Hatshepsut ruled ancient Egypt for 22 years during its 18th dynasty. She was Egypt's second female pharaoh, and just like all of Egypt's great pharaohs, she had temples and statues erected to honor her regime. But for centuries, even the memory of Hatshepsut was erased. By the men who followed her.
Of course, it’s not just in the past. We all know stories about the price women pay for power, even today.
Now, women historians and classics scholars are uprooting some of our longstanding cultural anxieties about women in power by digging up the past. In some cases, literally. Egyptologist Kara Cooney has written about the great queen Hatshepsut — a woman who should have become legend — as well as the many other women who ruled ancient Egypt. Anne wanted to hear about them.