The Feminine Kingdom; Hatshepsut promoted peace, prosperity and great art.

Byline: Vibhuti Patel

A thousand years after the Pyramids were built, Queen Hatshepsut, widow and half sister of King Thutmose II, ascended Egypt's throne when the latter died prematurely in 1473 B.C. As regent for her infant nephew and stepson, Thutmose III, she was not the first woman to rule Egypt. But, for reasons that remain unknown, a few years into her regency, Hatshepsut discarded the title "queen" and became "king." She claimed double legitimacy--as King Thutmose I's eldest daughter and by virtue of her mythic self-propagated descent from the great god Amun. Because Egyptian kings were near-divine and crowned for life, Hatshepsut could not then abdicate in favor of her stepson. She became his senior co-ruler and controlled the Two Kingdoms, Upper and Lower Egypt, until her death 20 years later. Her remarkable and successful reign is now being commemorated at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art in the show "Hatshepsut: From Queen to Pharaoh" (through July 9).

Hatshepsut's rule was peaceful, except for an early military expedition against invaders that she herself led. It was also prosperous--under her, Egypt traded with its neighbors--and has been compared to that of England's Queen Elizabeth I and Russia's Catherine the Great. Like them, she became a patron of art and architecture: by encouraging the creation of some of Egypt's finest sculptures, monumental statues, magnificent temples and stunning jewelry, she launched an artistic renaissance that would influence ancient Egyptian design and culture for centuries.

Among the many works on display at the Met ...