Called “the first great woman in history,” Hatshepsut reigned for two decades during Egypt’s early New Kingdom in the fifteenth century BCE. First acting as regent for her young nephew Thutmose III, in 1473 BCE she assumed the title Pharaoh and exercised the full powers of the throne as senior co-ruler, reestablishing trade networks and undertaking such colossal building projects as her mortuary temple complex at Deir el-Bahri. A savvy propagandist, Hatshepsut also commissioned statuary that depicted her in full pharaonic regalia, and even as a male Pharaoh. After her death, however, monuments bearing her image were ruthlessly defaced, and her name erased from historical records.

The exhibition dedicated to this extraordinary Egyptian, Hatshepsut: From Queen to Pharaoh, examines her reign in the light of the history and material culture of the early 18th Dynasty of ancient Egypt. The items on display, assembled from the extensive holdings of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and two dozen other museums from around the world, include an impressive array of monumental royal sculpture and reliefs, ceremonial objects, and exquisite jewelry that reflect the immense artistic creativity of the period.

The catalog accompanying the exhibition, published by Yale University Press, includes 386 illustrations, 226 of them in color, along with a number of topical essays written by eminent Egyptologists and curators. This “glorious exhibition catalogue,” raves Publishers Weekly, gives “a magnificent portrait of this remarkable woman and all aspects of Egyptian life in the 18th Dynasty, from religion and politics to art and jewelry,” making this “a splendid testimony to the life of this oft-forgotten Egyptian ruler.”

Hatshepsut: From Queen to Pharaoh will travel the United States (San Francisco, New York, Fort Worth) until the end of this year. The catalog is published in assocation with the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.