The Rise and Fall of Hatshepsut
With Thutmose III out of the way, Hatshepsut could concentrate on forming alliances with heads of government to make her position worthy and accepted. She also made sure that important figures in government were on her side such as Senenmut who was her chief minister.
The Egyptians were not convinced that a female ruler was a good choice. She defended her claim and stated that her father had left her as successor to the throne, even stating that the god Aman had spoken to her and justified her right to the throne.
Seeing that her image was being tainted she ordered that all statues, paintings and inscriptions depict her as a male pharaoh including a beard and large muscles. She never intended to be portrayed as a man instead referring to herself as a "female falcon". Her success as ruler was more because people respected her father's memory rather than wanting to follow Hapshetsut as a female ruler.
Hatshepsut was a building pharaoh and took on the building of many structures including an impressive memorial temple at Deir el-Bahri. Whilst other pharaoh's claimed land as their claims to power, Hatshepsut wanted economic prosperity as her powerful tool. She developed a successful trade expedition which saw her ships return with gold, ivory and myrrh trees.
Eventually Hatshepsut's hold to the throne steadily weakened. Her allies aged and died and eventually Thutmose III took his place on the throne. it is said that Thutmose III had all of her paintings and sculptures removed and destroyed so that no evidence of her as a female ruler existed.