Hatshepsut حتشيبسوت (Miniature)

An eco-friendly soft doll, manufactured all from fabrics,30 cm length

The Bearded Queen… Hatshipsute, reigned in her own right c. 1473–58 BCE. She was the daughter of King Thutmose I. She was married to her half brother Thutmose II. She ruled the country for 22 years.

Thutmose II inherited his father’s throne about 1492 BCE, with Hatshepsut as his consort. Hatshepsut bore one daughter, Neferure, but no son. When her husband died about 1479 BCE, the throne passed to his son Thutmose III, born to Isis, a lesser harem queen. As Thutmose III was an infant, Hatshepsut acted as regent for the young king, and was named the female king of Egypt. For several years, she ruled the country on behalf of her stepson

The “foremost of noble ladies,” Hatshepsut’s achievements as a powerful queen and then a ruling pharaoh have made her one of the most famous figures in the history of ancient Egypt.

 In ancient Egypt, a woman could not become pharaoh, Hatshepsut however, as the daughter of one pharaoh (connected with the divine in such a way that he is virtually recognized as a god himself) and the wife of another – claimed the purest of royal bloodlines – soon declared herself pharaoh despite her gender.

Hatshepsut is remembered as a prolific builder who commissioned countless construction projects. She also re-established trade networks and sponsored an expedition to the land of Punt, gathering ivory, resins, ebony, spices and other valuable goods.Hatshepsut commissioned hundreds of construction projects throughout both Upper and Lower Egypt. The need to legitimise herself as a pharaoh saw her constructing structures that were far grander than the ones constructed by her predecessors. Her reign was essentially a peaceful one, and her foreign policy was based on trade rather than war.

Her mummy was discovered in 1903 in tomb number KV 60 at the Valley of the Kings.