Castiel Sandoval
Term Paper
History 4
Justine Shaw
November 25th, 2015
The Pharaoh Hatshepsut Queen Hatshepsut was the most successful and renowned female pharaoh to ever rule Egypt; and through her actions and strengths, while she reigned, showed she is an example to all of a strong and triumphant leader and woman. It is possible that from the beginning Hatshepsut was destined for greatness; her name for instance means foremost of noblewomen. Her father thought as much, Thutmose I and the man to bring on the Golden Age in Egypt, and trained her from a young age to come into power. He must have seen something in her, even though she was a female and females were not seen as able to hold the title of pharaoh, and did his best to prepare her for her future. She had a half brother though, Thutmose II, who was next in line to take his father’s throne because of his gender and though
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However, Hatshepsut only held this position for three years before she decided to take full control and become pharaoh herself. Once pharaoh, she took on the persona of Ma'at-ka-Ra -meaning truth, order, and balance- and deconstructed her femininity entirely. She began to wear the clothes of a man and even donned a fake beard to emphasize her place as pharaoh. In doing this, she knew that it would make her rule over Egypt much more efficient, and efficient was what she needed. Eventually, she made the decision to drop all female titles and even dropped the female characteristics for her name, meaning the “t” at the end. She was then known as His Majesty Hatshepsu. It has been said, in fact, that she had given birth to the Golden Age of Egypt, even more so than her father. Not only was she able to rule over Egypt by herself, but she was the sole reason for many world renowned monuments, and just overall magnificent