Hatshepsut (c. 1473-c. 1458 BC)

The statue of the Egyptian goddess of creation, Hathor (pronounced Hat-hor), found in the Temple of Hatshepsut at Dayr al-Bahri, Thebes, Egypt. It is appropriate that her statue was placed in the building, because the temple was intended as the elaborate tomb of Queen Hatshepsut (an 18th-dynasty queen of Egypt), and Hathor was, among many other things, the divine guardian of the resting places of the dead.

Queen (pharaoh) of ancient Egypt during the 18th dynasty. She was the daughter of Thutmose I, and the wife and half-sister of Thutmose II. Throughout his reign real power lay with Hatshepsut, and she continued to rule after his death, as regent for her nephew Thutmose III.

Her reign was a peaceful and prosperous time.

Hatshepsut reigned as a man, and is shown dressed as a pharaoh, with a beard. When she died or was forced to abdicate, Thutmose III defaced her monuments.

The ruins of her temple at Deir el-Bahri survive.