One of the first people known to change their gender was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh
09, Jun 2026
Jackie Lay / NPR
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For Women's History Month, I wanted to highlight Hatshepsut, who was forgotten to history for over three millennia and is still not quite a household name. While Cleopatra and Nefertiti are much better known, no female ruler of the ancient world was as adept and successful as Hatshepsut, which may be the key to why her legacy was erased for so long:
To learn more about Hatshepsut — and the source for much of this reporting — read Kara Cooney's The Woman Who Would Be King: Hatshepsut's Rise to Power in Ancient Egypt and Elizabeth B. Wilson's "The Queen Who Would Be King," in Smithsonian Magazine.
Jackie Lay works on the Visuals team at NPR. She's an animator and illustrator who has been published at The Atlantic, Vox and The Washington Post. Find more of her work online, at JackieLay.com.
