Nefertiti was an extremely powerful woman in ancient Egypt, little evidence survives of her. But what has reached modern times somewhat lifts the veil of the mystery of her life.
And so, Famous Sculpture wants to show you 15 interesting facts about Nefertiti and of course tell you about the bust of Nefertiti.
Nefertiti became queen in her teens. At the age of 15, Nefertiti married the sixteen-year-old pharaoh Amunhotep IV, who later changed his name to Akhenaten.
Akhenaten and Nefertiti built a new city 5 years after marrying Nefertiti, Akhenaten founded a new religion with the worship of the sun god Aten. Eventually, the royal couple broke away from the old rule of Ancient Egypt and built a new capital, which is known today as Amarna.
Nefertiti probably came from a line of monarchs.
- Historians have 2 main versions regarding Nefertiti's family tree.
- In one of them, it is assumed that the Egyptian queen was the daughter of Pharaoh Ai, who before his ascension to the throne was an adviser to several rulers, including the future husband of Nefertiti.
- Other scholars suggest that she was a princess from the kingdom of Mittani in northern Syria.
Had many titles! During her reign, Nefertiti had many titles, including:
- Hereditary princess;
- Great praise;
- Mother of God;
- Woman of two lands;
- The main wife of the king;
- His beloved;
- Great wife of the king;
- Woman of all women;
- Mistress of Upper and Lower Egypt.
Nefertiti lived up to her name. The future mistress of Egypt was born in 1370 BC in the city of Thebes. Her name means "a beautiful woman has come." After marrying Akhenaten and changing her religion, she took the additional name Neferneferuaton. Her full name means "the beautiful beauty of Athos, the beautiful woman has come."
Akhenaten and Nefertiti probably ruled the richest period in ancient Egyptian history, which may have allowed the culture to flourish. The new capital of Amarna achieved an artistic boom, unlike any other era. The artistic movement gave birth to a style of figures with exaggerated proportions that had elongated arms and legs. The image of Akhenaten has distinctly feminine attributes with broad hips and prominent breasts.
She was a powerful wife! According to historical records, Nefertiti had 6 daughters. Despite the absence of sons, Amarna art depicts the royal couple as having a strong and loving relationship. Nefertiti is also shown in various roles, including as a charioteer, a participant in ceremonies with the pharaoh, and a conqueror of enemies.
Nefertiti was loved and hated at the same time. Nefertiti was loved for her charisma and grace but hated for her active involvement in the administration of the new religion that led to the collapse of the empire.
Nefertiti probably ruled after her husband's death. The circumstances of Nefertiti's death are still a mystery, as her name disappears from historical records around the 12th year of Akhenaten's 17-year reign. A popular theory suggests that at this point she renounced her old title and became an official co-ruler under the name Nefernefruaton.
And some scholars suggest that Nefertiti was the female pharaoh Nefernefruaton, who, as Egyptologists know, ruled until the end of the Amarna period.
Famous Sculptures reproduces exact copy of Nefertiti bust using our own data with thousand sculptures collections. Additive technologies and 3d printing of famous sculptures make it possible to recreate reproductions of the most famous busts, statues or figurines exactly as the museum original. Also, our company uses different materials for sculptures such as plastic, bronze, or marble.
Nefertiti's two daughters became Egyptian queens.
- Two of Nefertiti's six daughters became the rulers of Egypt.
- Meritaten became the Great Royal Wife of Pharaoh Smenkhkar. After his death, she may have even served as pharaoh under the name Neferneferuaton - the same figure that some Egyptologists attribute to Nefertiti.
- Ankhesenenpaaten's daughter became Ankhesanamon after her father's death, reflecting Egypt's return to polytheism. After the short reign of Smenkhkare and Neferneferuaton, she married her half-brother Tutankhamun and also became the Great Royal Consort.
Nefertiti was Tutankhamun's stepmother. The next pharaoh, Tutankhamun, or King Tut, was the son of Nefertiti, the ruler of Akhenaten, and his inferior wife.
Nefertiti may have been buried next to Tutankhamun.
- Nefertiti's burial place was unknown for thousands of years.
- In 2015, British Egyptologist Nicholas Reeves put forward the theory that she could have been buried in the tomb of Pharaoh Tutankhamun.
- Five years later, a group of scientists led by the former Egyptian Minister of Antiquities, Mamdouh Eldamati, confirmed this theory. Researchers examined the tomb using radar and discovered a previously unknown room near Tutankhamun's burial: a chamber about 2.1 meters high and 10 meters long.
Egypt is full of riddles and secrets, pyramids, pharaohs, and the great Sphinx. Along with world-famous pharaohs - Tutankhamun, Cheops, Djoser, etc., women - Cleopatra, Nefertiti - were able to leave their mark in the history of this ancient country with a rich history.
To date, the bust of Nefertiti is one of the most famous works of ancient Egyptian art, made in the Amarna style. The bust is a stylized portrait of Queen Nefertiti, who was the wife of Pharaoh Akhenaten, who entered history thanks to a number of innovative reforms that occurred in the period from 1351. to n. e. Currently, the bust of Nefertiti is exhibited as an exhibit in the New Museum in Berlin.
The bust of Nefertiti consists entirely of white limestone, which was painted on top using paints and coloring pigments that were known at that time. It is the extraordinary brightness of the colors and the clarity of the lines that create a stunning contrast with the brown complexion of the Egyptian princess and the extremely magnificent jewels in the crown. The beauty of Nefertiti's face is emphasized by a swan's neck and full lips of the correct shape, which even modern fashionistas would envy. The bust was found slightly damaged – the queen's left ear is slightly broken, and her left eye is scratched and not inlaid.
Without a doubt, Nefertiti is one of the significant and famous women of antiquity, and for modern people, her name and appearance, along with the Great Pyramids, the Great Sphinx and the eternally young pharaoh Tutankhamun, have long become an immortal symbol of the Egyptian Empire. Nefertiti ruled Egypt for twenty years, she was revered by her subjects as "the wife of the god", "high priestess" and one of the most beautiful women, even her name translates as "the most beautiful one."
According to one version, Nefertiti falls into disgrace because she was never able to give birth to a male heir to the King, and the pharaoh was forced to remarry a commoner, who gave birth to a long-awaited son.
According to the second version, before his death, Akhenaten completely transferred the reins of government into the hands of his wife, and she ruled the country on his behalf. In favor of this version, they say that the image of Akhenaten changed towards the end of his life - he became more and more like a woman.
In addition, archaeologists discovered frescoes depicting Queen Nefertiti with the regalia of the pharaohs. In their characteristic manner, she is engaged in the execution of criminals - piercing one hand with a dagger, while the other holds the head.
The story of the discovery of the bust of Nefertiti.
In 1912, German archaeologists, led by Ludwig Borchardt, excavated one of the ruined settlements, which are very numerous on the territory of modern Egypt. According to experts' assumptions, they excavated a workshop that belonged to the royal sculptor. One day, archaeologists noticed a part of the sculpture among the brick dust. After many hours of trying to carefully extract it from the sand and debris of the brick walls of the house, historians were able to see that their find is a life-size bust of a woman, made of limestone and with perfectly preserved colors. The woman's face had a gentle oval, a beautifully defined plump mouth, beautiful almond-shaped eyes, and a straight nose. The left eye is slightly scratched, and probably because of this defect, the well-preserved right eye fell out. The right eye is a rock crystal insert with a small ebony pupil. A blue top hat, rather tall, is wrapped in a small gray bandage, which is decorated with precious stones. According to the assumptions of archaeologists, the forehead of the bust used to have an aureus - a symbol of royal power in the form of a sacred snake.
The bust was taken by German archaeologists to Germany and today it is kept in the New Museum in Egypt. Throughout the twentieth century, the find was repeatedly subjected to various experiments by scientists. And quite recently, researchers made a sensational conclusion, according to which the face of the beautiful queen of Ancient Egypt was retouched after the initial version of the bust was made.
Thus, using the methods of computer tomography, the researchers were able to see under the layer of plaster, the real face of this woman - a pharaoh. As it turned out, Akhenaten's wife had a small hump on her nose, the corners of her lips were slightly lowered, there were dimples on her cheeks, and her cheekbones were not so clearly marked. Although the eyes were more expressive. Historians believe that the bust was redone more than by the changing canons of female beauty. This is how the cheekbones were polished more than once, the face changed, the eyes deepened, and only the royal ears remained untouched.
Together with the bust of Nefertiti, the Berlin Museum exhibits fresco images of Akhenaten's second wife, a small statuette of the Great Queen, also made of limestone, and two portraits of Nefertiti - made of plaster and granite. But despite the excellent condition of the rest of the exhibits in this ancient Egyptian exhibition, the bust always attracts the attention of tourists. It is he who is the main attraction of the museum and the visiting card of all Amarna art.