The 18th Dynasty pharaoh Hatshepsut surely wins the prize for gutsiest cross-dresser of all time, if only because she played for the highest stakes. Hatshepsut ruled Egypt for two decades (from 1479 to 1458 BCE), which makes her the first major female head of state - the first one we know about, anyway. While women could be leaders in ancient Egypt, a pharaoh was by definition male. So Hatshepsut had to invent a hybrid gender, presenting a challenge to the sculptors charged with translating her flesh into stone.

Hatshepsut's fluid identity is the focus of a captivating and opportune exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum that focuses both on the fruitful period of her reign and on shifting representations of the woman herself.

The daughter of one pharaoh, and queen to another, Hatshepsut ruled after her husband's death, acting as regent for a stepson. Up to that point, her trajectory was not unusual. Women had ruled Egypt before as "mothers of the king," keeping the dynasty intact while their young charges matured...

Our pharaoh lady, Newsday, New York, March 26, 2006.

The Tutankhamun road show is skipping New York, but it's only fair. He ravished the city 30 years ago with an unprecedented showcase at the Metropolitan Museum; so ridiculously popular, tickets were distributed by lottery.

And yet, some special Egyptian excitement was required this year, the 100th anniversary of the Metropolitan's department of Egyptian art — a great, great part of the museum. Undoubtedly New Yorkers take it for granted.

But not this spring.

On Tuesday, the museum will open "Hatshepsut: From Queen to Pharaoh," a big undertaking about one of the first named, self-made female big shots in history...

Mrs. Big Shot, Staten Island Advance, New York, March 26, 2006.

A thing is mysterious if you don't know what or how to feel about it, and wish you did. Mystery is a lack not of information but of meaning. Indeed, greater knowledge of certain subjects can intensify rather than soothe emotional itchiness about them, as witness the exhibition “Hatshepsut: From Queen to Pharaoh,” at the Metropolitan Museum. Hatshepsut led Egypt for two decades, during one of its imperial peak periods, the Eighteenth Dynasty, close to thirty-five hundred years ago, first as regent for her stepson and nephew, Tuthmose III, and then as the officially co-ruling but apparently unimpeded king — she assumes male attributes in her later depictions, including the distinctive headdress and ceremonial beard...

RULE LIKE AN EGYPTIAN, The New Yorker, New York, March 27, 2006.

If you've been procrastinating about seeing the King Tut exhibit in Fort Lauderdale, time is running out.

Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs ends April 23, after which the gilded and bejewelled possessions of ancient Egypt's boy king and his contemporaries will head for Chicago.

On display now at Fort Lauderdale's Museum of Art are more than 130 objects from the tombs of Tut and other 18th Dynasty royals and well-to-do Egyptians. Fifty of the artifacts are from Tut's tomb, including his royal diadem — a gold crown that encircled the head of his mummified body — and solid gold canopic coffinettes that contained his mummified internal organs.

When the exhibit opened in December, the Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention and Visitors Bureau dubbed Tut "the king of bling." "That's because you walk in there and all you see is gold and shine and bling," says Nicki Grossman, bureau president. "Virtually every piece is outstanding when you look at it..."

Opulence on exhibit in 'King Tut', Orlando Sentinel, Florida, March 25, 2006.

In February, I visited the world-famous King Tut exhibit in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. It's on display until April 23 [2006] when it moves to Chicago and then Philadelphia.

The extraordinary artifacts from an ancient royal Egyptian tomb will remain in the United States until September 2007, and if the large Florida crowds are an indicator of public interest, the exhibit will attract throngs at its next two American venues.

Tut — his full name was Tutankhamun — was a "boy-king" who at age 8, scholars believe, succeeded to the throne about 1333 BCE Tut ruled for about nine years before his own death, the cause of which remains a medical and historical mystery...

Tut's gold creates new way to see Passover, Winston-Salem Journal, North Carolina, March 25, 2006.

If you still have energy after touring the Heritage Hill area, Grand Rapids has several great museums in the downtown area.

Adults and children will enjoy "Treasures of Ancient Egypt: The Quest for Immortality," the largest collection of ancient objects ever to leave Egypt for North America. It is at the Grand Rapids Public Museum until May 7 [2006]. Many of the items on exhibit never have appeared in the United States.

On view are such artifacts as an 18th-dynasty quartzite portrait statue of Amenhotep, the architect who oversaw the construction of the temple of Karnak at Thebes and a rare surviving gold funerary mask, this one dating back to the 21st dynasty of Wenudjebauendjed. Other treasures on display include gold and precious stones jewellery created for the pharaoh Shoshenq I (945-924, BCE)...

Some tips to complete your trip to G.R., Everything Michigan, Michigan, March 19, 2006.