Queen Hatshepsut, a rare woman who ruled Egypt, is usually depicted as a man, including a false ceremonial beard. She was half-sister and wife to Tuthmosis II. Her only child by him was a daughter, so upon her husband's death the throne should have passed to his son by a secondary wife with Hatshepsut serving as regent during the minority of Tuthmosis III. Refusing to yield place even when the boy came of age, she proclaimed herself Pharaoh and ruled until her death.
What Life Was Like on the Banks of the Nile: Egypt 3050 - 30 BC, Time-Life Books, Alexandria, Virginia, pg. 62
