Maatkare who is better known as Hatshepsut for her throne name. She was one of the first female pharaohs but as well as she was considered one of the most successful. Unlike most of the pharaohs, she became a leader because her father had passed away and had no sons (in their bloodline) to inherit the leadership. She had married Thutmose II who was her half brother and only 3 years old in order for him to become a pharaoh. Due to his young age she had ruled in his name until he was at an age when he would be able to rule. Thutmose II passed away young so the throne was passed on to his child (son of his secondary wife). Maatkare decided to rule for her step-son until he was old enough. Then in later years she had declared herself to full powers …show more content…
One of her most well known buildings was the temple of Deir el-Bahri where she had to be buried in her later years. Maatkare also was responsible for sponsoring a very successful trading expedition (some believed it was one of the most successful), since things such as gold, ivory, ebony, leopard skins and incense from another area.
Although she had made very successful accomplishments when ruling, she had to work hard in order for people to gain her respect considering they hadn't had many females before her. She would order whenever sculptures of her were being made, she would be portrayed as a man (adding a beard with a muscular figure) but she always made sure that somewhere on it it would say something that showcased that she was a female. She wanted people outside to look at her accomplishments, not that she was a female.
Now you may be asking yourself, if she was considered such an accomplished female pharaoh why wouldn't you have heard of her? Well years after Maatkare had passed away, Thutmose III had attempted to get rid of all the images that were portraying her as king on temples and monuments. It wasn’t for thousands of years that markings were discovered in the walls of the Deir el-Bahri which lead to them making more discoveries on her existence. They didn't discover her body until only 15 years ago when they had found her