Royal Women Who Ruled as Kings

A number of royal women from various periods of Pharaonic Egypt ruled as kings.  Kingship was seen as an 'androgynous totality' (McCarthy), of which the male Pharaoh represented the active, aggressive, masculine half; the female queen, the passive, protective, feminine half.  Most were the wives of Pharaohs who had died, or the mother of a Pharaoh.  It was usually the case, when a woman ruled as Pharaoh, that following the death of the Pharaoh, some crisis of succession occurred which allowed her to step in (ibid.).

Khentkawes I of the Old Kingdom may have ruled as Pharaoh, however her role is strongly debated; Sobeknefru, of the Middle Kingdom, indisputably ruled as Pharaoh after the death of her son; in the New Kingdom, Hatshepsut ruled as Pharaoh for a number of years, possibly even leading her own armies (Matić); Ramesside Tawosret ruled around two years, earning the epithet 'Lady of Heaven' (nbt pr) for Osiris in her tomb, with other gods receiving similar feminine epithets (McCarthy).

In order to make the kingship of a woman digestable in their patriarchal culture, powerful royal women adopted numerous masculine aspects both to their person, in their dress & name, & in the afterlife (ibid.).