Chair & Bar Stool

Hatshepsut (1507-1458 BC) was the second female pharaoh to reign for longest in the 18 th
dynasty of Ancient Egypt, who has ruled for more than 20 years. Her mother was Ahmose
and father Thutmose I. Because the dynastic tradition only allowed for inbreeding,
Hatshepsut married her step-brother and later pharaoh Thutmose II, however they had no
heir from this marriage. Thutmose II’s second wife gave birth to the heir, who was raised by
Hatshepsut. When Thutmose II died at a young age, Hatshepshut came to power as a regent
for Thutmose III who was very young to reign. She then became the female pharaoh with the
support of religious authorities. While co-regency of royal women was socially accepted, it
was not appropriate for them to become the pharaoh. This is why the depictions of
Hatshepsut, especially those about her ceremonial clothes involve a fake beard and
resemble male clothing.

During her reign, she followed a strategy of peace, quelled
rebellions with her military knowledge and strategies, improved the trade routes and
wealth, and promoted the construction of many architectural projects. The most important
of these is the Temple of Hatshepsut, which also inspired Anıtkabir. Hatshepsut later
abdicated on the condition that her supporters, including her architect lover, would not get
killed. However, Thutmose III, who took over, did not keep his promise and killed all of her
supporters. Later, after Hatshepsut’s death, any tablet, statue, and depiction of hers was
destroyed systematically. Today, we still don’t know why any traces of Hatshepsut were not
allowed to remain. One of the predominant theories suggest that it may be due to the belief
in bad luck of having a female pharaoh.

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Bookshelf

Hypatia was a mathematician, philosopher and astronomer who lived in Alexandria between the 4th and 5th century AD. With the support of her father, Theon, she received a good education in times when women were not allowed to be active in social life, and managed to enter the male-dominated educational and scholarly circles. She gave lectures on philosophy, maths and astronomy at Platonic Academy at the Library of Alexandria. Her scientific work includes 8 volumes on conic sections of Apollonius of Perga among many more.

She became the symbol of science and education while the Christian church was gradually gaining influence. Although she was targeted by Cyril, the Patriarch of Alexandria with accusations of witchcraft, she continued her educational work. One day when she was on her way to work in the year 415, a mob of the Patriarch’s followers, Parabalanis waylaid her and brutally tore off her flesh from her bones using oyster shells. This marked the beginning of a long medieval decline, where scientific progress paused. In contrast, Cyril was declared a saint.

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Side Table

During the Heian Period (784-1192) in Japan, noble women of aristocracy had
certain privileges over the commoners, yet they still had to follow strict rules on
apparel, education and manners. Heian noble woman had to wear layers of silk
to conceal her body, but she also had to hide her face using a hand fan, screen or
dim light even from her close acquaintances. They were expected to be educated
to be literate, know Japanese poetry, or play a musical instrument for courtship.
It was not socially acceptable for these noble women to know about politics or
Chinese language, as these were reserved for men. However, they were allowed
to have an interest in poetry and storytelling, since they could take part in the
palace through this interest. A lot of women in the palace were known by their
nicknames than their actual names. These nicknames were often indicators of
their fathers, husbands, families and locations. As we don’t know her actual
name, the Japanese writer with the nickname of Murasaki Shikibu lived in the
11 th century during that period and worked in the palace as a lady-in-waiting.
Despite the traditions, she was raised by her father after her mother’s death at
an early age. She acquired Chinese language skills by listening to her father’s
lessons to her brother, and improved her skills by reading many important
Chinese texts. Because she had these language skills and was able to observe the
royal life closely as a lady-in-waiting, she later wrote the Tale of Genji of 1000
pages, which is considered to be the world’s first novel.

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