Guest Author - Lisa Shea

After decades of research and searching, the mummy of Hatshepsut has been found. This amazing woman was not just a queen - she was a Pharoh, over 3,000 years ago.

The show on this research first airs on Sunday, July 15th 2007 on the Discovery Channel. I was lucky enough to see a preview of the show and found it simply fascinating. Hatshepsut, like many royal children, was forced to marry her brother in order to continue her line in a pure manner. Luckily for her, her brother died while she was only a teenage girl. This put her brother's child with another woman in line for the throne. Hatshepsut's stepson was only a baby at this point, though, so Hatshepsut acted as a regent while he grew.

Hatshepsut was intelligent and governed extremely well. So well that she did not want to turn control of the lands over to this young tyke, even when he came of age! Instead, she took the outrageous step of annointing herself as Pharoh. To be queen was one thing; every Pharoh was supposed to have a queen at his side. For a female to actually become a Pharoh was quite another.

When Hatshepsut died, her image was physically removed from paintings, walls, and other records. She was obliterated from history! This show goes into why that happened, what Hatshepsut was like, and what happened to her mummy. It is really fascinating on many levels. Hatshepsut was a good ruler - but the fact that she was female and trying to be a leader upset many people. They simply could not accept the fact that a female would be a leader - and this led them to the extreme step of destroying all historical records of her leadership role once she was dead.

Highly recommended viewing for anyone who wants to see how extreme anti-female measures were in the past - and to consider if in the intervening 3,000 years how we have still not overcome some of these issues! If you can't see it on TV, see if you can rent the DVD once it comes out. It's very interesting.

Discovery Program on Hatshepsut