The majority of societies, both ancient and modern, are rooted around gender norms. How people act, how they interact with culture, how they interact with each other as well as other societies can all be refocused back to the structure of gender. In ancient Egypt women were given equal rights to men, allowing them to marry who they desired as well as buy and sell land alongside other often rare societal rights, however, there continued to be a norm on what jobs men could hold versus jobs women were expected to have. Traditionally in the culture only men were permitted to be pharaoh, women holding other titles such as Queen or Gods Wife of Amun, however, there were women who were able to rise to power and crown themselves as pharaoh. Hatshepsut was the fifth pharaoh of the 18th Dynasty during the New Kingdom, she served as her son Thutmose III regent but remained in power and after seven years as regent proclaimed herself as pharaoh. During her reign, Hatshepsut built some of the most impressive temples and architecture seen in Egypt at the time, her temple at Deir el-Bahri is one of the most visited sites in Egypt today. The majority of art and statuary of Hatshepsut features her in traditional pharaonic attire, that of a male pharaoh, many believe she wanted to be seen to be as powerful as any man before her though in her everyday life she identified as female. After her death her son Thutmose III rose to power and attempted to destroy all monuments and records of his mothers reign, thankfully unsuccessfully as she is still remembered to today as one of Egypts greatest rulers and second female pharaoh in history.

Many people are aware that Egypt had female pharaohs, Cleopatra being one of the most famous figures of ancient Egypt, however, many people have never heard of Hatshepsut despite her long and prosperous reign. History had forgotten her just as her son wished for. Hatshepsut reigned longer as pharaoh than any other woman and her accomplishments while in power were greater than any male pharaoh before her and many after her as well.

Focusing on how Hatshepsut was able to gain power and how she chose to be portrayed in male attire this paper will hopefully be able to define the binary represented in ancient Egypt and how Hatshepsut worked to redefine it. Looking at the temples she built as well as the power dynamic of genders in ancient Egypt that redefinition will be brought to attention. Hatshepsut was forgotten for centuries in history, it’s important to bring her and her reign to the attention of the many who would appreciate her power and understand how she broke down the gender binary of her time. By looking at “(De)queering Hatshepsut: Binary Bind in Archaeology of Egypt and Kingship Beyond the Corporeal” by Uroš Matić this paper will work through that binary to understand how Hatshepsut affected her culture. “Power and Gender in Ancient Egypt: The Case of Hatshepsut” by Kristina Hilliard and Kate Wurtzel will highlight the power that different genders held in ancient Egypt and how Hatshepsut disrupted this power. Finally by exploring the “Archaeological Exploration Using Magnetic and GPR Methods At the First Court of Hatshepsut Temple in Luxor, Egypt” by Hatem Odah, Ahmed Ismail, Ibrahim Elhemaly, Neil Anderson, Abbas M. Abbas, and Fathy Shaaban, the temple built by Hatshepsut will be put into an archaeological conversation alongside gender and power theory to fully understand Hatshepsut’s reign of power as a woman choosing to be recognized as a man.