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The building would have served as a way station for the festival barque of the god Khnum, said Felix Arnold, field director of the Elephantine Island mission. In previous excavation seasons at the same site, members of the Swiss Institute also discovered some blocks that may have come from the same building.
![female pharaoh female pharaoh](https://crownpublishing.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/The-Woman-Who-Would-Be-King-jacket.jpg)
In fact, the newfound blocks likely were part of a previously unknown building of Queen Hatshepsut that was discovered this year by the German Archaeological Institute, said Mahmoud Afify, head of the Ancient Egyptian Antiquities Sector, in the Ministry of Antiquities' statement on Facebook.
![female pharaoh female pharaoh](https://live.staticflickr.com/3213/2504677285_75171719e2_b.jpg)
As Egyptologist Ian Shaw noted in his book "Exploring Ancient Egypt" (Oxford University Press, 2003), "In the history of Egypt during the dynastic period (3000 to 332 B.C.) there were only two or three women who managed to rule as pharaohs, rather than wielding power as the 'great wife' of a male king."Īnd she was a builder: In his National Geographic feature on Hatshepsut "The King Herself," Chip Brown wrote about her legacy, and said she was "one of the greatest builders in one of the greatest Egyptian dynasties." During her reign, Hatshepsut erected and renovated many temples and shrines to the gods. It was unusual for a woman to become pharaoh of Egypt.