After her husband Thutmosis II’s death, she became his regent since his son, Thutmose III was just a child and unable to take the throne. Although ancient Egyptian women had higher status compared to women in other parts of the ancient world, the tittle of Pharaoh was still exclusively male. She used many strategies, such as her ambition to legitimize and establish her role as a female pharaoh in a male dominated society. She played a crucial role in Egypt’s trade expansion, her most famous expedition was the one she led to Punt. It was recorded in relief on the walls of her memorial temple, the Deir el-Fhair which is also famous for its realistic depictions of the …show more content…
The Egyptians brought back vast riches including gold, resins, ebony, backwoods, wild animals and live trees. This is the first recorded transportation of foreign trees, which were later used in the courts of the Deir el-Fhair. The Queen has had successful expeditions after the one in Punt but little is documented/known about them. What makes Hatsheput unique was not only the fact that she made herself the first female pharaoh but also how she tried to manipulate the issues surrounding her gender and power through art and architecture during her reign. Her visual representations of herself didn't conform to one specific gender, they were more androgynous. For example when she depicted herself as a female king she would wear traditional queenly imagery which included a sheer dress showing off her feminine curves along with names headdress which was associated with pharaohs. She further broke tradition by depicting herself as a man while offering matt to Amun, this representation no only helped her fulfill her role as pharaoh but also gain acceptance from her people. She was a prosperous ruler that enhanced and maintained Egypt’s prosperity as well as re- established major trading routes, constructed numerous building projects that surpassed the ones built by Kings before her in the Old Kingdom and the Middle Kingdom. It was