Hatshepsut Question

Did Hatshepsut have to legitimate her throne to overcompensate for her being a female pharaoh?

The Hatshesput DVD that we watched at the start of the unit emphasised that the Egyptian theology (i.e. Ma'at) found female pharaohs to be an aberration to the cosmic order. In light of this, the documentary attributes her need to dress and depict herself as a male to maintain her power in a patriarchal society. The defacement of Hatshepsut's likeness after her death is also attributed to her disruption of the natural order.

However Gae Callender, an eminent Egyptologist, is wary of solidifying any hypothesis for the defacement of Hatshepsut's images after her death. In her article "A Critical Examination of the Reign of Hatshepsut", she addresses the ambiguity surrounding the accession of female pharaohs in particular to the throne. However, in light of the little evidence that is available, she concludes that there were "no legal impediment[s] to Hatshepsut's rule" - rather, she says, an edict passed in the Second Dynasty decreed that women could be recognised as legitimate monarchs. She points out that two queens had ruled prior to Hatshepsut, and had ascended the throne under the same conditions as Hatshepsut had done - upon the death of the pharaoh/ brother. She doesn't believe that there is substantial evidence to conclude that people did not approve of her because of her gender.