Seated Statue of Hatshepsut

Ancient Egyptian This seated statue of Hatshepsut shows the female pharaoh enthroned in the traditional pose of kingship, hands on her knees and wearing the royal nemes headdress. Carved around 1479 BCE from indurated limestone with traces of original paint, the sculpture stands 195 centimeters tall. Despite being female, Hatshepsut adopted full pharaonic regalia including the false beard, asserting her right to rule as a king rather than a queen regent.

The statue came from Hatshepsut's mortuary temple at Deir el-Bahri, one of ancient Egypt's architectural major works with its terraced colonnades cut into cliffs. Her nephew and successor Thutmose III later destroyed many of her images, but this example survived intact enough for reconstruction. The limestone allowed finer detail than granite, preserving Hatshepsut's serene expression.

The Metropolitan Museum displays this and several other Hatshepsut statues, the finest collection of her sculpture outside Egypt.