Instead of studying, I want to tell you about a bada*s woman named Hatshepsut.

She was the 2nd woman to become pharaoh in her own right in the Old Kingdom...that we know of.

She was considered a warrior pharaoh whose battlefield prowess was equally matched by her brilliance.

She utilized her bloodline and religious knowledge to first take over as regent for her stepson, and then transition fully to the seat of power. Being the daughter of the ruling family, she capitalized her relation to the sun god and claiming her father made her his successor.

She had to move quickly to prevent another branch of the royal family from seizing power. So after her claim, she reinvented herself in the image of the male pharoahs and built obelisks to honor her true father Amun.These images reassured the largely illiterate populace.

Not only did she reinvent herself in image and name to protect Egypt, but she picked up the sword to defend it. Twice when enemies threatened her homeland, she personally led armies into battle. Her people regarded her as a warrior as evidenced by their tributes to her temple.

But she wasn't just a brilliant strategist and warrior. She was also a brilliant economist and diplomat. She managed to open up trade routes far more extensive than any previous pharoah. This brought vast riches into Egypt from a distant land known as Punt.

These riches allowed her to focus on public works. She built temples, monuments, roadways and sanctuaries across her empire. Her most ambitious project was a memorial temple cut into the base of limestone cliffs that ensured her place in the afterlife and her legacy in this one.

But public works wouldn't be her only legacy. She believed in the arts. So much statuary and lavish trinkets created during her reign that you would be hard pressed to find an Egyptian collection in any museum around the world that doesn't contain some of it.

So why don't we know more about her? The archeologists who found her were bias against a woman pharoah, believe it or not. Without looking further into it, they believed she made a "vile grab for power."

While it is true her stepson disfigured her monuments, it was done at the end of his own reign. It seems Hatshepsut groomed him for power in her own but teaching him diplomacy, economy, and war.

It is now believed he tried to erase her reign only to strengthen the succession.

Fun Fact for our pop culture lovers:

She is oldest historical figure in our knowledge who had her own scent: myrrh. She would cover herself in myrrh resin daily so that she would "gleam". She was never without it. She even traded with Punt to obtain live trees.