I think it's time for a little hello to Hatshepsut.

 When I was 12, I read a fictionalized romance on the life and loves of Queen Hatshepsut.  I never forgot it.  The story was largely about a romance between Senenmut and the Queen over the course of her reign.  She was also one of the few women who usurped the exclusively male throne of Egypt for over two decades.  An extraordinary accomplishment.  

The chief daughter of Thutmose I, Hatshepsut was married to her half brother Thutmose II in her early teens.  Now, what we would today call an adulterous relationship, and go ewwwww!, the royal Egyptians thought they were doing what they needed in order to keep the blood lines pure.  Purity of royal blood lines was one way in which these royals could hold onto their power base, in a land prone to periodic civil war, incestuous marriage became one more way in which a family sustained their authority.  In some sense, we have to leave our modern sensibilities behind, and embrace the mores of the ancient world.  I am sure that were the positions reversed however, that past peoples would have a difficult time understanding our customs...I mean what in the hell would they think about Jack in the Box and french fries?

It is constantly this gap that the historian must breach, using both imagination and cunning.  

For many years, the truth about what the English archaeologists named "Queen Hatasu" was relatively unknown.  Of course she must have been a Queen, and never Pharoah! At least, this is what nineteenth century archaeologists believed.  But among the Egyptological society in England of the mid to late 19th century, such assumptions were completely in character.

Alright.  So what do we know about Hatshepsut? Was her rule prosperous? Yes.  Was she a building pharoah? Yes.  Did her people love her? We don't know, but everyone loves prosperity and peace, and Hatshepsut's reign had both.

One characteristic we can ascribe to most of the successful pharoahs in Egypt's past, are the many temples, funerary structures, and various monuments they left behind to impress the people and their successors.  And Hatshepsut was no exception.  Tradition holds that these monuments contained an entire wing of the Great Temple at Karnak, of which a great obelisk was but one feature.  Do you have any bloody idea how hard it was to carve a stone which weighs a couple of tons, and then to erect it to be free standing? It was an architectural and engineering marvel, to be sure.

Not too B A D, eh?  look at how these spires dominate, hell, subjugate the immediate environment! And it is not for just a show of her power, but rather a show of male power.

Come on.  What else does an obelisk symbolize? Come on...

Recognize this one?

So, not just power, but male power.  This was ultimately how she validated her authority with the people and Egypt's neighbors.  And, let me tell you no one even today, knows how these obelisks were raised.  However there is a great documentary with some interesting speculations...

Quite early in her reign, Thutmose II died, leaving his young queen and child the throne.  She did not hesitate, and quickly moved to seize power into her own hands.  This left her husband's only son, Thutmose III out in the cold, but he is reputed to have been a son of one of her husband's concubines, and so beneath her notice, perhaps.  What exactly was their relationship? We don't really know.  It's quite possible that they were not enemies, and that the young Pharaoh in waiting and his ruler were on pretty decent terms.  Without HG Wells, we'll never know.  What we do know is that Thutmose III acted in the background, sometimes as a general, sometimes as an advisor, for much of Hatshepsut's reign.

During her reign, her people prospered.  She apparently ruled wisely.  One of the highlights of her reign, was of a trade mission to an African kingdom known only as "Punt."  The treasures brought back from this expedition were so unexpected and so wondrous, that they ended up on the walls of her funerary temple, Deir el Bahri.

Where was Punt exactly? No one knows exactly.  And yet, we have 'proof' of her success here with the scenes of the returning trade mission:

Here, you have a servant carrying, what is probably a platter of spice, most likely myrrh.  Look at the left hand side of the picture.

Spices (and no, not the Frank Herbert variety), exotic foods, and slaves.  Such riches as few rulers see in their lifetime.  It was such a successful expedition, that we still have documentation.  Crazy, huh?

Hatshepsut also took part in wars, with Thutmose III likely acting as her general.  Apparently, she was quite successful.

Under her watch, Egypt grew wealthy.

What makes her so interesting to me is the fact that she was truly gender neutral--something she was compelled to do, in order to sustain her power over her people.

such gender neutral images would make her exceptionally popular today, but again, served an expedient purpose back in the day.  Patriarchy, remember?

So, why Hatshepsut?  Simple.  Deir el Bahri.

her intended funerary chambers...

not too shabby, eh?  also reputed to have been designed by her lover/advisor Senenmut I.