two Lands.” She launched a risky power move as Thutmose IIIapproached adulthood, the time when he would formally ascend to the throne.

Hatshepsut was born at the beginning of the New Kingdom, a great period of Egyptian imperial power and prosperity. King Thutmose I, her father, was a dynamic ruler known for his daring military accomplishments. Scholars speculate that Hatshepsut may have been born around the time of his coronation, c. 1504 b.c. and would have been a toddler when he famously sailed home to Thebes with the naked body of a Nubian chieftain dangling from the prow of his ship—a warning to everyone who would threaten his empire. 

The Story Of Hatshepsut, The Female Pharaoh Who Ruled Egypt as a Man

Hatshepsut seems to have idolized her father (she would eventually have him reburied in the tomb she was having built for herself) and would claim that soon after her birth he had named her successor to his throne, an act that scholars feel would have been highly unlikely. There had been only two—possibly three—female pharaohs in the previous 1,500 years, and each had ascended to the throne only when there was no suitable male successor available. (Cleopatra would rule some 14 centuries later.)

The pharaonic line typically descended from father to son; if the queen had no children, the son of one of the pharaoh’s “harem,” or “secondary,” wives would inherit the throne. Thutmose I is thought to have fathered two boys with Queen Ahmes, both of whom predeceased him, in addition to Hatshepsut—and another younger daughter who evidently perished in infancy. Thus the son of a secondary wife, Mutnofret, was crowned Thutmose II. In short order (and probably to bolster the royal bloodlines of this “harem child”), young Thutmose II was married to his half sister Hatshepsut, making her Queen of Egypt at about age 12.

The Making Of Hatshepsut

According to Smithsonian Magazine, historians have generally described Thutmose II as frail and ineffectual—just the sort of person a supposedly shrewish Hatshepsut could push around. Public monuments, however, depict a dutiful Hatshepsut standing appropriately behind her husband. But while she bore her husband a daughter, Neferure (her only known child), Hatshepsut failed in the more important duty of producing a son.

So when Thutmose II died young (c. 1479 B.C.), possibly still in his 20s—the throne went, yet again, to a “harem child.” Duly named Thutmose III, this child was destined to become one of the great warrior kings of Egypt. But at the time of his father’s death, he was likely an infant, a “hawk…still in the nest”—and deemed too young to rule.

Monuments of the time show Thutmose III—still a child, but portrayed in the conventional manner as an adult king—performing his pharaonic duties, while Hatshepsut, dressed as queen, stands demurely off to one side. By the seventh year of her regency, however (and it may have been much earlier), the formerly slim, graceful queen appears as a full-blown, flail-and-crook-wielding king, with the broad, bare chest of a man and the pharaonic false beard.

Hatshepsut declared herself pharaoh, adopting the emblems and titles associated with the title. She had herself portrayed in pictures as a man, with a male body and false beard. She even claimed the god Amun as her father and insisted that he meant for her to take charge of Egypt: “I acted under his command; it was he who led me.”

For Hatshepsut to assert priority over Thutmose III was a radical move in conservative Egyptian society. She could not have achieved it without the support of high officials at court—including Senenmut, overseer of royal works—who risked losing their power, if not their lives, if she yielded to Thutmose III.

Given that she was a woman and that she had obtained the throne in an unusual way, Hatshepsut was probably aware that her position was precarious. As a result, it appears that she reinvented herself, as shrewd leaders frequently do in times of crisis. Being represented as a male pharaoh was the most overt manifestation of this. Nobody truly knows the reason. However, it might have been influenced by the fact that there was a male co-ruler, which was a situation that no prior female ruler had ever contested.

“She was not pretending to be a man! She was not cross-dressing!” Cathleen Keller, a professor of Near Eastern studies at the University of California at Berkeley said.  Inscriptions on Hatshepsut’s statues, according to keller, almost always contain some indication of her true gender—a title, such as “Daughter of Re,” or feminine word endings, resulting in such grammatical conundrums as “His Majesty, Herself.”

Hatshepsut also took a new name, Maatkare, sometimes translated as Truth (maat) is the Soul (ka) of the Sun God (Re). 

Maat, a term from ancient Egypt that refers to law and order created by the gods, is an important word. The country needed a legitimate pharaoh who could communicate directly with the gods, as only pharaohs could, in order to maintain and perpetuate maat and preserve the prosperity and stability of the nation. By referring to herself as Maatkare, Hatshepsut was probably ensuring her subjects that they had a legitimate ruler in place.

One important way pharaohs affirmed maat was by creating monuments, and Hatshepsut’s building projects were among the most ambitious of any pharaoh’s. She began with the erection of two 100-foot-tall obelisks at the great temple complex at Karnak. Reliefs commemorating the event show the obelisks, each weighing about 450 tons, being towed along the Nile by 27 ships manned by 850 oarsmen.

Hatshepsut implemented her public works program throughout the empire, although it was mostly focused in the region surrounding Thebes, the Thutmoside dynasty’s dynastic and theological heartland, where she constructed a network of towering processional routes and sanctuaries. Her masterpiece was built at Deir el-Bahri, just the other side of Thebes from the Nile, and it was a massive memorial temple utilized for rituals related to the cult that would ensure Hatshepsut’s eternal life after death.

Her Legacy

Upon Hatshepsut’s death in c. 1458 b.c., her stepson, then likely still in his early 20s, finally ascended to the throne. By that time, according to Hayes, Thutmose III had developed “a loathing for Hatshepsut…her name and her very memory which practically beggars description.” The destruction of her monuments, carried out with such apparent fury, was almost universally interpreted as an act of long-awaited and bitter revenge on the part of Thutmose III, who, Winlock wrote, “could scarcely wait to take the vengeance on her dead that he had not dared in life.”

Hatshepsut was unable to match her father’s victories by commanding troops into war, as this was solely a male-only function. She eliminated the military from the situation instead. She chose to send her warriors on a trading mission to the mythical kingdom of Punt, along the southern side of the Red Sea, where no Egyptian had been in 500 years, rather than sending them to fight in battles, which would later become her biggest achievement.

The expedition brought back a menagerie of exotic animals, including apes, panthers, and giraffes, as depicted on the walls of Hatshepsut’s mortuary temple. It also brought back gold, ivory, live myrrh trees, and other valuables. Her fame and reputation were greatly boosted by the successful campaign.

Hatshepsut did not banish Thutmose III, who technically served as her co-ruler, but she clearly overshadowed him. Her 21-year reign—15 as principal monarch—was a time of peace and prosperity for Egypt. She undertook grand building projects, including two pairs of imposing obelisks at Karnak and at her mortuary temple, Djeser-Djeseru. Upon Hatshepsut’s death in 1458 B.C., Thutmose III at last got the throne to himself.

Hatshepsut’s groundbreaking reign remained a secret for centuries. Before his own death, Thutmose III moved to erase Hatshepsut from the historical record by defacing her monuments and removing her name from the list of kings. When archaeologists began deciphering the hieroglyphics at Deir el Bahri in 1822, and later found her tomb in 1903, Hatshepsut’s legacy as Egypt’s powerful female pharaoh was restored.

The story of Hatshepsut will probably never be complete. “She’s like an iceberg,” says Joyce Tyldesley, scholar and author of the 1996 biography Hatchepsut: The Female Pharaoh. “On the surface we know quite a lot about her. But there’s so much we don’t know.”

“Of course, it made a wonderful story,” says Renée Dreyfus, curator of ancient art and interpretation at the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. “And this is what we all read when we were growing up. But so much of what was written about Hatshepsut, I think, had to do with who the archaeologists were…gentlemen scholars of a certain generation.”

africa Egypt Hatshepsut
Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Telegram Email
Adaugo
  • Website
  • Instagram

This 27 year old, is Art And All That Is Art. Writer, Film and stage actor, Mental Health Lay counselor and show host.

Related Posts

Video: 2 Nigerian men reportedly shot dead in South Africa

January 30, 2023

10 Best Places To Visit In Ghana 

January 30, 2023

Lucas Mapheto: The Disabled Black Teen Who Uses His Mouth to Draw 

January 28, 2023

Comments are closed.

Top Posts

Ortencia Alcantara And Her Involvement In The Death Of Kevin Samuels

May 7, 202230,961

Relationship Coach Derrick Jackson Announces Divorce From His Wife, After Getting Caught With Another Woman 

December 10, 202215,809

24 year old Ugandan Woman, Monica Karungi ‘Mona Kizz’, Jumps To Her Death From Dubai Skyscraper

May 3, 202211,377

Sandra Regina, Pele’s Secret Daughter Named In His Will, Despite Denying Her All Her Life 

January 18, 20239,292
Don't Miss
News

Rickey Smiley’s Son Brandon Smiley Dies at age 32 

By AdaugoJanuary 30, 20231

Brandon Smiley was a fellow comedian and actor who appeared on his father’s “Rickey Smiley For Real.” Show on TV One.

Video: 2 Nigerian men reportedly shot dead in South Africa

January 30, 2023

10 Best Places To Visit In Ghana 

January 30, 2023

The Story of Elizabeth Hobbs Keckley, the first black White House seamstress  

January 29, 2023
Stay In Touch
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • WhatsApp

Subscribe To Our Newsletter

Be the first to get breaking news, historical events, culture, fashion, politics, business, entertainment, celebrity, and healthcare updates from beautiful Africans across the globe straight to your inbox

About Us
About Us

MBBA Global is Africa's no.1 platform for breaking news, historical events, culture, fashion, politics, business, entertainment, celebrity, and healthcare updates from beautiful Africans across the globe.

Facebook Twitter YouTube WhatsApp
Editor's Picks

Rickey Smiley’s Son Brandon Smiley Dies at age 32 

January 30, 2023

Video: 2 Nigerian men reportedly shot dead in South Africa

January 30, 2023

10 Best Places To Visit In Ghana 

January 30, 2023
Latest Events

Four African American Celebrities That Recently Became Citizens Of African Countries

January 6, 20201,427

American Actress, Lisa Raye Crowned “Queen Mother Of Ghana” by “king” Yahweh

November 5, 2019114

The African Wedding That Has Left Many Jaws Dropping

May 30, 201866

Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.