Egyptian Queen
Nefertiti
The wife of Pharaoh Akhenaten and
perhaps a ruler in her own right after his death, Nefertiti was
little more than a historical whisper when, in 1912, an exquisite
limestone sculpture of her now-famous face was unearthed at the
royal retreat of Amarna. It was more than 3,200 years old, dating
from 1345 B.C.
But from the moment it went on display
at the Egyptian Museum in Berlin in 1924, the enigmatic bust with
the swanlike neck assumed a place as one of the world's most famous
icons.
Little was known about the woman whose
beauty it celebrated. And while Nefertiti's origins — as well as her
demise — remain shrouded in mystery, Egyptologists are beginning to
piece together more about her life.
We know what we know about Nefertiti
mainly from the tomb scenes and inscriptions of the officials who
served at the Amarna court; from the Aten temple scenes at Karnak,
which have been studied since the 1960s; and from ongoing
excavations at Amarna itself — currently by the British Egypt
Exploration Society.
Her name, meaning "the beautiful (or
perfect) woman has come," prompts some scholars to think that
Nefertiti traveled to Egypt from a foreign land. Others theorize she
was an Egyptian royal by birth. Still others think it unlikely that
she was of royal blood, but that her father was a high government
official, a man named Ay, who went on to become pharaoh after
Tutankhamen (and, incidentally, may have had a hand in the boy
king's death!).
Essentially nothing is known about
Nefertiti before she became co-regent of Egypt with her husband,
Pharaoh Akhenaten, who ruled from 1352 B.C. to 1336 B.C.
It's clear she had an unusually high
status during her husband's turbulent reign. The couple's renegade
practice of monotheism —they worshipped the sun disc god over all
others, and seem to have outlawed their subjects' polytheistic
devotion — threatened Egypt's priesthood and ensured they would have
no shortage of powerful enemies.
Some Egyptologists think it was
Nefertiti who actually instigated this new religion and catalyzed a
rift between the royals and the priests.
She bore Akhenaten six daughters, two
of whom may have died in a plague. She was the stepmother of
Tutankhamen. Some Egyptian scholars theorize that around year 12 of
Akhenaten's reign Nefertiti may well have become his co-regent, and
immediately after his death became a pharaoh in her own right,
ruling alone for a short time.
As Akhenaten disposed of the plethora
of old gods, enraging his priests and subjects, he likely needed a
strong female figure to soften the abstract austerity of the sun
deity, according to British archeologist Joyce Tyldesley, who wrote
a biography of Nefertiti. It's little wonder why his beautiful queen
was celebrated in official art and inscriptions that focused on the
idyllic domestic life of the royal family.
However, Nefertiti's husband cherished
her beyond the demands of propriety or political necessity,
postulates Tyldesley. Nefertiti was an elusive subject for Tyldesley
because, she says, "meager shreds of evidence" can support a variety
of interpretations about the sun queen.
Like Akhenaten, Nefertiti's name was
erased from historical records and her many likenesses defaced after
her death, as Egypt reverted to its former religion.
With so many enemies, the obvious
question is whether Nefertiti died naturally, or was she murdered?
We don't know, but the mummy that Joann Fletcher believes could be
Nefertiti was mutilated in the years after her death. Perhaps,
Fletcher says, it was done to prevent this figure from "living" even
in the afterlife.
