Nefertiti Compare And Contrast Essay

Sometimes, it is hard to believe that in ancient Egyptian times; noble women like the mysterious Queen Nefertiti, could equally hold as much power as their husbands; yet, fall away into history with more mysteries than facts. Nefertiti, Great Royal Wife to Egyptian Pharaoh Akhenaten, is now regarded as Egypt’s most notable queen of the eighteenth dynasty. Ruling from 1379-62 BC, she held great power as High Priest, supporting the reformation of her husband to a monotheistic religion of worshipping one God. Due in part, to the lack of evidence following her death, much speculation surrounds her origins, as well as her demise. With her name meaning “The beautiful one has come,” Queen Nefertiti was known far and wide for her elegant beauty. The

most famous ancient piece found, to this day, was the Queen’s bust which depicts her beauty. Nefertiti was Egypt’s most famous Queen of the fourteenth century BC because of the role she played in establishing the monotheistic cult of Aten, the shrouded lack of evidence surrounding her death, and her most famous bust.
Nefertiti and her husband, Akhenaten, were responsible for an entire religious revolution that shifted all of Egypt from a polytheistic religion to worshiping only one God, the sun disk Aten.

In his fifth or sixth year reigning as Pharaoh, Nefertiti’s husband, Amenhotep IV, changed his name to Akhenaten, meaning “He Who Serves the Aton, ” and moved to Tell el-Amarna from the city of Thebes to create a new establishment to worship the Aten. Nefertiti and their children accepted his movement as the new truth and she expanded her name to Neferneferuaten-Nefertiti. Nefertiti and Akhenaten had six children, daughters, to which two became Queens themselves after her death. Their eldest daughter, Meritaten became Queen Consort and wife to Smenkhkare, a short-lived Pharaoh who succeeded Akhenaten, and their third born daughter, Ankhesenpaaten, became Queen to Tutankhaten, Smenkhkare’s successor. The new religion wasn’t clearly understood. Nefertiti and Akhenaten named themselves High Priests and tried to recapture the old authority that the king was a god. Over time, old inscriptions containing the name “Amon” were removed, and anything pertaining to gods or goddesses was hacked off. Nefertiti replaced all motherly goddesses, and her husband was the God-King of all of Egypt. The royal couple would address a hymn to worship their god, Aten. The hymn would give praise to Aten with phrases, “You fill every land with your beauty. You are beauteous, great, radiant ,” as well as be a

reminder to how they serve Aten. The hymn would speak of the “Lord of Crowns, Akhenaten….. and his beloved great Queen, the Lady of the Two Lands, Nefer-nefru-Aten Nefertiti .” After Akhenaten’s death around his twelfth year of reign, historical records disappeared, leaving details of Nefertiti sketchy. There are possibilities that she became the Pharaoh, Ankhkheperure-merywaenre Neferneferuaten, for a short time after his death. However, nothing is certain from here on about the life of Nefertiti.
Despite being so well known throughout history, it is unclear when Nefertiti died or why there are so little records after her passing. Regarded as a Goddess-Queen and appearing at the Window of Appearances alongside her husband Akhenaton, Nefertiti was wiped away from the culture to which mummifications and splendor burial chambers represented Egypt’s funerals. After the return of polytheism, her tomb was robbed of all her possessions and her body was desecrated; the body of the notorious Queen was never found. Egyptologist Marc Gabolde believes that Nefertiti died before her husband, and is buried in Amarna, despite having an incomplete suite in the Royal Tomb. Artifacts found in Amarna, belonging to Queen Nefertiti, also give reason to believe she was buried there, but her tomb has yet to be discovered. However, there are numerous theories as to where Nefertiti was buried, such as Thebes or inside the now plundered necropolis of Gurob. Another possibility is that Nefertiti was buried in the ancestral cemetery of Akhmim, where it is suggested that she was the daughter of Ay, a future regent to Tutankhamen who later became his successor. Egyptologist Joann Fletcher believed she found the body of Nefertiti inside a tomb in the Valley of the Kings. The tomb was built for Amenhotep II, but upon further investigation, other bodies of Pharaohs were discovered. Inside a side chamber, a boy, a young woman, and an older woman were discovered. The younger woman was dubbed “The Younger Lady” and became a candidate for being Nefertiti. However, further research revealed the body to be the mother and aunt to Tutankhamen, and sister to Akhenaten. Egyptologists continue to search for the missing body of Nefertiti. Until that day comes, questions about Nefertiti’s origins and demise remain unanswered.
Though records of the Queen are few in number, there were still artifacts of her time that have become famous from their discovery, such as the famous bust of Nefertiti.

The aged sculpture portrays Nefertiti’s neck and cranium, wearing a large, flat- topped crown atop a shaved head. Her left eye pupil is missing; suggesting that part of her was not recovered from the ruins or it was never painted to begin with. The bust was sculpted around 1350 BC in limestone. This artifact was discovered in Tell el-Amarna in 1912, and is now being held in the collection at Egypt Museum of West Berlin, as known as the “Ägyptisches Museum.” The impression of the bust was delicate and fleeting, which displeased traditionalists who expected a representation of an eternal solidity. The limestone bust of fourteenth century Queen Nefertiti is now one of the most reproduced pieces of art in

history.
Many questions about Nefertiti have yet to be answered, but every discovery about the famous Queen will go down in history. Having reigned side by side with Pharaoh Akhenaton as her husband, the Royal Couple shifted all of Egypt into the worshipping of the sun disk, Aten. During their reign, Egypt’s religion was at its closest to monotheism, making Nefertiti famous in history for her power. Aside from the power she had as Queen, Nefertiti was known far for her beauty, and even more so for her lack of artifacts and evidence following her death, including the very identity of her mummified body. As time passes, answers to the mysteries of Nefertiti will be unraveled, and her identity will once again be known to the world for centuries to come.