Her real name was Hatshepsut, she ruled for 25 years from 1479 to 1458BC, during the 18th dynasty. She was a Pharoah, not just a queen. She is the only female Pharoah in ancient Egypt. She is known for the economic and trade progress she led, discovering new areas like Somalia, and keeping peace throughout her land. Her son came back after college and she did not give up the throne to him willingly. Our tour guide described her as devious when she created a legend about her birth - when he had praised male leaders for their cleverness. He kept saying how selfish she was for holding on to her power - i.e. stealing authority from the men around her. All of her images are rubbed out of her temple. Any space that looks like it had a person carved into the wall, is now removed. Rubbed out of history.
So anyone who knows me even a little might guess how I would respond to this situation. I found my all time fav soapbox and let the guide, as well as our group, know how I felt about this story. Hapti had her tomb built in the Valley of the Kings, rather than with the Queens. She built an oblisk that detailed her reign and had it placed in the Karnak Temple. Her son tried to build a wall around the oblisk to hide it from history. Interestingly, the wall has crumbled and the oblisk still stands. They TRIED to rub her out of history, but you can't. She made her mark on history and no one can take that away. I am inspired to study more about her, to be her advocate and defender. They may not like that women make history...but we do. No one can rub that out.
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