History’s Most Complicated Wives

Hatshepsut was the Great Royal Wife of Thutmose II, but she refused to stay in the shadows after he died around 1479 BC. Instead, she claimed the throne for herself and even wore the traditional false beard of a pharaoh to make her authority crystal clear. She focused on trade expeditions and ambitious building projects such as her mortuary temple at Deir el-Bahari. After her death, later rulers, including Thutmose III, tried to erase her legacy by defacing her images and inscriptions.