Sheneese Thompson at the 2015 ASCAC Conference
On March 21st, BU AFAM Master’s student, Sheneese Thompson (GRS ’15) traveled to the 2015 Association for the Study of Classical African Civilizations (ASCAC) Ancient Kemetic Studies Conference to present her paper, “Hatshepsut: Reinstating the Femininity of the Pharaoh,”.
Thompson’s paper challenged notions of the female pharaoh’s gender as problematic, and therefore a threat to her legitimacy. Instead, Thompson’s paper asserted that Hatshepsut’s program of legitimacy rested squarely on the concept of theogamy: that the pharaoh should be the product of a divine union between the god (as embodied by the pharaoh) and a royal woman. Thompson argued that Hatshepsut could make that claim, whereas here co-regent, Djehutimose III, could not. Hatshepsut, therefore,assumed the throne as the most qualified candidate, her gender (or biological sex) not withstanding.