The Woman Pharaoh

King Hatshepsut: My Role Model

A Tiny Rant'

Men always topple us “weak” women, this notion has been around since the ancient times. Our sensitive nature and gentle stature is only made for certain household duties. Pfft, history is told from the perspective of men and has been for a very long time. Only until recently have woman’s voices and stories been brought into the spotlight. Luckily, there have been some great examples of women empowerment throughout early human history. One that touches my heart dearly is King Hatshepsut (ahh she likes to be portrayed as a man too) a woman that did something so absurd that men tried to erase her from Egyptian history. She became the pharaoh of Egypt.

A Mini Biography

Hatshepsut was born in 1508 B.C. and her father was King Thutmose I. Hatshepsut was expected to be a queen (what a pleasant surprise to everyone when she turned out to be ruler material) and a principal wife, typical duties of a woman in the highest rankings of Egyptian society. When her father died she married her half-brother Thutmose II (yay incest) and continued being a queen for 15 years. Then the greatest thing happened, well not for Thutmose II, Hatshepsut’s husband died! Her son a mere infant was too young to rule Egypt so Hatshepsut did what any strong woman would do, she stepped up to the plate and took charge of Egypt. Instead of trying to change the way Pharaohs were portrayed, Hatshepsut, in respect to her people, took up the role of the Pharaoh. She was depicted bare chested, wearing the traditional kilt and fake beard combo. This look flaunted her power like no other, because during those times you either conformed to the societal norms or you die (just kidding but a lot of bad things would happen and death could be one of them). The reason she was able to rise up to power was because of one of her royal advisors who has also been thought of as to have been her lover. Under her reign Egypt flourished, instead of trying to conquer everything she could get her hands on she focused more on Egypt itself. Hatshepsut’s reign lasted 20 years and it only came to an end when she died February of 1458 B.C. After her death, her son tried to eradicate her memory by defacing and covering up her monuments and inscriptions. Maybe he hated her or maybe he wanted to make himself look more powerful in comparison? Who knows.

Why is she my role model?

This girl obviously doesn’t play around, she took control when Egypt needed her the most. Greatest thing about her was that she actually led a military expedition something that was and kind of still is a predominately male profession.

She must have done something right if her son had to deface and destroy traces of her just to make himself look better. Jealousy might have played a huge role in the family? Or maybe he was just scared of always living in the shadow of her Excellency?

She represents one of the earliest feats of feminism. She became a leader in a society dominated by men and did an amazing job!

Sources: http://www.biography.com/people/hatshepsut-9331094#reign

                              https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L01bDlX5pTA