Case file 03
March 30, 2026
21 min
Pharoah
Fourteen centuries before Cleopatra, one woman ruled Egypt not as a queen or a regent, but as Pharaoh in her own right.
Identity confirmed
Hatshepsut
Long before Cleopatra became the name most people associate with powerful women in ancient Egypt, this episode's subject had already ruled as Pharaoh — not queen, not regent, but Pharaoh, with all the authority and iconography that title carried.
Her reign produced major building projects and a famous trading expedition, and her monuments were later targeted for erasure by successors uncomfortable with what she had proven was possible.
Episode references
- Britannica — Hatshepsut
- World History Encyclopedia — Hatshepsut
- History.com — Hatshepsut
- Wikipedia — Hatshepsut
Compiled from the show's publicly listed episode notes.
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