Nefertiti, Queen of the Nile is one of the most famous queens in ancient Egypt. There is no greater mystery and intrigue than that of Nefertiti. She is renowned for the “Nefertiti Bust” which is now displayed at the Neues Museum in Berlin, Germany.
Who was Queen Nefertiti?
History shows that Nefertiti, whose Egyptian name Nfr.t-jy.tj means “A Beautiful Woman Has Come” was the Egyptian queen wife of Pharaoh Amenhotep IV, later known as Akhenaten, who ruled Egypt between 1353 B.C. and 1335 B.C.
Nefertiti married Amenhotep IV when she was fifteen and he was sixteen years old, and later became the stepmother of Tutankhamun, the future Boy King. Nefertiti is believed to have ruled Egypt after her husband’s death.
Where was Queen Nefertiti from?
She was born circa – 1370 B.C. There is no record that clearly states where she was from. It was probably difficult to trace her history because of her many name changes.
Early Egyptologists believed that she was a princess from the Mitanni kingdom in northern Syria, partly because her name was interpreted to be of foreign origin.
Other historians proposed that Nefertiti was the daughter of Ay, also known as Aye. Ay was an important advisor to the pharaohs, including Nefertiti’s future husband, Akhenaten. Ay himself became pharaoh in 1323 B.C. after King Tutankhamun’s death. However, there are no records depicting Ay and his wife Tey, being parents of Nefertiti. Tey was known as Nefertiti’s nurse.
The importance of Queen Nefertiti
When Amenhotep IV displaced Egypt’s chief god Amon in favour of Aten in the fifth year of his reign, he changed his name to Akhenaten. As the wife of the pharaoh, Nefertiti is believed to have helped influence Egypt’s adoption of the monotheistic worship of the sun god. Together, Akhenaten and Nefertiti started a religious revolution within Egypt, shifting their belief to worshipping one god only rather than worshipping many gods.
Nefertiti adopted the additional name “Neferneferuaten”. Her full name, Neferneferuaten Nefertiti now meant, “Beautiful are the beauties of Aten, a beautiful woman has come” as an absolute sign that she fully embraced the new religion of worshipping Aten.
She was not only beautiful, but she was also a powerful woman. Nefertiti was depicted alongside Akhenaten in inscriptions on tombs and temples more than any other Egyptian queen. She is also often portrayed in positions of power, for instance, wearing the crown of a pharaoh, or striking the enemy in battle. This was evidence of what a powerful and well-respected figure she was at the time because traditionally, only Egyptian pharaohs would be depicted in this manner.
Although Nefertiti bore Akhenaten six children, all of them girls, and was Tutankhamun’s stepmother, there are claims that she was his biological mother.
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, Great King’s Wife, Lady of all Women, and Mistress of Upper and Lower Egypt.
How and when did Queen Nefertiti die?
The short answer is that no one really knows. There are no records of her demise. This could be because Akhenaten was unpopular after changing Egypt’s religion, and after he died, a later pharaoh demolished temples and destroyed records, to erase the existence of the king and his family.
Even Nefertiti’s disappearance after reigning for 12 years is mysterious, and the subject of speculation. Did she die? Some academics believed she did, around 1340 B.C. However, there is a theory that suggests she was made co-regent, which gave her equal power as the pharaoh, and she began to dress like a man.
Others speculate that Nefertiti ruled Egypt after Akhenaten’s death, calling herself Pharaoh Smenkhkare. Smenkhkare was thought to have been a male, but many believe that this was actually Nefertiti. Some other scholars theorise that Nefertiti was exiled when the Egyptians resumed worshipping the god Amen-Ra.
There are no records to support any of these views.
Where is Nefertiti’s tomb?
As a queen, Nefertiti would have been buried in a royal tomb, which means that the queen’s body should have remained buried in the Valley of the Kings.
Dozens of royal tombs have been uncovered, so why have archaeologists not discovered Nefertiti’s tomb and her mummy to this day? Or have they unknowingly found her?
Some researchers claim that Nefertiti’s mummy is already resting in a museum in Cairo. Known as the “Younger Lady”, it was one of a few mummies discovered in a tomb in the Valley of the Kings in 1898. Could this “Younger Lady” have been Nefertiti?
Since there is no solid evidence that the mummy is Nefertiti, archaeologists continue their quest to locate the legendary queen’s tomb.
In 2015, British archaeologist Nicholas Reeves discovered signs in Tutankhamun’s tomb that could indicate a secret doorway leading to a hidden chamber. He proposed that Nefertiti’s tomb could lie behind that sealed wall.
This theory is supported by questions that archaeologists had about Tutankhamun’s tomb. One was how the Egyptians could have already prepared a tomb for him, considering he died unexpectedly at a very young age. Could that have been Nefertiti’s tomb, which had to be hurriedly sealed off for the young pharaoh? It would explain why the Boy King’s tomb is smaller than those of other pharaohs.
While the search for Nefertiti’s long-lost tomb continues, all we have is her bust to remind us of what a beautiful and powerful queen she once was.
The Nefertiti Bust
One of the most recognized art pieces of ancient times, Queen Nefertiti’s bust is also a symbol of feminine beauty.
The painted stucco-coated limestone bust is believed to have been crafted in 1345 B.C. by the sculptor Thutmose. It was found in his workshop in Amarna, Egypt in 1912 by a team of German archaeologists.
Where is Nefertiti’s left eye?
The beautiful bust raises more questions about the mysterious queen. When the bust was found, the piece of quartz meant to be the iris was missing. An intensive search was conducted but with no success.
Did Nefertiti actually lose her left eye?
There is speculation that she may have lost it due to an eye infection but the iris is seen in other statues of the queen, which refutes the claim. Two other theories were put forth. One, that the bust was intentionally left unfinished, and the second, that the eye was destroyed.
Until more pieces of the puzzle are found, Queen Nefertiti will always remain a mystery.
