Hatshepsut (or Hatchepsut, ), meaning, Foremost of Noble Ladies, was the fifth pharaoh of the eighteenth dynasty of Ancient Egypt. She is generally regarded by Egyptologists as one of the most successful pharaohs, reigning longer than any other woman of an indigenous Egyptian dynasty.

Although records of her reign are documented in diverse ancient sources, Hatshepsut once was described by early modern scholars as only having served as a co-regent from about 1479 to 1458 BC, during years seven to twenty-one of the reign previously identified as that of Thutmose III.

Now it is known widely that Hatshepsut assumed the position of pharaoh and her reign as king is usually given as twenty-two years since Manetho assigns her a reign of 21 years and 9 months. He was a historian who lived during the Ptolemaic era, during the third century B.C., and he had access to many records that have been lost. The date of her death is known to have occurred in 1458 BC, which implies that she became pharaoh circa 1479 BC.

Although it was uncommon for Egypt to be ruled by a woman, this situation was not unprecedented. Hatshepsut was the second known to have formally assumed power as "King of Upper and Lower Egypt" after Queen Sobekneferu of the Twelfth Dynasty.

As a queen regnant she is preceded by Merneith of the first dynasty; and Nimaethap of the third dynasty, who may have been the dowager of Khasekhemwy, but who certainly acted as regent for her son, Djoser, during the third dynasty, and—Nimaethap may have reigned as pharaoh in her own right. Ahhotep I, lauded as a warrior queen, may have been a regent between the reigns of two of her sons, Kamose and Ahmose I, at the end of the seventeenth dynasty and the beginning of Hatshepsut's own eighteenth dynasty. Amenhotep I, also preceding Hatshepsut in the eighteenth dynasty, probably came to power while a young child, and his mother, Ahmose-Nefertari, is thought to have been regent for him. Shaw and Nicholson, p. 28.

Other women whose possible reigns as pharaohs are under study include Nefertiti, Meritaten, Neferneferuaten, and Twosret. Another pharaoh, Smenkhkare, generally has been believed to have been male, but there is some evidence that this was a woman also.

Among the later, non-indigenous Egyptian dynasties, the most notable example of another woman who became pharaoh was Cleopatra VII, the last pharaoh of Ancient Egypt.

In comparison with other female pharaohs, her reign was long and prosperous. She was successful in warfare early in her reign, but is generally considered to be a pharaoh who inaugurated a long peaceful era.

She re-established trading relationships lost during a foreign occupation and brought great wealth to Egypt. That wealth enabled Hatshepsut to initiate building projects that raised the calibre of Ancient Egyptian architecture to a standard, comparable to classical architecture, that would not be rivaled by any other culture for a thousand years.