Skip to content

featuring historical research, writing, and media at st. mary's university

  • World History

    World History

    Menu
    • World History
    • Pre-Classical History (to 600 BCE)
    • Classical History (600 BCE-600 CE)
    • Post-Classical History (600 CE-1492 CE)
    • Early Modern History (1492-1789)
    • Modern History (1789-1914)
    • Global History (1900-present)

    From the Ancient World

    The Battle of Zama: Rome's Vengeance

    Posted by Davis Nickle12/01/2020

    From the Modern World

    The Holy See Takes On The Fight Against Climate Change

    Posted by Victor Rodriguez11/30/2020

    Regional Histories

    Menu
    • African and African American Studies
    • Latin American Studies
  • US History

    Early America

    Menu
    • US-Three Worlds Meet (to 1620)
    • US-Colonization and Settlement (1585-1763)
    • US-Revolution and the New Nation (1754-1820s)
    • US-Expansion and Reform (1801-1861)
    • US-Civil War & Reconstruction (1850-1877)

    ¿Es más difícil para un inmigrante adulto aprender inglés?

    Posted by Maria Obregón11/11/2020

    There's No Place Like Home, In Hollywood: The Story Behind Judy Garland

    Posted by Audrey Uribe10/31/2019

    Woman Made of Stone: The Murder of Albert Snyder

    Posted by Patricia Arechiga11/12/2019

    Korey Wise

    Posted by Maya Simon11/29/2020

    Tesla and the War of the Currents

    Posted by S. Michael Sleeter04/13/2019

    American Enemy? Renouncing Citizenship for Freedom and Enhancing Rights for All Americans

    Posted by Thiffany Yeupell04/16/2020

    Mark Zuckerberg: How a CEO went from Anxious to Greatness

    Posted by Alexandria Wicker11/23/2020

    Where Will it Lead (Pb) Us from Here: A Global Necessity or a Disaster Waiting to Happen?

    Posted by Midori Flores11/18/2020

    Los Beneficios de los Programas Bilingües en los Estados Unidos

    Posted by Yamilet Muñoz12/02/2020

    Private Felix E. Longoria: An Affair, Some Would Rather Not Remember!

    Posted by Lulu Guadalupe Avitua-Uviedo09/20/2020

    Tus idiomas te definen, mentalmente hablando

    Posted by Ángel Velarde10/11/2020

    Raping and Killing: "Casualties of War" in Vietnam

    Posted by Doan Mai12/14/2019

    The Shock Heard Around The World: Milgram's Experiment

    Posted by Ava Rodriguez05/10/2019

    Chadwick Boseman: A King On And Off The Throne

    Posted by Donte Joseph11/07/2020

    On the Road Again: Charlotte Kahl's Journey Along the Old Spanish Trail

    Posted by Gabriel Cohen05/10/2019

    Remembering Ranchos De Las Cabras: The Forgotten Outpost of Mission Espada

    Posted by Shine Trabucco05/07/2019

    BEYONCÉ: The Early Days of the Worldwide Legend

    Posted by Sydney Hardeman10/01/2019

    Emmett Till: The Opposite Ends of the Race Spectrum in the South

    Posted by Emmanuel Ewuzie12/10/2019

    The Voice that Outshined the Rest: The success of Chris Cornell

    Posted by Christian Lopez11/24/2020

    The Opiate Epidemic: The FDA's Struggle to Control Opiate Abuse

    Posted by Abigale Carney11/15/2019

    The One Device: Story of the First iPhone

    Posted by Bruno Lezama12/08/2019

    Mendez v. Westminster: Planting the seed for Desegregation

    Posted by Erin Vento11/10/2020

    Movimienta Chicana: The Voice of Dolores Huerta

    Posted by Allison Grijalva11/04/2020

    Phineas Gage: An Ordinary Man

    Posted by Stephanie Cerda10/02/2019

    Elaine Brown and the Hidden Truths of the Black Panther Party

    Posted by Mia Morales05/10/2019

    America's Fallacy for the Poor: Innocent Until Proven Guilty

    Posted by Miranda Yzaguirre12/01/2020

    “I don't understand what you are saying, speak English.”: Tener un acento extranjero afecta la percepción.

    Posted by Lyzette Flores11/08/2020

    The Trials that Started the American Revolution: John Adams

    Posted by Andrea Degollado04/26/2020

    Envisioning the Future: the Start of Apple

    Posted by Adrian Garcia12/10/2019

    El Español y las Oportunidades Comerciales en EE. UU.

    Posted by Danielle Costly11/12/2020

    Contemporary America

    Menu
    • US-Industrial United States (1870-1900)
    • US-Emergence of Modern America (1890-1930)
    • US-Great Depression & WWII (1929-1945)
    • US-Postwar United States (1945-early 1970s)
    • US-Contemporary United States (1968-present)
  • Themes

    SPICE Categories

    Specialty Categories

    Special Themes

    Menu
    • Social History
    • Political History
    • Environmental History
    • Cultural History
    • Economic History
    Menu
    • Art History
    • Business
    • Crime
    • Gender Studies
    • Human Rights
    • Public Health and Medicine
    • International Relations
    • Linguistics
    Menu
    • Military History
    • Music
    • People
    • Psychology
    • Religion
    • Science & Technology
    • Sports
    Menu
    • Catholic Heritage
    • The Year 1968
    • COVID-19
    • Social Justice
    • Spanish Language
  • Showcase

    Showcase Editions

    • Vol 1 – 2016
      • Vol 1 No 1 Aug-Sep 2016
      • Vol 1 No 2 Oct-Nov 2016
    • Vol 2 – 2017
      • Vol 2 No 1 Jan-Feb 2017
      • Vol 2 No 2 Mar-Apr 2017
      • Vol 2 No 3 Aug-Sep 2017
      • Vol 2 No 4 Oct-Nov 2017
    • Vol 3 – 2018
      • Vol 3 No 1 Jan-Feb 2018
      • Vol 3 No 2 Mar-Apr 2018
      • Vol 3 No 3 Aug-Sep 2018
      • Vol 3 No 4 Oct-Nov 2018
    • Vol 4 – 2019
      • Vol 4 No 1 Jan-Feb 2019
      • Vol 4 No 2 Mar-Apr 2019
      • Vol 4 No 3 Aug-Sep 2019
      • Vol 4 No 4 Oct-Nov 2019
    • Vol 5 – 2020
      • Vol 5 No 1 Jan-Feb 2020
      • Vol 5 No 2 Mar-Apr 2020
      • Vol 5 No 3 Aug-Sep 2020
    Menu
    • Vol 1 – 2016
      • Vol 1 No 1 Aug-Sep 2016
      • Vol 1 No 2 Oct-Nov 2016
    • Vol 2 – 2017
      • Vol 2 No 1 Jan-Feb 2017
      • Vol 2 No 2 Mar-Apr 2017
      • Vol 2 No 3 Aug-Sep 2017
      • Vol 2 No 4 Oct-Nov 2017
    • Vol 3 – 2018
      • Vol 3 No 1 Jan-Feb 2018
      • Vol 3 No 2 Mar-Apr 2018
      • Vol 3 No 3 Aug-Sep 2018
      • Vol 3 No 4 Oct-Nov 2018
    • Vol 4 – 2019
      • Vol 4 No 1 Jan-Feb 2019
      • Vol 4 No 2 Mar-Apr 2019
      • Vol 4 No 3 Aug-Sep 2019
      • Vol 4 No 4 Oct-Nov 2019
    • Vol 5 – 2020
      • Vol 5 No 1 Jan-Feb 2020
      • Vol 5 No 2 Mar-Apr 2020
      • Vol 5 No 3 Aug-Sep 2020
  • About

    Course Readings

    Article Indexes

    About Us

    Menu
    • Course Readings – SC 3300 – Nash
    • Course Readings – SMC 1301 – Wieck
    • Course Readings – PO 4334 – Dr Celine
    • Course Readings _ PO 3365 – Dr Celine
    Menu
    • Course Readings – HS 2321 – Whitener
    • Course Readings – HS 2322 – Whitener
    • Course Readings – SMC 1301 – Whitener
    Menu
    • Our Article/Author Index
    • Award Winning Articles
    Menu
    • Our StMU History Media Project
    • Our Faculty Consultants
    • Our Writers
    • Contact Us
  • Descriptive Article, Gender Studies, Political History, Pre-Classical History (to 600 BCE), World History
  • September 23, 2016

“She’s the Man”: The Reign of Queen Hatshepsut

Statue of Queen Hatshepsut | Courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
Statue of Queen Hatshepsut | Courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
Soki Salazar

Soki Salazar

Winner of the Fall 2016 StMU History Media Award for

Best Introductory Paragraph

Article with the Best Title

Queen B said it best when she sang the infamous line, “Who run the world? Girls.”1 When looking back to history, men are seen as better and treated better than women. A long time ago, in ancient Egypt, women of the royal family served as guides to young male rulers. But there was one unconventional case where a woman defied the odds and obtained the role of pharaoh.

Queen Hatshepsut limestone statue | Courtesy of Encyclopedia Britannica

Queen Hatshepsut was the oldest daughter of Thutmose and his Great Royal Wife, Queen Ahmose. Thutmose, like most males who held power during those times, had another wife with whom he had a son. His name was Thutmose II; when he was at the age of eight and Hatshepsut was thirteen, they were wed, despite the fact of their shared blood line. When their father passed, Thutmose II assumed the position of pharaoh. While he was pharaoh, they birthed a daughter, but every male in power needs a male heir. Since she was unable to produce a son, he and a minor wife, Iris, conceived a son who became Thutmose III. Thutmose II and Hatshepsut reigned in Egypt until his death. The next male in line was Thutmose III,  but Hatshepsut’s step child was too young to fulfill the position of pharaoh, so she ruled in his stead. On that note, even when he did become old enough to rule, she refused to turn over the power to him, and she remained in power. That is when she began her transition from Queen Hatshepsut to Pharaoh Hatshepsut.2

the-temple-of-karnakat-luxor
The Temple of Karnakat Luxor built under Hatshpsut’s reign dedicated to the sun god, Amur | Courtesy of World History Encyclopedia

The Queen herself had a headdress made that included a beard and some male characteristics.3 She did not go out of her way to keep her gender a secret, for she did include feminine touches to her attire. Masculinity of course was respected more and was associated with power, which is why she sometimes took on such characteristics. Despite being a female ruler, at that time (and still today) people would not expect such a flourishing reign. Beginning  in 1473 B.C.E. and ending in 1458 B.C.E., under her control wealth was accumulated. When it came to the protection of Egypt, she engaged in successful warfare against her invaders.  She also had an extensive building program in which a temple of devotion to their sun god, Amun, was erected. Prosperity and wealth also came about because she sent ships on expeditions to foreign lands to obtain riches. These included ivory, ebony, gold, and trees. Now, why would they bring back trees? Whenever they had temple ceremonies, trees would be burned by the tons for fragrant incense.4

All good things must come to an end, and this particular ending is death. After she died, successors attempted to erase the fact that a female had become pharaoh.5 Even with this attempt to erase history, she is still known as a successful pharaoh to this day. She brought about protection, prosperity, and plenitude during her time as king. She did not serve as a guide to a young male pharaoh, but she showed how one must rule during her reign.

  1. Beyoncé, “Run the World (Girls),” in 4, Columbia Records, 2011. ↵
  2.  Ann Macy Roth, “Models of Authority: Hatshepsut’s Predecessors in Power,” in Hatshepsut: From Queen to Pharaoh, ed. Catharine H. Roehrig, Renee Dreyfus, and Cathleen A. Keller (New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2005), 10. ↵
  3. Roth, “Models of Authority: Hatshepsut’s Predecessors in Power,” 10. ↵
  4. Rupert Matthews, DK Eyewitness Books: Explorer (DK Publishing, 2012), 8. ↵
  5. Angela Murock Hussein, “Legacy of a Female Pharaoh,” Calliope 19, no. 1 (September 2008): 48. ↵

Tags from the story

  • Egyptian Pharoahs, Queen Hatshepsut

Share this post

Share on facebook
Share on google
Share on twitter
Share on linkedin
Share on pinterest
Share on print
Share on email
Soki Salazar

Soki Salazar

Author Portfolio Page

Our Lady of Paris

Winner of the Fall 2016 StMU History Media Award for Best Featured Image Whenever we hear

Read More »

The Race of the Human Race

The human species that today makes astounding advances in technology, and particularly in the medical field,

Read More »

This Post Has 85 Comments

  1. Avatar
    Amanda Gutierrez 13 Sep 2020 Reply

    Interesting article! Queen Hatshepsut is always an intriguing topic. I loved your introduction with starting the article with a Beyonce reference as it catches the readers’ attention. With the numerous male names one could find in a World History textbook, it is refreshing to read a story such as Hatshepsut’s. She was truly one of the greatest rulers of her time. Overall, this was a well-executed article! Nice job!

  2. Mia Hernandez
    Mia Hernandez 5 Sep 2020 Reply

    The introduction to this article was amazing! Queen B always catches my attention but Queen Hatshepsut had me intrigued with her ruling. This article showed how strong women really are. Queen Hatshepsut demonstrated that woman can do a task just as good or even better than a male. I can not believe that they tried to get rid of any evidence that showed her as ruler. I do not understand why they weren’t just as proud of her as they would have been if it was a male ruler. I had never heard of a female ruler in Egypt and I think it was a good surprise.

  3. Avatar
    Micheala Whitfield 9 Apr 2020 Reply

    Women will always be the backbone or the creator of something successful. Great article and the way it was written. You told the story of her life. I really wish I could have read more about the things she did during her reign. That was a long reign and no one over threw her or even tried to kill her. Well probably didn’t succeed that is. What I think is hilarious is the fact they tried to get ride of the evidence of such a ruler. Just because she is female. Female are incredibly powerful and in Egypt you don’t get to see that very often. Awesome story.

  4. Avatar
    Kasandra Ramirez Ferrer 11 Nov 2019 Reply

    This is really an amazing story and I liked it a lot, I thought the idea of a woman being an Egyptian emperor was impossible since Egyptian culture was extremely strict and traditions had to be followed. There is no doubt that pharaoh Hatshepsut brought wealth and prosperity to the empire in her reign until she died, it’s no surprise that after her death people tried to erase everything she did and the fact there was a female pharaoh. However, the power and influenced cold not been erased by others since now is known Pharaoh Hatshepsut existed and was a great ruler.

  5. Avatar
    Andrea Degollado 11 Nov 2019 Reply

    Very well written article! This article was truly amazing to read. Queen Hatshepsut really demonstrated that women can achieve anything, she is undeniably one of the greatest rulers of all time. I loved the Beyonce reliance! I think it was so interesting to read how she put a beard on to seem more dominant and powerful to the public, This was a great article! good job!

Comments navigation

Previous commentPrevious

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

StMU History Media

A Student Organization of St. Mary's University of San Antonio Texas

Sponsors

  • College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences, St. Mary's University
  • Department of History, St. Mary's University
  • Department of Political Science, St. Mary's University
  • Center for Catholic Studies, St. Mary's University

Support Services

  • The Learning Assistance Center, St. Mary's University
  • Louis J. Blume Library Services, St. Mary's University
  • STRIVE Career Center, St. Mary's University
  • Academic Technology Services, St. Mary's University

About

  • About Us
  • Our Authors
  • Our Archive
  • Contacts

© All rights reserved

Twitter
Facebook
Pinterest