This study examines sculpted and engraved figural representations of Hatshepsut from her temple at Deir el-Bahri with an eye to their design, production, and presentation as well as their reception by viewers. In employing an analytical lens informed by queer theory and transgender studies, I seek to disrupt unspoken assumptions that ancient Egyptian ways of constructing and understanding gender mirrored those of modern scholars. I argue that that the evolution from conventionally feminine to conventionally masculine in Hatshepsut’s statuary and reliefs results from the process of artisans deciding how best to navigate the rules of decorum and convention surrounding kingship and gender, rather than a propagandistic mandate from the king herself. The examination of agency in the design and presentation of these images bears directly on the question of how radical it really was for Egypt to have a female king instead of a queen regent.