'Even though she was portrayed as a man in her, oftentimes they did give a nod to her female physique by making her waist narrower,' she is quoted as saying in a LiveScience article. In addition, University of Toronto Professor Mary-Ann Pouls Wegner, whose team found a wooden statue at Abydos that may be of Hatshepsut, notes that her waist was depicted as being somewhat slimmer than her male counterparts.

“Although for most of her reign Hatshepsut was depicted with the traditional image of a male king, the names that she used as king were formed with grammatically feminine participles, thus openly acknowledging her female status,” write Gay Robins in a 1999 article in 'The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology.' However, she did allow some feminine traits to come through. She took on a full throne name, and statues were created depicting her as a male king, right down to the beard. She did this for three years until, for reasons unknown, she became a pharaoh in her own right (although technically a co-ruler with Thutmose III). He was, however, a child and unable to rule Egypt, leaving Hatshepsut to serve as regent. With the death of Thutmose II, the throne fell to Thutmose III, a step-son and nephew of Hatshepsut. She “appears during her mother’s reign officiating as ‘God’s Wife of Amun’.”writes Michael Rice in 'Who’s Who in Ancient Egypt' (Routledge, 1999). In their personal life, the couple had a daughter named Neferure who would go on to assume royal duties. “The Egyptian army continued to quell uprisings in Nubia and brought about the final demise of the kingdom of Kush at Kerma,” writes Betsy Bryan in a section of 'The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt' (Oxford University Press, 2000). Like his predecessor, he fought in Nubia. In ancient Egypt, it was not unusual for royalty to marry within their family. Queen to Thutmose IIĪfter the death of her father, the Egyptian throne passed to Thutmose II, Hatshepsut’s half-brother and husband. “Underscoring her claim, one of the reliefs decorating Hatshepsut’s enormous funerary complex depicts Thutmose I crowning her daughter as king in the presence of the Egyptian gods,” write Helen Gardner and Fred Kleiner in 'Gardner’s Art Through the Ages: The Western Perspective' (Cengage, 2010). She also claimed that Thutmose I had named her as his successor before his death. After Hatshepsut became co-ruler of Egypt, she claimed to be of divine birth, the result of a union between her mother and the god Amun.

Hatchepsut by Joyce A. Tyldesley