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

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

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