nefertiti- the egyptian queen

7/29/2019 Nefertiti- the Egyptian Queen

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Experience Egypt's True Colors

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Egypt's Most Beautiful Queen

Queen Nefertiti

by Jimmy Dunn

Arguably, to those who are not very involved in the study of ancient Egypt,Queen Nefertiti is perhaps better known than her husband, the heretic king

Akhenaten(Amenhotep IV). It is said that even in the ancient world, her

beauty was famous, and her famous statue, found in a sculptor's workshop, isnot only one of the most recognizable icons of ancient Egypt, but also thetopic of some modern controversy. She was more than a pretty face however,

for she seems to have taken a hitherto unprecedented level of importance in

theAmarna periodof Egypt's18th Dynasty. In artwork, her status is evidentand indicates that she had almost as much influence as her husband. For

example, she is depicted nearly twice as often in reliefs as her husband, at

least during the first five years of his reign. Indeed, she is once even shown

in the conventional pose of a pharaoh smiting his (or in this case, her)enemy.

Family Line

Nefertiti may or may not have been of royal blood. She was probably a daughter of the armyofficer, and later pharaoh, Ay, who may in turn have been a brother ofQueen Tiye. Ay

sometimes referred to himself as "the God's father", suggesting that he may have been

Akhenaten's father-in-law, though there is no specific references for this claim. However,

Nefertiti's sister, Mutnojme, is featured prominently in the decorations ofAy's tomb in theValley of the Kings on the West Bankat Thebes (modern Luxor). However, while we know that

Mutnojme was certainly the sister of Nefertiti, her prominence in Ay's tomb clearly does not

guarantee her relationship to him. Others have suggested that Nefertiti may have been a daughterof Tiye, or that she was Akhenaten's cousin. Nevertheless, as "heiress", she may have also been a

descendant ofAhmose-Nefertari, though she was never described as God's wife of Amun.

However, she never lays claim to King's Daughter, so we certainly know that she cannot have

been an heiress in the direct line of descent.
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If she was indeed the daughter of Ay, it was probably not by his chief wife, Tey, who was not

referred to as a "Royal mother of the chief wife of the king", but rather 'nurse' and 'governess' of

the king's chief wife. It could be that Nefertiti's actual mother died early on, and it was left to Teyto raise the young girl. However, many other explanations have also been suggested.

Personal Life and the Relationship of King and Queen

Together, we know thatAkhenatenand Nefertiti has six daughters,

though it was probably with another royal wife called Kiya that theking sired his successors,SmenkhkareandTutankhamun. Nefertiti

also shared her husband with two other royal wives named Mekytaten

and Ankhesenpaaten, as well as later with her probable daughter,

Merytaten.

Undoubtedly, Akenaten seems to have had a great love for his ChiefRoyal wife. They were inseparable in early reliefs, many of whichshowed their family in loving, almost utopian compositions. At times,

the king is shown riding with her in a chariot, kissing her in public

and with her sitting on his knee. One eulogy proclaims her:

"And the Heiress, Great in the Palace, Fair of Face, Adorned with

the Double Plumes, Mistress of Happiness, Endowed with Favors, athearing whose voice the King rejoices, the Chief Wife of the King, his

beloved, the Lady of the Two Lands, Neferneferuaten-Nefertiti, May

she live for Ever and Always"

Crucially important to Akhenaten was Femininity which was not only basic to his personal life,but also to his thinking and his faith. In fact, it is indeed difficult to find another founder of a

religion for whom women played a comparable role. Akhenaten had a number of different

women about him, and they are depicted in virtually every representation of a cult-ritual or state

ceremony conducted by the king at his new capital honoring the sun god. Nefertiti was not theonly queen to be treated well.

Each of the royal women had her own sanctuary, which was frequently called a sunshade temple.

They were usually situated in a parkland environment of vegetation and water pools,

emphasizing the importance of female royalty in the daily renewal of creation affected by the

god Aten.
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However, it was the figure of Nefertiti thatAkhenatenhad carved onto the

four corners of his granite sarcophagus and it was she who provided the

protection to his mummy, a role traditionally played by the female deitiesIsis,Nephthys,SelketandNeith.

One influence within the personal lives of Nefertiti and Akhenaten must havebeen the presence of Akhenaten's mother,Tiye. Tiye would have held a

special position as a wise woman in his court, and we can only surmise that

this must have had some affect on the younger couple's relationship.

Queen Tiyeas the "wise woman" ofEl Amarnawas often depicted with facialfeatures that not only signaled old age, but life experience and wisdom calling

for respect and even veneration.

When Nefertiti's face is represented with the first signs of old age, this maywell signify that she has assumed the position of "wise woman" following the

death of Tiye, at which point her court status would have been even furtherelevated.

The Religion

Nefertiti and her King lived during a highly unusual period in

Egyptian history.

It was a time of religious controversy when the traditional gods of

Egypt were more or less abandoned at least by the royal family infavor of a single god, the sun disk namedAten. However, it should

be noted that the Egyptian religion did not actually becomemonotheistic, for cults related to the other gods did persist and theywere never really erased from the Egyptian theology.

It is believed that Nefertiti was active in the religious and cultural

changes initiated by her husband (some even maintain that it was she

who initiated the new religion). She also had the position as a priest,

and she was a devoted worshipper of the god Aten. In the royalreligion, the King and Queen were viewed as "a primeval first pair".

It was they who worshipped the sun disk named Aten and it was only

through them that this god was accessed. Indeed, the remainder of

the population was expected to worship the royal family, as the raysof the sun fell and gave life to, it would seem, only the royal pair.

However, many scholars presume that the Mutnodjme who later married King Haremhab is none

other than the younger sister of Nefertiti. In Akhenaten: King ofEgypt by Cyril Aldred, the

author explains that a fragmentary statue of Mutnodjme discovered at Dendera describes her notonly as "Chief Queen", but also "God's Wife [of Amun]", which he explains puts her in the line

of
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those other great consorts who traced their descent from Ahmose-Nefertari. This links both

sisters to the cult of Amun, which he tells us could obviously not have been openly proclaimed at

Amarna.

Yet we must be very careful with this link between Nefertiti and

Amunby way of her sister's later attachment to the cult.Haremhab considered himself to be an adamant restorer of the old

religion after theAmarna period, and so just because his Chief

Queen took the title of God's Wife does not necessarily mean that

Nefertiti held any real interest in that cult.

Doubtless though, Nefertiti may very well, and probably did

participate in a similar manner as God's Wife in the cult ofRe-Atum. Unlike other chief queens, she is shown taking part in the

daily worship, repeating the same gestures and making similar

offerings as the king. Where traditionally a relationship existed

between God and King, now that relationship is expanded toinclude the royal pair.

She in fact exhibits the same fashion as God's Wife. From her first appearance at Karnak, she

wears the same clinging robe tied with a red sash with the ends hanging in front. She also wears

the short rounded hairstyle. In her case, this was exemplified by a Nubian wig, the coiffure of herearlier years, alternating with a queens tripartite wig, both secured by a diadem bearing a double

uraei. Sometimes this was replaced by a a crown with double plumes and a disk, like Tiye and

her later Kushite counterparts.

She dressed for appeal, and if she fulfilled a similar function as God's wife of Amun in the

Amarna religion, part of this responsibility would have been to maintain a state of perpetualarousal. However, since the Aten was intangible and abstract, this appeal must be to his son the

king. Aypraises her for "joining with her beauty in propitiating the Aten with her sweet voice

and her fair hands holding the sistrums".

In fact, as the wife of the sun god's offspring, she took on the role of Tefnut, who was the

daughter and wife ofAtum. After the fourth regal year, she began to wear a mortar-shaped capthat was the headgear ofTefnut in her leonine aspect of a sphinx. She was then referred to as
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"Tefnut herself", at once the daughter and the wife of the sun-god. Therefore, Nefertiti played an

equal role with the king who was the image of Re.

Of course, as a god, no mortal could claim to be her mother, which may be the reason why Tey

must content herself with the titles of "Wet-nurse" and "Governess" In fact, it may have been that

she hid her parentage to conceal the fact that the progenitors of this high and mighty princesswere not also equally divine.

Nefertiti's Disappearance

Towards the end of Akhenaten's reign, Nefertiti disappeared from historicalEgyptian records. For a number of years, scholars though that she had fallen

from grace with the king, but this was actually a case of mistaken identity. It

was Kiya's name and images that were removed from monuments, and replaced

by those of Meryetaten, one of Akhenaten's daughters. It has been suggested,though there is no hard supporting evidence, that by year twelve of Akhenaten's

reign, and after bearing him a son and possibly a further daughter, Kiya becametoo much of a rival to Nefertiti and that it was she who caused Kiya's disgrace.

It is possible that Nefertiti disappearance a number of years after that of Kiya's

simply meant that she died around the age of thirty, though there arecontroversies on this matter as well. It may not be simple coincidence that,

shortly after Nefertiti's disappearance from the archaeological record,

Akhenatentook on a co-regent with whom he shared the throne ofEgypt. Thisco-regent has been a matter of considerable speculation and controversy, with a

whole range of theories. One such theory puts forward the idea that the co-

regent was none other than Nefertiti herself in a new guise as a female king

following the lead of women such asSobkneferuandHatshepsut. Anothertheory is that there were actually two co-regents, consisting of a male son

namedSmenkhkare, and Nefertiti under the name Neferneferuaten, both of

whom adopted theprenomen, Ankhkheperure. Undoubtedly, like her husbandwho was originally named Amenhotep, she too took the new name,

Neferneferuaten to honor the Aten (Neferneferuaten can be translated as "The

Aten is radiant of radiance [because] the beautiful one is come" or "Perfect One

of the Aten's Perfection"). Indeed, she may have even changed her name priorto her husband doing so, but rather this means she also served as co-regent is

questionable.

Some scholars are considerably adamant about Nefertiti assuming the role of co-regent, and evenserving as king for a short time after the death ofAkhenaten. One such individual is Jacobus VanDijk, responsible for the Amarna section of the Oxford History of Ancient Egypt. He believesthat Nefertiti indeed became co-regent with her husband, and that her role as queen consort was

taken over by her eldest daughter, Meryetaten (Meritaten). If this is true, then Nefertiti may have

even taken up residence in Thebes, as evidenced by a graffito dated to year three in the reign ofNeferneferuaten mentioning a "Mansion of Ankhkheperure". If so, there could have been an

attempt made at reconciliation with the old cults. He also suggests that Smenkhkare might have
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also been Nefertiti, ruling after the death of her husband, with her own daughter acting in a

ceremonial role of "Great Royal Wife".

However, other scholars are equally adamant against Nefertiti ever having been a co-regent or

ruling after her husband's death. In his book, Akhenaten: King of Egypt, Cyril Aldred references

a funerary objected called a shawabti. On it was inscribed:

"The Heiress, high and mighty in the palace, one trusted [of the King of Upper and Lower Egypt

(Neferkheperure, Wa'enre), the son of Re (Akhenaten), Great in] his Lifetime, the Chief Wife ofthe King (Neferneferuaten-Nefertiti), Living for Ever and Ever."

Aldred claims that this shawabti, according to the above inscription, can only belong to Nefertiti,

and not, as some scholars argue, a donation by her to Akhenaten's burial. Presumably, this object

was made after the queen's death as it was the custom during this period to make such objectsduring the embalming process.

Aldred also maintains that is was the custom in orthodox funerary benedictions to follow thename of the deceased with maet kheru (justified). Akhenaten rejected this practice as part of his

new religion, but even so, two of his own shawabti were nevertheless inscribed with phrase afterhis own death. However, even though the phrase returns to favor immediately after Akhenaten'sdeath, it is absent from Nefertiti's shawabti, evidencing her death during his reign.

He also notes that the shawabti represents her as a queen regnant, and not as a co-regent in maleattire. Though this single piece of evidence seems somewhat scanty, he believes that Nefertiti

died during year 14 of Akhenanten's reign.

If he is indeed correct that Nefertiti died during the reign of her husband, his dating is probably

correct. Nefertiti is depicted on a number of reliefs including that of her second daughter's burial,

who is believed to have died during the thirteenth year of Akhenanten's reign. However, that is

the last that we see of the queen. This is also about the time (year 14) that dockets for delivery ofwine from the estate of Nefertiti also cease, so the presumption by Aldred is that Nefertiti must

have died sometime very near Akhenaten's 14th year as king.

Recent Controversy

Nefertiti is perhaps best remembered for the painted limestone bust depicting her. Many consider

it one of the greatest works of art of the pre-modern world.
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Sometimes known as the Berlin bust, it was found in the workshop of the famed sculptor

Thutmose. This bust depicts her with full lips enhanced by a bold red. Although the crystal inlayis missing from her left eye, both eyelids and brows are outlined in black. Her graceful elongated

neck balances the tall, flat-top crown which adorns her sleek head. The vibrant colors of the her

necklace and crown contrast the yellow-brown of her smooth skin. While everything is sculpted

to perfection, the one flaw of the piece is a broken left ear. Because this remarkable sculpture isstill in existence, it is no wonder why Nefertiti remains 'The Most Beautiful Woman in the

World.'

However, the bust plays a part in one recent controversy.For more thaneight decades, the serenely beautiful likeness of Queen Nefertiti's head

has been the most celebrated exhibit in Berlin's Egyptian Museum,attracting thousands of visitors and resisting all attempts at repatriation.

But a conceptual artwork involving the 3,300-year-old limestone bustand the body of a scantily clad woman has provoked outrage in the

queen's homeland and the accusation that Nefertiti is no longer safe in

Germany.

The artwork is the brainchild of a Hungarian duo called Little Warsaw,

and involved lowering the head of Nefertiti on to the headless bronzestatue of a woman wearing a tight-fitting transparent robe.

This angered a number of officials in Egypt for several reasons. First of all, it must be

remembered that Egypt is a rather conservative society and the attachment of Nefertiti's head to

an almost nude statue was seen as an affront to Egyptian sensibilities. However, it was alsopointed out by some Egyptian Egyptologists that such a display might give rise to some damage

to the bust.

Irregardless, this controversy is probably short lived. The display apparently only lasted for a fewhours and so the controversy has largely been mitigated at this point.

A recent, more enduring controversy surrounding Nefertiti is the

possible discovery of her mummy, or at least the new identificationof a previously known mummy. Soon after the incident involving

Nefertiti's bust, Joanne Fletcher, a noted mummification expert from

the University of York in England, announced that she and her team
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may have identified the actual mummy of the queen.

Back in 1898, the French EgyptologistVictor Loretexcavated the

tomb ofAmenhotep IIon the Theban necropolis and came upon a

remarkable find. This was the first tomb ever opened in which the

Pharaoh was still in his original resting place, and, moreover, elevenother mummies were also discovered in a sealed chamber in the

tomb. All but three of these mummies, due to their critical state of

preservation, were transferred to theEgyptian Antiquities MuseuminCairo.

One of the three mummies that were left behind became known among Egyptologists as the

"Younger Lady" and since then Egyptologists have swayed between believing this corpse to be

either Nefertiti or Princess Sitamun, a daughter of Amenhotep III. Fletcher was drawn to the

tomb during an expedition in June 2002 after identifying a Nubian style wig worn by royalwomen during Akhenaten's reign. She also pointed to other clues that suggest that this mummy

might indeed be Nefertiti, such as a doubled- pierced ear lobe, which she claims was a rarefashion statement in Ancient Egypt; a shaven head; and the clear impression of the tight-fittingbrow-band worn by royalty. "Think of the tight-fitting, tall blue crown worn by Nefertiti,

something that would have required a shaven head to fit properly," said Fletcher.

"There is a puzzle," she conceded, and explained that in 1907, when Egyptologist Grafton Elliot

Smith first examined the three mummies, he reported that the Younger Lady was lacking a rightarm. Nearby, however, he had found a detached right forearm, bent at the elbow and with

clenched fingers. She said that the mummy had deteriorated badly; that the skull was pierced

with a large hole, and the chest hacked away. Worse still, the face, which would otherwise havebeen excellently preserved, had been cruelly mutilated, the mouth and cheek no more than a

gaping hole. Further examination using cutting- edge Canon digital X-ray machinery, the team

spotted jewelry within the smashed chest cavity of the mummy. They also noticed a woman's

severed arm beneath the remaining wrappings. The arm was bent at the elbow in Pharaonic stylewith its fingers still clutching a long-vanished royal scepter.
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Following Discovery Channel's coverage of the events, the identification of the Younger Lady's

mummy as Nefertiti immediately attracted an eager audience and made headlines around the

world. But Egyptologists are not so convinced. In fact, they are divided into two schools ofthought. Salima Ikram, author of The Mummy in Ancient Egypt: Equipping the Dead for

Eternity, sees the identification as "interesting" and one that will doubtless cause endless

speculation.

Others express doubt that the remains are those of the legendary queen of beauty. Egyptologist

Susan James, who trained at Cambridge University and who spent a long time studying the threemummies, told Discovery Channel, who financed the expedition, " What we know about

mummy 61072 would indicate that it is one of the young females of the late 18th dynasty, very

probably a member of the royal family. However, physical evidence known and published prior

to this expedition indicates the unlikelihood of this being the mummy of Nefertiti. Without anycomparative DNA studies, statements of certainty are wishful thinking."

For his part, Secretary-General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) Zahi Hawass

totally refutes the idea, and describes it as "pure fiction". He accuses Fletcher of lacking inexperience, as "a new PhD recipient", and that Fletcher's theory was not based on facts or solid

evidence, "only on facial resemblance between the mummy and Nefertiti's bust, and on artisticrepresentations of the Amarna period in which the queen lived".

Hawass asserted, moreover, that the physical resemblance is not significant, "because all the

statues of the Amarna era have the same characteristics. Amarna art was idealistic and notrealistic," he said, and pointed out that in the Egyptian Museum, there were five of six mummies

with the same characteristics. Mamdouh El-Damati, director of the Egyptian Museum,

mentioned that this theory was not new, this being the second time that a claim to havediscovered Nefertiti's mummy within this group of mummies had been made.

So controversy swirls around Nefertiti as surely as it always has, and probably always might. At

best, perhaps someday we may know more about this intriguing queen, but until then we canonly make guesses about her life, as well as her remains.

References:

Title Author Date PublisherReferenceNumber

Akhenaten: King of EgyptAldred,

Cyril1988

Thames and

Hudson Ltd

ISBN 0-500-

27621-8

Chronicle of the Pharaohs (The Reign-By-Reign Record of the Rulers and Dynasties of

Ancient Egypt)

Clayton,

Peter A.1994

Thames and

Hudson Ltd

ISBN 0-500-

05074-0

History of Ancient Egypt, AGrimal,

Nicolas1988 Blackwell None Stated

Monarchs of the NileDodson,

Aidan1995 Rubicon Press

ISBN 0-

948695-20-x
http://www.touregypt.net/hdyn18a.htmhttp://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/amarnaperiod.htmhttp://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/amarnaperiod.htmhttp://www.touregypt.net/hdyn18a.htm


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Oxford History of Ancient Egypt, The Shaw, Ian 2000OxfordUniversityPress

ISBN 0-19-

815034-2

Last Updated: October 16th, 2011

nefertiti- the egyptian queen

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