Cross-dressing pharaoh found in her feminine form

Caroline Morley, online picture researcher

(Image: Mary-Ann Pouls Wegner)

Hatshepsut ruled Egypt in the 15th century BC in a relatively long and prosperous reign. Despite her success as a female pharaoh, she is often depicted as a man in statues because the belief that pharaohs were sons of the god Amon-Re. Hatshepsut also dressed as a man to meet this expectation.

A statue uncovered in Abydos, Egypt, is thought to show her more feminine side.

An expedition led by a team from the University of Toronto, Canada, found a wooden statue of a king, thought to represent this powerful woman because of its distinctly feminine features: a smaller waist and delicate jawline.

The find also included a private offering chapel, a monumental building and the remains of over 80 animal mummies.

The chapel, where the wooden statue was found, was close to a processional route. The team leader, Mary-Ann Pouls Wegner, said it was used for a long period - 1990-1650?BC.

"The offering chapel proves that people - probably elites - were able to build monuments right next to the processional route in the Middle Kingdom, and that at least one such chapel was allowed to stand in this increasingly densely built-up area and continued to receive offerings even 800 years after its initial construction," says Pouls Wegner.

Source: http://feeds.newscientist.com/c/749/f/10897/s/1d679785/l/0L0Snewscientist0N0Cblogs0Cshortsharpscience0C20A120C0A30Ccross0Edressing0Epharoah0Efound0Ei0Bhtml0DDCMP0FOTC0Erss0Gnsref0Fonline0Enews/story01.htm

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