Hatshepsut and the Female Kings of Ancient Egypt

Audience: A-Level Students

When studying the ancient world in terms of gender identity one of the more interesting case studies would be the female Pharaohs of ancient Egypt, particularly Hatshepsut.

Ancient Egyptians were supposedly very much in favour of the gender binary, believing men and women to represent two sides of the same coin (Cooney. 2018). Rather than undermining it women often helped support the patriarchal structure, through their sons, husbands, and brothers in order to keep their family in power and in turn retain their own influence.

“The first kingship had passed from the god Osiris to his son Horus, making each Egyptian king the living manifestation of the falcon god Horus ever after. The king was divine, even in human form, and his lineage was meant to follow from father to son forever.”

Cooney. 2018. 18.
With the Pharaoh being thought of as the earthly personification of the god Horus (Matic. 2016) the role itself was very much gendered as a ‘male position’.

According to Egyptologist Professor Toby Wilkinson, in ancient Egyptian there was not actually a word for ‘Queen’ (Wilkinson. 2011).  This of course makes sense as the king tended to have many ‘wives’ within his harem, which sometimes included his own half-sisters (Cooney. 2018), and thus only the relation to the king’s heir would elevate the status of the women.

There were several females who acted ruled as regent throughout the history of ancient Egypt however there was a difference between women who acted as regent in the stead of a male relation than those who reigned in their own rights.

Female Regents:
With women being seen as the less likely aggressors, the Egyptians allowed them to act as regents rather than letting uncles and the likes seize control of the throne via killing of young heirs (Cooney. 2018). Acting as a regent traditionally meant that the individual was a placeholder on the throne, acting only until the time in which the heir apparent came of age to assume the title of king. An example of this would be Merneith (ca. 3000-2890 BCE), ‘queen’ of the first dynasty, who acted as sovereign in the stead of her young son. Unfortunately very little information is known about her life, most likely because writing within Egypt was just beginning to emerge during this time period (Cooney. 2018).

The Female Kings:
What was so fascinating about ‘The Female Kings’ was because despite their taking the position of Pharaoh which was a strictly gendered role they were not trying to subvert gender but instead conform to the expectations of the role by taking on what was seen as the necessary traits required for the part.

Chronologically it could be argued that Neferusobek (Ca. 1777-1773 BCE) should be considered in this category as she did act as head of state without the accompaniment of a male during the 12th dynasty, however her reign was very short and her apparent femininity disqualified her as ‘Pharaoh’ or ‘King’.

Hatshepsut (Ca. 1473-1458 BCE) however, was the sister and wife of the Pharaoh Thutmose II, who reigned in her own right during the New Kingdom for twenty years after the death of Thutmose (Diamond. 2020). In the words of Cooney, Hatshepsut was considered quite the ‘rule breaker’ as she rose to prominence by acting as regent for a child who was not her son (Cooney.2018. 69). Furthermore, when considering historical figures her name is often synonymous of androgenous as her statue portrayals often depicted with a male’s body (Matic. 2016).

Diamond’s paper Hatshepsut: Transcending Gender in Ancient Egypt had a very interesting interpretation on the depiction of Hatshepsut as a male. The work suggesting that this outward portrayal of masculinity wasn’t one that she may have actually identified as but rather that she used it almost as a mask in order to manipulate her way into staying in power. This idea of gender being a charade is very reminiscent of Judith Butler’s theory of ‘Gender Performativity’ (Butler. 2004) but rather than focussing on the idea that Hatshepsut may have been indoctrinated with feminine ideals from birth it presents the notion that she instead used this performative narrative to her advantage.

Diamond then goes on to identify similar cases of ‘gender-bending’ in Egyptian history and mythology.

 “The appropriation of male symbolism by a female deity can be identified in several cases. For instance, in the myth of Isis and Osiris, Isis takes on the male role in the conception of Horus”

Diamond. 2020.
This poses the question as to if the ancient Egyptians were as committed to the gender binary as originally thought or if their society was more acceptable of gender fluidity. Perhaps even, they may have believed in a third gender as mentioned in Matic’s Gender in Ancient Egypt: Norms, Ambiguities, and Sensualities.

Bibliography

Butler, J. (2004) Undoing Gender. New York; Routledge.

Cooney, K. (2018) When Women Ruled the World. New York; National Geographic.

Diamond, K. A. (2020) Hatshepsut: Transcending Gender in Ancient Egypt. Gender & History, 32(1), 169-188.

Matic, U. (2016) Gender in Ancient Egypt: Norms, Ambiguities and Sensualities. Near Eastern Archaeology, 79(3), 174-183.

Wilkinson, T. A. H. (2011) The Rise and Fall of Ancient Egypt: The History of a Civilisation from 3000 BC to Cleopatra. London; Bloomsbury. 

Image – Large Kneeling Statue of Hatshepsut. Ca. 1479-1458 BC [Statue], At: The Met Fifth Avenue. 29.31.

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