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Nefertiti Facts

Nefertiti Facts
Nefertiti (ca. 1380-1340 BC) was the chief queen of the iconoclastic Egyptian pharaoh Akhenaten (ruled ca. 1352-1336 BC), who reigned during the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt's New Kingdom during the Late Bronze Age. The extant artistic evidence from Akhenaten's capital city of Amarna show that Nefertiti played an extremely important role in the king's life and in the religious life of Egypt. Nefertiti, Akhenaten, and their six daughters are depicted in many different scenes of family life Nefertiti is also shown officiating religious rituals, which was rare for women to be shown doing as such in Egypt. There is also one relief where Nefertiti is shown "smiting" the traditional enemies of Egypt, which has led some scholars to suggest she ruled for a short time as Smenkhara, just after Akhenaten.
Interesting Nefertiti Facts:
Although King Tutankhamun's (King Tut) father was Akhenaten, his mother was another one of Akhenaten's wives.
One of the primary reasons why the name Nefertiti is so well-known today is because of the existence of the beautiful statuary bust that depicts her. The bust was discovered by German archaeologist Ludwig Borchardt in 1912 and was brought to the Berlin Museum, which is where it is today.
Akhenaten only worshipped the Aten - the disk of the sun - which has led many to proclaim him the "world's first monotheist." In the many scenes that show Akhenaten and Nefertiti with their daughters, the Aten is in the center, shining its rays of light down on the royal family.
There are different theories about Nefertiti's parentage: many scholars believe she was the daughter of the priest Ay (reigned 1327-1323 BC), who briefly ruled as king after Tutankhamun. If true, then she would have been a cousin to Akhenaten.
Due to the bust's light complexion and European features, many Egyptologists in the early to mid-twentieth century believed that Nefertiti foreign, possibly a Hittite or Hurrian princess.
It is believed that Nefertiti's mummy was interred in a royal tomb near Amarna, but it was more than likely destroyed by tomb robbers over the centuries. Without a mummy and the DNA that would go with it, it is impossible to say for sure what Nefertiti's parentage or ethnicity was.
During the twelfth year of Akhenaten's rule she became less prominent in the art and texts discovered at Amarna. The reason for her loss in status is open to conjecture, but she was apparently replaced by another queen named Kiya.
Most scholars believe she died sometime around Akhenaten's fourteenth year of rule, but some believe she was his immediate successor, Smenkhara (ruled 1338-1336 BC)
Besides the prominent role she appears to have played in Akhenaten's life, some Egyptologists point to Smenkhara's throne name, "Neferneferuaten," as evidence that the ruler was actually Nefertiti since it was also the queen's second name.
Nefertiti lived during what scholars call the "Amarna Period." It was so-called because Akhenaten decided to build a new Egyptian capital, Akhet-Aten, where the modern village of Amarna now sits.
While in Amarna, Akhenaten was able to develop a new style of art and concentrate on worshipping only the Aten.


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