and her husband were known for a religious revolution, in which they worshiped one god

only, Aten, or the sun disc. Akhenaten and Nefertiti were responsible for the creation

of a whole new religion which changed the ways of religion within Egypt. With her husband,

they reigned at what was arguably the wealthiest period of Ancient Egyptian history. Some scholars

believe that Nefertiti ruled briefly as Neferneferuaten after her husband's death and before the accession

of Tutankhamun, although this identification is a matter of ongoing debate.

Nefertiti had many titles including Hereditary Princess; Great of Praises; Lady of Grace,

Sweet of Love; Lady of The Two Lands; Main King’s Wife, his beloved; Great King’s

Wife, his beloved, Lady of all Women; and Mistress of Upper and Lower Egypt.

She was made famous by her bust, now in Berlin's Neues Museum, shown to the right. The bust

is one of the most copied works of ancient Egypt. It was attributed to the sculptor Thutmose,

and it was found in his workshop. The bust is notable for exemplifying the understanding

Ancient Egyptians had regarding realistic facial proportions.

Family See also : Eighteenth dynasty of Egypt Family

Tree

Nefertiti, Egyptian Nfr.t-jy.tj, original pronunciation approximately Nafteta, for.

Nefertiti's parentage is not known with certainty, but one often cited theory is that she was

the daughter of Ay, later to be pharaoh. Scenes in the tombs of the nobles in Amarna mention

the queen’s sister who is named Mutbenret. Another theory that gained some support identified

Nefertiti with the Mitanni princess Tadukhipa. The exact dates of when Nefertiti was married

to Akhenaten and later promoted to queenship are uncertain. Their six known daughters were:

Meritaten: No later than year 1, possibly later became Pharaoh Nefernferuaten.

Meketaten: Year 4. Ankhesenpaaten, also known as Ankhesenamen,

later queen of Tutankhamun Neferneferuaten Tasherit: Year, possibly later

became Pharaoh Nefernferuaten. Neferneferure: Year 9.

Setepenre: Year 11. Life

Nefertiti first appears in scenes in Thebes. In the damaged tomb of the royal butler Parennefer,

the new king Amenhotep IV is accompanied by a royal woman, and this lady is thought to

be an early depiction of Nefertiti. The king and queen are shown worshiping the Aten. In

the tomb of the vizier Ramose, Nefertiti is shown standing behind Amenhotep IV in the

Window of Appearance during the reward ceremony for the vizier.

During the early years in Thebes, Akhenaten had several temples erected at Karnak. One

of the structures, the Mansion of the Benben, was dedicated to Nefertiti. She is depicted

with her daughter Meritaten and in some scenes the princess Meketaten participates in the

scenes as well. In scenes found on the talatat, Nefertiti appears almost twice as often as

her husband. She is shown appearing behind her husband the Pharaoh in offering scenes

in the role of the queen supporting her husband, but she is also depicted in scenes that would

have normally been the prerogative of the king. She is shown smiting the enemy, and

captive enemies decorate her throne. In the fourth year of his reign, Amenhotep

IV decided to move the capital to Akhetaten. In his fifth year, Amenhotep IV officially

changed his name to Akhenaten, and Nefertiti was henceforth known as Neferneferuaten-Nefertiti.

The name change was a sign of the ever-increasing importance of the cult of the Aten. It changed

Egypt's religion from a polytheistic religion to a religion which may have been better described

as a monolatry or henotheism. The boundary stelae of years 4 and 5 mark

the boundaries of the new city and suggest that the move to the new city of Akhetaten

occurred around that time. The new city contained several large open-air temples dedicated to

the Aten. Nefertiti and her family would have resided in the Great Royal Palace in the center

of the city and possibly at the Northern Palace as well. Nefertiti and the rest of the royal

family feature prominently in the scenes at the palaces and in the tombs of the nobles.

Nefertiti’s steward during this time was an official named Meryre II. He would have

been in charge of running her household. Inscriptions in the tombs of Huya and Meryre

II dated to Year 12, 2nd month of Peret, Day 8 show a large foreign tribute. The people

of Kharu and Kush are shown bringing gifts of gold and precious items to Akhenaten and

Nefertiti. In the tomb of Meryre II, Nefertiti’s steward, the royal couple is shown seated

in a kiosk with their six daughters in attendance. This is one of the last times princess Meketaten

is shown alive. Two representations of Nefertiti that were

excavated by Flinders Petrie appear to show Nefertiti in the middle to later part of Akhenaten's

reign 'after the exaggerated style of the early years had relaxed somewhat'. One is

a small piece on limestone and is a preliminary sketch of Nefertiti wearing her distinctive

tall crown with carving began around the mouth, chin, ear and tab of the crown. Another is

a small inlay head modeled from reddish-brown quartzite that was clearly intended to fit

into a larger composition. Meketaten may have died in year 13 or 14.

Nefertiti, Akhenaten, and three princesses are shown mourning her. Nefertiti disappears

from the scene soon after that. Death

Old Theories Pre-2012 Egyptological theories thought that

Nefertiti vanished from the historical record around Year 14 of Akhenaten's reign, with

no word of her thereafter. Explanations included a sudden death, by a plague that was sweeping

through the city, or some other natural death. This theory was based on the discovery of

several shabti fragments inscribed for Nefertiti. A previous theory, that she fell into disgrace,

was discredited when deliberate erasures of monuments belonging to a queen of Akhenaten

were shown to refer to Kiya instead. During Akhenaten's reign, Nefertiti enjoyed

unprecedented power. By the twelfth year of his reign, there is evidence she may have

been elevated to the status of co-regent: equal in status to the pharaoh — as may

be depicted on the Coregency Stela. It is possible Nefertiti is the ruler named

Neferneferuaten. Some theories believe that Nefertiti was still alive and held influence

on the younger royals. If this is the case, that influence and presumably Nefertiti's

own life would have ended by year 3 of Tutankhaten's reign. In that year, Tutankhaten changed his

name to Tutankhamun. This is evidence of his return to the official worship of Amun, and

abandonment of Amarna to return the capital to Thebes.

New Theories Discovered in 2012, a Regnal Year 16, month

3 of Akhet, day 15 inscription, dated explicitly to Akhenaten's reign, mentions the presence

of the "Great Royal Wife, His Beloved, Mistress of the Two Lands, Neferneferuaten Nefertiti".

The badly legible five line text "mentions a building project in Amarna".

This means that Nefertiti was alive in the second to last year of Akhenaten's reign,

and demonstrates that Akhenaten still ruled alone, with his wife by his side. Therefore,

the rule of the female Amarna pharaoh known as Neferneferuaten must be placed between

the death of Akhenaten and the accession of Tutankhamun. This female pharaoh used the

epithet 'Effective for her husband' in one of her cartouches, which means she was either

Nefertiti or her daughter Meritaten. Burial

There are many theories regarding her death and burial but, to date, the mummy of this

famous queen, her parents or her children has not been found or formally identified.

In 1898, archeologist Victor Loret found two female mummies inside the tomb of Amenhotep

II in KV35 in the Valley of the Kings. These two mummies, named 'The Elder Lady' and 'The

Younger Lady', were likely candidates of her remains.

The KMT suggested in 2001 that the Elder Lady may be Nefertiti's body. It was argued that

the evidence suggests that the mummy is around her mid-thirties or early forties, Nefertiti's

guessed age of death. More evidence to support this identification was that the mummy's teeth

look like that of a 29-38 year old, Nefertiti's most likely age of death. Also, unfinished

busts of Nefertiti appear to resemble the mummy's face, though other suggestions included

Ankhesenamun. Due to recent age tests on the mummy's teeth,

it eventually became apparent that the 'Elder Lady' is in fact Queen Tiye, mother of Akhenaten

and that the DNA of the mummy is a close, if not direct, match to the lock of hair found

in Tutankhamun's tomb. The lock of hair was found in a coffinette bearing an inscription

naming Queen Tiye. Results have discovered that she was the daughter of Yuya and Thuya,

who were the parents of Queen Tiye, thus ruling her out as Nefertiti.

"Younger Lady"

On June 9, 2003, archaeologist Joann Fletcher, a specialist in ancient hair from the University

of York in England, announced that Nefertiti's mummy may have been the Younger Lady. Fletcher

suggested that Nefertiti was the Pharaoh Smenkhkare. Some Egyptologists hold to this view though

the majority believe Smenkhkare to have been a separate person. Fletcher led an expedition

funded by the Discovery Channel to examine what they believed to have been Nefertiti's

mummy. The team claimed that the mummy they examined

was damaged in a way suggesting the body had been deliberately desecrated in antiquity.

Mummification techniques, such as the use of embalming fluid and the presence of an

intact brain, suggested an eighteenth-dynasty royal mummy. Other elements which the team

used to support their theory were the age of the body, the presence of embedded nefer

beads, and a wig of a rare style worn by Nefertiti. They further claimed that the mummy's arm

was originally bent in the position reserved for pharaohs, but was later snapped off and

replaced with another arm in a normal position. Most Egyptologists, among them Kent Weeks

and Peter Locavara, generally dismiss Fletcher's claims as unsubstantiated. They say that ancient

mummies are almost impossible to identify as a particular person without DNA. As bodies

of Nefertiti's parents or children have never been identified, her conclusive identification

is impossible. Any circumstantial evidence, such as hairstyle and arm position, is not

reliable enough to pinpoint a single, specific historical person. The cause of damage to

the mummy can only be speculated upon, and the alleged revenge is an unsubstantiated

theory. Bent arms, contrary to Fletcher's claims, were not reserved to pharaohs; this

was also used for other members of the royal family. The wig found near the mummy is of

unknown origin, and cannot be conclusively linked to that specific body. Finally, the

18th dynasty was one of the largest and most prosperous dynasties of ancient Egypt. A female

royal mummy could be any of a hundred royal wives or daughters from the 18th dynasty's

more than 200 years on the throne. In addition, there was controversy about both

the age and sex of the mummy. On June 12, 2003, Egyptian archaeologist Dr. Zahi Hawass,

head of Egypt's Supreme Council for Antiquities, also dismissed the claim, citing insufficient

evidence. On August 30, 2003, Reuters further quoted Hawass: "I'm sure that this mummy is

not a female", and "Dr Fletcher has broken the rules and therefore, at least until we

have reviewed the situation with her university, she must be banned from working in Egypt."

On different occasions, Hawass has claimed that the mummy is female and male.

In a more recent research effort led by Hawass, the mummy was put through CT scan analysis.

Researchers concluded that she may be Tutankhamun's biological mother, an unnamed daughter of

Amenhotep III and Queen Tiye, not Nefertiti. Fragments of shattered bone were found in

the sinus, and blood clots were found. The theory that the damage was inflicted post-mummification

was rejected, and a murder scenario was deemed more likely. The broken-off bent forearm found

near the mummy, which had been proposed to have belonged to mummy, was conclusively shown

not to actually belong to it. Scholars think that, after Tutankhamun returned Egypt to

the traditional religion, he moved his closest relatives: father, grandmother, and biological

mother, to the Valley of the Kings to be buried with him.

Iconic status

Nefertiti's place as an icon in popular culture is secure as she has become something of a

celebrity. After Cleopatra she is the second most famous "Queen" of Ancient Egypt in the

Western imagination. In the arts

Novels Mika Waltari, The Egyptian.

Allen Drury, God Against the Gods. Story of Akhenaten and Nefertiti.

Naguib Mahfouz, Akhenaten, Dweller in Truth Nefertiti is one of the characters who reflects

on Akhenaten and the Amarna period Michelle Moran: Nefertiti: A Novel..

Music Nefertiti is a classical ballet by American

composer John Craton "Nefertiti, Sun Goddess" appears on the demo

album compact disc, "The Aten Shines Again" by Leo-Neferuaten Boyle. A subsequent YouTube

video was created for the track in November 2012.

"Nefertiti" is a studio album by American jazz musician Miles Davis, released in December

1967. Film

(1954) The Egyptian, played by Anitra Stevens (1961) Nefertiti, Queen of the Nile, played

by Jeanne Crain (1994) Nefertiti, figlia del sole, played

by Michela Rocco di Torrepadula Television

Doctor Who, "Dinosaurs on a Spaceship", played by Riann Steele

The Loretta Young Show, "Queen Nefertiti", played by Loretta Young. Alternate title "Letter

to Loretta" Nefertiti was also cited as inspiration for

the character Cortana in the Halo video game series.

Gallery

References

External links Staatliche Museen zu Berlin: Egyptian Museum

and Papyrus Collection