Article: Our pharaoh lady: A Met exhibit delineates a queen's rise in molding herself as Egypt's king.

Byline: Ariella Budick

Mar. 26--The 18th Dynasty pharaoh Hatshepsut surely wins the prize for gutsiest cross-dresser of all time, if only because she played for the highest stakes. Hatshepsut ruled Egypt for two decades (from 1479 to 1458 BC), which makes her the first major female head of state - the first one we know about, anyway. While women could be leaders in ancient Egypt, a pharaoh was by definition male. So Hatshepsut had to invent a hybrid gender, presenting a challenge to the sculptors charged with translating her flesh into stone. Hatshepsut's fluid identity is the focus of a captivating and opportune exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum that ...

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