Hatshepsut, the mysterious Queen of the Nile

When people discover I'm a native Egyptian, they usually bring up the pyramids and pharoahs, especially strong women like Cleopatra. I try not to wince, knowing good old Cleopatra was actually Greek. I know they don't mean any harm by that mistake and probably thought it was a nice icebreaker. I refrain from telling them they're probably just thinking of that iconic scene in the movie "Cleopatra", with Elizabeth Taylor lasciviously posing for Richard Burton.

Instead, when I think of a powerful Egyptian queen, I think of Hatshepsut. She is a mysterious figure and her life remained hidden until early 1800. She was the elder daughter of Thutmose I. She married her half brother (common practice in pharaoh culture) at age twelve. Her death remains a mystery. Some speculate that she was killed and others believe that she died of cancer.

She made sure that artists portrayed her as a muscular male wearing the traditional false bread - no doubt to show strength and overcome plots against her. She is also the most controversial queen in Egyptian history with three rumors surrounding her story.

First Rumor

Egyptologists said she was pulling the royal strings because her husband Thutmose II was weak. While the king was sick and died young, there's no evidence to support that she was manipulative. Then again, strong women find a way to exert their will.

Second rumor

It began with the priests in Amon temple. When her husband died, they suspected that she killed the king, ignoring the fact that his health was failing. At the death of her husband, his illegitimate son (by a concubine) Thutmose III was named king. Hatshepsut became the legal guardian for the child king. After seven years, she managed to improve her title to Queen Regent, a move that painted her in history as an ambitious and greedy queen. Egyptologists now believe that her move to become queen regent might have been an attempt to safeguard the throne for Thutmose III due to a political crisis and conflict with another family branch attempting to usurp the throne.

In his book Queen of Egypt, El Damatee called her "the ambitious queen with six fingers." Fun fact: Hatshepsut was the first to ever wear gloves (adorned with gemstones, naturally) to hide that birth defect. She also ordered all artists to make her hands look normal - after all, a pharaoh must not show any weakness.

Hatshepsut ruled Egypt for 22 years. During her reign, Egypt prospered. She turned Egypt into a thriving trading hub. She sent expeditions to neighboring countries to learn about their cultures. Her memorial temple at Deir El-Bahri is a great example of 18th dynasty architecture. She also had a lot of building projects.

Third Rumor

That brings us to the last rumor. It's rumored that her chief minister and architect, Senenmut, was her lover. Yes, she did give him some 80-90 titles. He went from her daughter's tutor to the man in charge. It's said that there was tunnel built connecting her tomb to his.

There's no actual proof to substantiate the alleged love affair. Hatshepsut had allies in several positions, but it's fun to muse about a love story. It's worth noting that Senenmut's death remains a mystery as well.

Thutmose III ordered the destruction of a lot of her monuments in an attempt to erase her traces from history. Hatshepsut had violated the religious law that stipulated the king had to be male in order to embody the god Horus. In fact, in some folkloric songs people called her 'Horus the female'. Blasphemous, right?

British archeologist Joyce Tyldesley, in her book about Hatshepsut, noted that there's so much we don't know about this powerful Egyptian queen. We do know she brought such exotic treasures as ivory and ebony to Egypt.

Now, if only there was a movie about Hatshepsut with Gal Gadot in the leading role, wouldn't that be wonderful?

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