Nefertiti is the most mysterious woman in history. She was called the "mistress of joy." The bust of the queen, who is more than three thousand years old, is still considered the standard of beauty.
December 6, 1912
The famous bust of Queen Nefertiti is mysterious, leaving behind all the masterpieces of world art. It can be called "Mona Lisa" of the Ancient World. Despite the fact that it was created almost five millennia ago, it is perfectly preserved - a woman looks at us, whose proportions of the face would be recognized as perfect today.
Bust was found during his expedition by the German archaeologist Ludwig Borchardt. In his archaeological diary, the meticulous scientist opposite the sketch of the monument wrote just one sentence: "Describe aimlessly, we must look."
The ancient Egyptian sculptor Thutmose created this bust. For the ancient Oriental art, this was a real revolution.
In 1913, Borchardt, having smeared the discovery with a plaster cast, brought him to Germany. In 20 years, Egypt was indignant and asked to return the bust back. But Germany refused, because of which all German archeologists were forbidden to work in Egypt. So Nefertiti "quarreled" the two countries.
The bust is still kept in the collection of the Egyptian Museum in Berlin.
"Beautiful has come"
Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs did not reflect vowel sounds. Therefore, the name of Nefertiti can be considered conditional. The largest Soviet Egyptologist Yuri Perepelkin wrote the name of the queen: Nfrt.
More often than not, Nefertiti translates as "The beautiful beauty of Aten, the beauty has come." This word "came" takes the minds of historians for more than one century. So far, no clear evidence of the origin of Nefertiti has been found. According to one version, she was an Egyptian, because a foreign woman could not become the main wife of the pharaoh in Egypt.
According to the Egyptian versions, Nefertiti was either the daughter of Amenhotep III, or, more likely, the daughter of dignitary Eyé and his wife Thia. The younger sister Nefertiti Mutnjetm openly called Thii a mother.
According to the "overseas" version of origin, Nefertiti was a Mitanni princess, sent to the court of Akhenaten's father - Pharaoh Amenhotep III. Allegedly, she liked him, and the next pharaoh - Amenhotep IV (Akhenaten) made her his main wife and companion.
Today none of the versions can be considered convincing. The origin of Nefertiti is still a mystery.
Great wife
Nefertiti was the wife of an unrestrained reformer of Ancient Egypt. Amenhotep IV moved the capital to a new city - Ahetaton - which before it was built three hundred kilometers from the former capital - Thebes.
Amenhotep conducted a very serious religious reform, elevating the sun to Aton as the only deity. He took the name Akhenaton for himself, which is translated as "useful to Aton," but among the Egyptians, who were dissatisfied with the overthrow of the old gods, he was nicknamed "The Enemy from Akh at-Aton". So the chroniclers designated the king in scrolls after his death, not wanting to pronounce the name.
What Akhenaton did was colossal in scale, and the researchers note that he did not do this alone - he was helped by Nefertiti. Together they left the palace early in the morning and met the sun. Nefertiti herself conducted cult services, and in the temple of Aton in Thebes she was offered prayers. Nefertiti was also identified with the goddess Tefnut - goddess of moisture, daughter of the Sun-Ra, and could portray the queen as a sphinx.
The disintegrated triad
"She spends Aton in peace with a sweet voice and beautiful hands with sisters," says Nefertiti in the inscriptions of the tombs of contemporary nobles, "with the sound of her voice they rejoice."
Judging by the surviving images of Akhenaten and Nefertiti, their relationship was something more than just a union of the elder wife and the pharaoh. In fact, Akhenaten created a divine triad, at the base of which he was with Nefertiti.
The royal couple was depicted in the frame of the brilliant processions that came to replace the great gods of the traditional Egyptian pantheon. There are many and quite everyday sketches depicting Akhenaten, Nefertiti and their daughters. Nefertiti gave birth to 6 daughters to the pharaoh, and the death of one of them - Macketaton - broke everything in the life of Nefertiti. Most likely, she fell into disgrace. Her place was taken by a secondary queen from the female house of Akhenaten - Kiya, and later - the eldest daughter of Nefertiti - Meritaton.
The Mystery of Nefertiti
Ironically, if you believe in the Egyptian version of the origin of the queen, it was her father, Eyah, who became a pharaoh who again led Egypt to the orthodox faith.
Mention of Nefertiti also disappear after two years after the death of her daughter. Some historians today are reaching in their quest for Nefertiti to fantastic versions. According to one of them, after the death of Akhenaten, Nefertiti was governed by Egypt under the name of Pharaoh Smenkhkar.
