Nefertiti

Nefertiti had many titles, including:

• Neferneferuaten{{cite book |first=A. |last=Dodson |title=Nefertiti, Queen and Pharaoh of Egypt: Her Life and Afterlife |publisher=The American University in Cairo Press |year=2020 |pages=26}} (Beautiful is the beauty of Aten) nfr-nfrw-jtn
• Hereditary Princess (iryt-p`t)
• Great of Praises (wrt-Hzwt)
• Lady of Grace (nebet-imat, nbt-jmꜣt)
• Sweet of Love (beneret-merut, bnrt-mrwt)
• Lady of The Two Lands (nebet-tawi, nbt-tꜣwj)
• Main King's Wife, his beloved (hemet-nesut-aat meretef, ḥmt-nswt-ꜥꜣt mrt.f)
• Great King's Wife, his beloved (hemet-nesut-weret meretef, ḥmt-nswt-wrt mrt.f)
• Lady of All Women (henut-hemut-nebut, ḥnwt-ḥmwt-nbwt)
• Mistress of Upper & Lower Egypt (henut-shemau-mehu, ḥnwt-šmꜣw-mḥw).{{cite book |last=Grajetzki |first=Wolfram |title=Ancient Egyptian Queens: A Hieroglyphic Dictionary |publisher=Golden House Publications |location=London |year=2005 |isbn=978-0-9547218-9-3}}

While modern Egyptological pronunciation renders her name as Nefertiti, her name was the sentence nfr.t jj.tj (or Nfr.t-jy.tj{{sfnp|Dodson|2016|p=87}}), meaning "the beautiful one has come", and probably contemporarily pronounced Naftita from older Nafrat-ita or perhaps Nafert-yiti.{{cite book |last=Schenkel |first=W. |title=Zur Rekonstruktion deverbalen Nominalbildung des Ägyptischen |publisher=Harrasowitz |location=Wiesbaden |year=1983 |pages=212, 214,247}}{{Cite book|last=Allen|first=James P.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cK-BAwAAQBAJ|title=Middle Egyptian: An Introduction to the Language and Culture of Hieroglyphs|date=2014-07-24|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-1-107-05364-9|language=en}}

{{see also|Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt family tree}}Almost nothing is known about Nefertiti's life before her marriage to Akhenaten. Scenes from the tombs of the nobles in Amarna mention that Nefertiti had a sister, named Mutbenret.Norman De Garis Davies, The rock tombs of el-Amarna, Parts I and II: Part 1 The tomb of Meryra & Part 2 The tombs of Panehesy and Meyra II, Egypt Exploration Society (2004)Norman De Garis Davies, The rock tombs of el-Amarna, Parts V and VI: Part 5 Smaller tombs and boundary stelae & Part 6 Tombs of Parennefer, Tutu and Ay, Egypt Exploration Society (2004){{cite book |last1=Dodson |first1=Aidan |last2=Hilton |first2=Dyan |title=The Complete Royal Families of Ancient Egypt |publisher=Thames & Hudson |year=2004 |isbn=0-500-05128-3}} Further, a woman named Tey carried the title of "Nurse of the Great Royal Wife."{{cite journal |first=Jacobus |last=van Dijk |url=http://www.jacobusvandijk.nl/docs/BACE_7.pdf |title=Horemheb and the Struggle for the Throne of Tutankhamun |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304092253/http://www.jacobusvandijk.nl/docs/BACE_7.pdf |archive-date=2016-03-04 |journal=Bulletin of the Australian Centre for Egyptology |volume=7 |year=1996 |page=32}} In addition, Tey's husband Ay carried the title "God's Father." Some Egyptologists believe that this title was used for a man whose daughter married the pharaoh.{{cite journal|last1=van Dijk|first1=J.|date=1996|title=Horemheb and the Struggle for the Throne of Tutankhamun|url=http://www.jacobusvandijk.nl/docs/BACE_7.pdf|journal=Bulletin of the Australian Centre for Egyptology|pages=31–32|access-date=15 September 2019}} Based on these titles, it has been proposed that Ay was in fact Nefertiti's father.{{sfnp|Dodson|2016|p=87}} However, neither Ay nor Tey are explicitly referred to as Nefertiti's parents in the existing sources. At the same time, no sources exist that directly contradict Ay's fatherhood which is considered likely due to the great influence he wielded during Nefertiti's life and after her death.{{sfnp|Dodson|2016|p=87}} According to another theory, Nefertiti was the daughter of Ay and a woman besides Tey, but Ay's first wife died before Nefertiti's rise to the position of queen, whereupon Ay married Tey, making her Nefertiti's stepmother. Nevertheless, this entire proposal is based on speculation and conjecture.{{sfnp|Dodson|2016|p=87–88}}

It has also been proposed that Nefertiti was Akhenaten's full sister, though this is contradicted by her titles which do not include the title of "King's Daughter" or "King's Sister," usually used to indicate a relative of a pharaoh.{{sfnp|Dodson|2016|p=87}} Another theory about her parentage that gained some support identified Nefertiti with the Mitanni princess Tadukhipa,{{cite book |last=Tyldesley |first=Joyce |title=Nefertiti: Egypt's Sun Queen |publisher=Penguin |year=1998 |isbn=0-670-86998-8}} partially based on Nefertiti's name ("The Beautiful Woman has Come") which has been interpreted by some scholars as signifying a foreign origin.{{sfnp|Dodson|2016|p=87}} However, Tadukhipa was already married to Akhenaten's father and there is no evidence for any reason why this woman would need to alter her name in a proposed marriage to Akhenaten, nor any hard evidence of a foreign non-Egyptian background for Nefertiti.

The exact dates when Nefertiti married Akhenaten and became the king's great royal wife are uncertain. They are known to have had at least six daughters together, including Meritaten, Meketaten, Ankhesenpaaten (later called Ankhesenamun when she married Tutankhamun), Neferneferuaten Tasherit, Neferneferure, and Setepenre. She was once considered as a candidate for the mother of Tutankhamun, however a genetic study conducted on discovered mummies suggests that she was not.

{{multiple image|align=left

|image1=Alabaster sunken relief depicting Akhenaten, Nefertiti, and daughter Meritaten. Early Aten cartouches on king's arm and chest. From Amarna, Egypt. 18th Dynasty. The Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology, London.jpg

|width1=200

|caption1=Alabaster sunken relief depicting Akhenaten, Nefertiti, and their daughter Meritaten. Early Aten cartouches on king's arm and chest. From Amarna, Egypt. 18th Dynasty. The Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology, London

|image2=NefertitiRelief SmitingSceneOnBoat-CloseUp.png

|width2=200

|caption2=Close-up of a limestone relief depicting Nefertiti smiting a female captive on a royal barge. On display at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

}}

Nefertiti first appears in scenes in Thebes. In the damaged tomb (TT188) of the royal butler Parennefer, the new king Amenhotep IV is accompanied by a royal woman, and this lady is thought to be an early depiction of Nefertiti. The king and queen are shown worshiping the Aten. In the tomb of the vizier Ramose, Nefertiti is shown standing behind Amenhotep IV in the Window of Appearance during the reward ceremony for the vizier.

File:Nefertiti Standing-striding Berlin.jpg collection.]]

During the early years in Thebes, Akhenaten (still known as Amenhotep IV) had several temples erected at Karnak. One of the structures, the Mansion of the Benben (hwt-ben-ben), was dedicated to Nefertiti. She is depicted with her daughter Meritaten and in some scenes the princess Meketaten participates as well. In scenes found on the talatat, Nefertiti appears almost twice as often as her husband. She is shown appearing behind her husband the pharaoh in offering scenes in the role of the queen supporting her husband, but she is also depicted in scenes that would have normally been the prerogative of the king. She is shown smiting the enemy, and captive enemies decorate her throne.{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eF5_QgAACAAJ |title = Akhenaten, the Heretic King|isbn = 9780691002170|last1 = Redford|first1 = Donald B.|year = 1987| publisher=Princeton University Press }}

In the fourth year of his reign, Amenhotep IV decided to move the capital to Akhetaten (modern Amarna). In his fifth year, Amenhotep IV officially changed his name to Akhenaten, and Nefertiti was henceforth known as Neferneferuaten-Nefertiti. The name change was a sign of the ever-increasing importance of the cult of the Aten. It changed Egypt's religion from a polytheistic religion to a religion which may have been better described as a monolatry (the depiction of a single god as an object for worship) or henotheism (one god, who is not the only god).{{cite book |author-link=Dominic Montserrat |first=Dominic |last=Montserrat |title=Akhenaten: History, Fantasy and Ancient Egypt |publisher=Psychology Press |year=2003}}

The boundary stelae of years 4 and 5 mark the boundaries of the new city and suggest that the move to the new city of Akhetaten occurred around that time. The new city contained several large open-air temples dedicated to the Aten. Nefertiti and her family would have resided in the Great Royal Palace in the centre of the city and possibly at the Northern Palace as well. Nefertiti and the rest of the royal family feature prominently in the scenes at the palaces and in the tombs of the nobles. Nefertiti's steward during this time was an official named Meryre II. He would have been in charge of running her household.

Inscriptions in the tombs of Huya and Meryre II dated to Year 12, 2nd month of Peret, Day 8 show a large foreign tribute. The people of Kharu (the north) and Kush (the south) are shown bringing gifts of gold and precious items to Akhenaten and Nefertiti. In the tomb of Meryre II, Nefertiti's steward, the royal couple is shown seated in a kiosk with their six daughters in attendance. This is one of the last times princess Meketaten is shown alive.

Two representations of Nefertiti that were excavated by Flinders Petrie appear to show Nefertiti in the middle to later part of Akhenaten's reign 'after the exaggerated style of the early years had relaxed somewhat'.{{cite book |last1=Trope |first1=B. |last2=Quirke |first2=S. |last3=Lacovara |first3=P. |title=Excavating Egypt. Great Discoveries from the Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology |year=2005 |publisher=Michael C. Carlos Museum, Emory University |isbn=1-928917-06-2}} One is a small piece on limestone and is a preliminary sketch of Nefertiti wearing her distinctive tall crown with carving begun around the mouth, chin, ear and tab of the crown. Another is a small inlay head (Petrie Museum Number UC103) modeled from reddish-brown quartzite that was clearly intended to fit into a larger composition.

Meketaten may have died in year 13 or 14. Nefertiti, Akhenaten, and three princesses are shown mourning her.{{cite book |last=Murnane |first=William J. |title=Texts from the Amarna Period in Egypt |publisher=Society of Biblical Literature |year=1995 |isbn=1-55540-966-0}} The last dated inscription naming her and Akhenaten comes from a building inscription in the limestone quarry at Deir Abu Hinnis. It dates to year 16 of the king's reign and is also the last dated inscription naming the king.{{sfn|van der Perre|2014}}

File:Limestone column fragment showing a cartouche of Nefertiti. Reign of Akhenaten. From Amarna, Egypt. The Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology, London.jpgMany scholars believe Nefertiti had a role elevated from that of great royal wife, and was promoted to co-regent by her husband Pharaoh Akhenaten before his death.{{Cite web|url=http://www.history.com/topics/ancient-history/nefertiti|title=Nefertiti - Ancient History - HISTORY.com|website=HISTORY.com|access-date=2017-10-26}} She is depicted in many archaeological sites as equal in stature to a King, smiting Egypt's enemies, riding a chariot, and worshipping the Aten in the manner of a pharaoh.{{Citation|last=AncientHistory|title=Nefertiti's Odyssey - National Geographic Documentary|date=2017-04-28|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iyYurJrSiRA| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191106174348/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iyYurJrSiRA&gl=US&hl=en| archive-date=2019-11-06 | url-status=dead|access-date=2017-10-26}} When Nefertiti's name disappears from historical records, it is replaced by that of a co-regent named Neferneferuaten, who became a female Pharaoh. It seems likely that Nefertiti, in a similar fashion to the previous female Pharaoh Hatshepsut, assumed the kingship under the name Pharaoh Neferneferuaten after her husband's death. She was then succeeded by Tutankhamun.{{sfn|van der Perre|2014}}

It seems less possible that Nefertiti disguised herself as a male and assumed the male alter ego of Smenkhkare. According to Van Der Perre, Smenkhkare is thought to be a co-regent of Akhenaten who died before Neferneferuaten assumed the kingship.{{sfn|van der Perre|2014}}

If Nefertiti did rule Egypt as a Pharaoh, it has been theorized that she would have attempted damage control and may have re-instated the ancient Egyptian religion and the Amun priests. She would have raised Tutankhamun in the worship of the traditional gods.{{cite AV media |via=YouTube |last=AncientHistory|title='Queen Nefertiti' The Most Beautiful Face of Egypt (Discovery Channel)|date=2014-12-16|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Kht878XLsg| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170308132614/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Kht878XLsg&gl=US&hl=en| archive-date=2017-03-08 | url-status=dead|access-date=2017-10-26}}

Archaeologist and Egyptologist Dr. Zahi Hawass theorized that Nefertiti returned to Thebes from Amarna to rule as a Pharaoh, based on ushabti and other feminine evidence of a female pharaoh found in Tutankhamun's tomb, as well as evidence of Nefertiti smiting Egypt's enemies which was a duty reserved to kings.{{cite AV media |via=YouTube |last=Badger Utopia|title=Nefertiti - Mummy Queen of Mystery|date=2017-08-11|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=czSww5m39q4|access-date=2017-10-26}}

{{Further|Amarna succession}}

File:Queen Nefertiti, Limestone relief.jpg, Oxford.]]

File:Fragment with cartouche of Akhenaten, which is followed by epithet Great in his Lifespan and the title of Nefertiti Great King's Wife. Reign of Akhenaten. From Amarna, Egypt. The Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology, London.jpg

Pre-2012 Egyptological theories thought that Nefertiti vanished from the historical record around Year 12 of Akhenaten's reign, with no word of her thereafter. Conjectured causes included injury, a plague that was sweeping through the city, and a natural cause. This theory was based on the discovery of several ushabti fragments inscribed for Nefertiti (now located in the Louvre and the Brooklyn Museum).

A previous theory that she fell into disgrace was discredited when deliberate erasures of monuments belonging to a queen of Akhenaten were shown to refer to Kiya instead.

During Akhenaten's reign (and perhaps after), Nefertiti enjoyed unprecedented power. By the twelfth year of his reign, there is evidence she may have been elevated to the status of co-regent:Reeves, Nicholas. Akhenaten: Egypt's False Prophet. p.172 Thames & Hudson. 2005. {{ISBN|0-500-28552-7}} equal in status to the pharaoh, as may be depicted on the Coregency Stela.

It is possible that Nefertiti is the ruler named Neferneferuaten. Some theorists believe that Nefertiti was still alive and held influence on the younger royals. If this is the case, that influence and presumably Nefertiti's own life would have ended by year 3 of Tutankhaten's reign (1331 BC). In that year, Tutankhaten changed his name to Tutankhamun. This is evidence of his return to the official worship of Amun, and abandonment of Amarna to return the capital to Thebes.

In 2012, the discovery of an inscription dated to Year 16, month 3 of Akhet, day 15 of the reign of Akhenaten was announced.{{cite book |last=Van der Perre |first=Athena |editor-last=Seyfried |editor-first=Friederike| title=In the Light of Amarna: 100 Years of the Nefertiti discovery |publisher=Ägyptisches Museum und Papyrussammlung, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin |date=2012 |isbn=978-3-86568-848-4}}{{rp|196–197}} It was discovered within Quarry 320 in the largest wadi of the limestone quarry at Dayr Abū Ḥinnis.{{sfn|van der Perre|2014|p=68}} The five-line inscription, written in red ochre, mentions the presence of the "Great Royal Wife, His Beloved, Mistress of the Two Lands, Neferneferuaten Nefertiti".{{rp|197}}{{sfn|van der Perre|2014|p=73}} The final line of the inscription refers to ongoing building work being carried out under the authority of the king's scribe Penthu on the Small Aten Temple in Amarna.{{sfn|van der Perre|2014|p=76}} Van der Perre stresses that:

{{Quote|This inscription offers incontrovertible evidence that both Akhenaten and Nefertiti were still alive in the 16th year of his [Akhenaten's] reign and, more importantly, that they were still holding the same positions as at the start of their reign. This makes it necessary to rethink the final years of the Amarna Period.{{sfn|van der Perre|2014|p=77}}}}

This means that Nefertiti was alive in the second to last year of Akhenaten's reign, and demonstrates that Akhenaten still ruled alone, with his wife by his side. Therefore, the rule of the female Amarna pharaoh known as Neferneferuaten must be placed between the death of Akhenaten and the accession of Tutankhamun. Neferneferuaten, this female pharaoh, specifically used the epithet 'Effective for her husband' in one of her cartouches,{{cite book |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131012051415/http://cassian.memphis.edu/history/murnane/M_Gabolde.pdf |chapter-url=http://cassian.memphis.edu/history/murnane/M_Gabolde.pdf |chapter=Under a Deep Blue Starry Sky |editor-first=P. |editor-last=Brand |title=Causing His Name to Live: Studies in Egyptian Epigraphy and History in Memory of William J. Murnane |pages=17–21 |archive-date=12 October 2013 |access-date=11 August 2022 |url-status=bot: unknown }} which means she was either Nefertiti or her daughter Meritaten (who was married to king Smenkhkare).

File:Unfinished portrait head of queen Nefertiti with sketches 01.jpg

File:Heads of Akhenaten and Nefertiti.jpg

Nefertiti's burial was intended to be made within the Royal Tomb as laid out in the Boundary Stelae.{{cite book |last1=Murnane |first1=William J. |title=Texts from the Amarna period in Egypt |date=1995 |publisher=Scholars Press |location=United States of America |isbn=1-55540-966-0 |page=78}} It is possible that the unfinished annex of the Royal Tomb was intended for her use.{{cite book |last1=Dodson |first1=Aidan |title=Amarna sunset : Nefertiti, Tutankhamun, Ay, Horemheb, and the Egyptian counter-reformation |date=2018 |publisher=The American University in Cairo Press |location=Cairo |isbn=978-977-416-859-8 |page=18 |edition=Revised}} However, given that Akhenaten appears to have predeceased her it is highly unlikely she was ever buried there. One shabti is known to have been made for her.{{cite book |last1=Kemp |first1=Barry |title=The city of Akhenaten and Nefertiti : Amarna and its people |date=2014 |publisher=Thames & Hudson |location=New York |isbn=978-0-500-29120-7 |page=255}} The unfinished Tomb 29, which would have been of very similar dimensions to the Royal Tomb had it been finished, is the most likely candidate for a tomb begun for Nefertiti's exclusive use.{{cite book |last1=Kemp |first1=Barry |title=The Amarna Royal Tombs at Amarna |page=6 |url=http://amarnaproject.com/documents/pdf/Amarna-Royal-Tombs.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://amarnaproject.com/documents/pdf/Amarna-Royal-Tombs.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live |access-date=1 July 2019}} Given that it lacks a burial chamber, she was not interred there either.

In 2015, English archaeologist Nicholas Reeves announced that high resolution scans revealed voids behind the walls of Tutankhamun's tomb which he proposed to be the burial chamber of Nefertiti,{{cite news |url=https://www.ibtimes.co.uk/archaeologist-believes-hidden-passageway-tomb-tutankhamun-leads-resting-place-nefertiti-1514990 |title=Archaeologist believes hidden passageway in tomb of Tutankhamun leads to resting place of Nefertiti |first=Sean |last=Martin |work=International Business Times |date=August 11, 2015 }}{{cite web |title=Radar Scans in King Tut's Tomb Suggest Hidden Chambers |url=https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2015/11/151128-tut-tomb-scans-hidden-chambers/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151130100141/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2015/11/151128-tut-tomb-scans-hidden-chambers/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=November 30, 2015 |website=National Geographic News |access-date=30 June 2019 |date=28 November 2015}} but subsequent radar scans showed that there are no hidden chambers.{{cite journal |last1=Sambuelli |first1=Luigi |last2=Comina |first2=Cesare |last3=Catanzariti |first3=Gianluca |last4=Barsuglia |first4=Filippo |last5=Morelli |first5=Gianfranco |last6=Porcelli |first6=Francesco |title=The third KV62 radar scan: Searching for hidden chambers adjacent to Tutankhamun's tomb |journal=Journal of Cultural Heritage |volume=39 |date=May 2019 |page=8 |doi=10.1016/j.culher.2019.04.001 |s2cid=164859865 }}{{cite journal |last1=Sambuelli |first1=Luigi |last2=Comina |first2=Cesare |last3=Catanzariti |first3=Gianluca |last4=Barsuglia |first4=Filippo |last5=Morelli |first5=Gianfranco |last6=Porcelli |first6=Francesco |title=The third KV62 radar scan: Searching for hidden chambers adjacent to Tutankhamun's tomb |journal=Journal of Cultural Heritage |volume=39 |date=May 2019 |page=9 |doi=10.1016/j.culher.2019.04.001 |s2cid=164859865 }}

In 1898, French archeologist Victor Loret found two female mummies among those cached inside the tomb of Amenhotep II in KV35 in the Valley of the Kings. These two mummies, known as 'The Elder Lady' and 'The Younger Lady', were identified as likely candidates of her remains.

An article in KMT magazine in 2001 suggested that the Elder Lady might be Nefertiti.{{cite magazine |first=Susan E. |last=James |title=Who is Mummy Elder Lady? |magazine=KMT |volume=12 |number=2 |date=Summer 2001 }} However, it was subsequently shown that the 'Elder Lady' is in fact Tiye, mother of Akhenaten. A lock of hair found in a coffinette bearing an inscription naming Queen Tiye proved a near perfect match to the hair of the 'Elder Lady'.{{cite journal |last1=Harris |first1=James E. |last2=Wente |first2=Edward F. |last3=Cox |first3=Charles F. |last4=El Nawaway |first4=Ibrahim |last5=Kowalski |first5=Charles J. |last6=Storey |first6=Arthur T. |last7=Russell |first7=William R. |last8=Ponitz |first8=Paul V. |last9=Walker |first9=Geoffrey F. |title=Mummy of the "Elder Lady" in the Tomb of Amenhotep II: Egyptian Museum Catalog Number 61070 |journal=Science |date=1978 |volume=200 |issue=4346 |pages=1149–51 |jstor=1746491 |bibcode=1978Sci...200.1149H |doi=10.1126/science.349693 |pmid=349693 }} DNA analysis confirmed that she was the daughter of Tiye's parents Yuya and Thuya.{{cite journal |pmid = 20159872|year = 2010|last1 = Hawass|first1 = Z.|title = Ancestry and pathology in King Tutankhamun's family|journal = JAMA|volume = 303|issue = 7|pages = 638–47|last2 = Gad|first2 = Y. Z.|last3 = Ismail|first3 = S.|last4 = Khairat|first4 = R.|last5 = Fathalla|first5 = D.|last6 = Hasan|first6 = N.|last7 = Ahmed|first7 = A.|last8 = Elleithy|first8 = H.|last9 = Ball|first9 = M.|last10 = Gaballah|first10 = F.|last11 = Wasef|first11 = S.|last12 = Fateen|first12 = M.|last13 = Amer|first13 = H.|last14 = Gostner|first14 = P.|last15 = Selim|first15 = A.|last16 = Zink|first16 = A.|last17 = Pusch|first17 = C. M.|doi = 10.1001/jama.2010.121|doi-access = }}

On 9 June 2003 archaeologist Joann Fletcher, a specialist in ancient hair from the University of York in England, announced that Nefertiti's mummy may have been the Younger Lady. This theory was criticised by Zahi Hawass and several other Egyptologists.{{cite web|url=http://www.zahihawass.com/wc_no_discrimination.htm |title=Weekly Column - Dr. Zahi Hawass |date=27 September 2007 |access-date=8 June 2016 |url-status=unfit |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927131223/http://www.zahihawass.com/wc_no_discrimination.htm |archive-date=September 27, 2007 }} In a subsequent research project led by Hawass, the mummy was put through CT scan analysis and DNA analysis. Researchers concluded that she is Tutankhamun's biological mother, an unnamed daughter of Amenhotep III and Tiye, not Nefertiti.{{cite book |last1=Hawas |first1=Zahi |last2=Saleem |first2=Sahar N. |title=Scanning the Pharaohs: CT Imaging of the New Kingdom Royal Mummies |date=2016 |publisher=The American University in Cairo Press |location=New York |isbn=978-977-416-673-0 |page=123}}

{{Main|KV21#KV21B}}

One of the two female mummies found in KV21 has been suggested as the body of Nefertiti. DNA analysis did not yield enough data to make a definitive identification but confirmed she was a member of the Eighteenth Dynasty royal line.{{cite journal |last1=Hawass |first1=Zahi |author-link1=Zahi Hawass |last2=Gad |first2=Yehia Z. |last3=Somaia |first3=Ismail |last4=Khairat |first4=Rabab |last5=Fathalla |first5=Dina |last6=Hasan |first6=Naglaa |last7=Ahmed |first7=Amal |last8=Elleithy |first8=Hisham |last9=Ball |first9=Markus |last10=Gaballah |first10=Fawzi |last11=Wasef |first11=Sally |last12=Fateen |first12=Mohamed |last13=Amer |first13=Hany |last14=Gostner |first14=Paul |last15=Selim |first15=Ashraf |last16=Zink |first16=Albert |last17=Pusch |first17=Carsten M. |date=February 17, 2010 |title=Ancestry and Pathology in King Tutankhamun's Family |url=https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/185393 |access-date=May 24, 2020 |url-access=limited |journal=Journal of the American Medical Association |publisher=American Medical Association |location=Chicago, Illinois |volume=303 |issue=7 |pages=638–647 |doi=10.1001/jama.2010.121 |issn=1538-3598 |pmid=20159872|doi-access= }} CT-scanning revealed she was about 45 at the time of her death; her left arm had been bent over her chest in the 'queenly' pose. The possible identification is based on her association with the mummy tentatively identified as Ankhesenamun. It is suggested that just as a mother and daughter (Tiye and the Younger Lady) were found lying together in KV35, the same was true of these mummies.{{cite book |last1=Hawass |first1=Zahi |last2=Saleem |first2=Sahar N. |title=Scanning the Pharaohs: CT Imaging of the New Kingdom Royal Mummies |date=2016 |publisher=American University in Cairo Press |location=New York |isbn=978-977-416-673-0 |pages=132–142}}

A document was found in the ancient Hittite capital of Hattusa which dates to the Amarna period. The document is part of the so-called Deeds of Suppiluliuma I. While laying siege to Karkemish, the Hittite ruler receives a letter from the Egyptian queen. The letter reads:{{cite journal |last1=Güterbock |first1=Hans Gustav |title=The Deeds of Suppiluliuma as Told by His Son, Mursili II (Continued) |journal=Journal of Cuneiform Studies |date=June 1956 |volume=10 |issue=3 |pages=75–98 |doi=10.2307/1359312|jstor=1359312 |s2cid=163670780 }}

{{quote|My husband has died and I have no son. They say about you that you have many sons. You might give me one of your sons to become my husband. I would not wish to take one of my subjects as a husband... I am afraid.}}

This proposal is considered extraordinary as New Kingdom royal women never married foreign royalty.{{cite journal |last1=Schulman |first1=Alan R. |title=Diplomatic Marriage in the Egyptian New Kingdom |journal=Journal of Near Eastern Studies |date=1979 |volume=38 |issue=3 |pages=179–180 |doi=10.1086/372739 |jstor=544713 |s2cid=161228521 }} Suppiluliuma I was understandably surprised and exclaimed to his courtiers:

{{Quote|Nothing like this has happened to me in my entire life!}}

Understandably, he was wary, and had an envoy investigate the situation, but by so doing, he missed his chance to bring Egypt into his empire. He eventually did send one of his sons, Zannanza, but the prince died, perhaps murdered, en route.{{cite journal |last1=Güterbock |first1=Hans Gustav |title=The Deeds of Suppiluliuma as Told by His Son, Mursili II |journal=Journal of Cuneiform Studies |date=September 1956 |volume=10 |issue=4 |pages=107–130 |doi=10.2307/1359585|jstor=1359585 |s2cid=224824543 }}{{cite book|pages=254|author=Amelie Kuhrt|title=The Ancient Middle East c. 3000 – 330 BC|volume=1|year=1997|publisher=Routledge|location=London}}

The identity of the queen who wrote the letter is uncertain. She is called Dakhamunzu in the Hittite annals, a translation of the Egyptian title Ta hemet nesu (The King's Wife).{{cite book |last1=Lloyd |first1=Alan B. |title=A Companion to Ancient Egypt |date=6 May 2010 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |isbn=978-1-4443-2006-0 |page=14 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RK2pLin2sPAC&dq=Dakhamunzu&pg=PA114 |access-date=19 April 2022 |language=en}}{{cite book |last1=Darnell |first1=John Coleman |author1-link=John Coleman Darnell |last2=Manassa |first2=Colleen| author2-link= Colleen Darnell |title=Tutankhamun's Armies: Battle and Conquest During Ancient Egypt's Late Eighteenth Dynasty |date=3 August 2007 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |isbn=978-0-471-74358-3 |page=186 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7MvtJ2LbKgwC&dq=Dakhamunzu&pg=PA185 |access-date=19 April 2022 |language=en}}{{cite book |editor1-last=Matthews |editor1-first=Roger |editor2-last=Roemer |editor2-first=Cornelia |title=Ancient Perspectives on Egypt |date=16 September 2016 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-315-43491-9 |page=98 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=I7AYDQAAQBAJ&dq=Dakhamunzu&pg=PT163 |access-date=19 April 2022 |language=en}} The possible candidates are Nefertiti, Meritaten,{{cite book|title=Ancient Egyptian Queens; a hieroglyphic dictionary|first=Wolfram|last=Grajetzki|year=2000|location=London|publisher=Golden House|pages=64}} and Ankhesenamun. Ankhesenamun once seemed the likeliest, since there were no candidates for the throne on the death of her husband, Tutankhamun, whereas Akhenaten had at least two legitimate successors. But this was based on the assumption of a 27-year reign for the last 18th Dynasty pharaoh, Horemheb, who is now accepted to have had a shorter reign of only 14 years. This makes the deceased Egyptian king appear to be Akhenaten instead, rather than Tutankhamun.{{Citation needed|date=December 2019}} Furthermore, the phrase regarding marriage to 'one of my subjects' (translated by some as 'servants') is possibly either a reference to the Grand Vizier Ay or a secondary member of the Egyptian royal family line. Since Nefertiti was depicted as being as powerful as her husband in official monuments smiting Egypt's enemies, she might be the Dakhamunzu in the Amarna correspondence, as Nicholas Reeves believes.Nicholas Reeves,[https://www.academia.edu/7415055/Tutankhamuns_Mask_Reconsidered_in_press_corrected_proof_2015_ Tutankhamun's Mask Reconsidered] BES 19 (2014), pp.523

File:Headless bust of Akhenaten or Nefertiti. Part of a composite red quartzite statue. Intentional damage. Four pairs of early Aten cartouches. Reign of Akhenaten. From Amarna, Egypt. The Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology, London.jpg|Headless bust of Akhenaten or Nefertiti. Part of a composite red quartzite statue. Intentional damage. Four pairs of early Aten cartouches. Reign of Akhenaten. From Amarna, Egypt. The Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology, London

File:Limestone statuette of Akhenaten, Nefertiti, and a princess. Reign of Akhenaten. From Amarna, Egypt. The Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology, London.jpg|Limestone statuette of Akhenaten and Nefertiti, or Amenhotep III and Tiye,{{cite journal |last1=Johnson |first1=W. Raymond |title=Amenhotep III and Amarna: Some New Considerations |journal=The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology |date=1996 |volume=82 |page=76 |doi=10.1177/030751339608200112 |jstor=3822115 |s2cid=193461821 }} and a princess. Reign of Akhenaten. From Amarna, Egypt. The Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology, London

File:Limestone relief fragment. A princess holding sistrum behind Nefertiti, who is partially seen. Reign of Akhenaten. From Amarna, Egypt. The Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology, London.jpg|Limestone relief fragment. A princess holding sistrum behind Nefertiti, who is partially seen. Reign of Akhenaten. From Amarna, Egypt. The Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology, London

File:Siliceous limestone fragment relief of Nefertiti. Extreme style of portrait. Reign of Akhenaten, probably early Amarna Period. From Amarna, Egypt. The Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology, London.jpg|Siliceous limestone fragment relief of Nefertiti. Extreme style of portrait. Reign of Akhenaten, probably early Amarna Period. From Amarna, Egypt. The Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology, London

File:StatueHeadOfNefertiti01.png|Granite head statue of Nefertiti. The securing post at head apex allows for different hairstyles to adorn the head. Altes Museum, Berlin.

File:Portraitkopf der Nofretete (Berlin 21352).JPG|Head statue of Nefertiti, Altes Museum, Berlin.

File:GD-EG-Caire-Musée066.JPG|Akhenaten, Nefertiti and their daughters before the Aten. Stela of Akhenaten and his family, Egyptian Museum, Cairo.

File:WLA brooklynmuseum Nefertiti ca 1352-1336 BCE.jpg|Nefertiti offering oil to the Aten. Brooklyn Museum.

File:ReliefFragmentOfNefertitiWithSunDiskOfAten.png|Talatat showing Nefertiti worshipping the Aten. Altes Museum.

File:WLA brooklynmuseum sandstone Nefertiti.jpg|Relief fragment with Nefertiti, Brooklyn Museum.

File:Akhenathon and Nefertiti E15593 mp3h8771.jpg|Akhenaten and Nefertiti. Louvre Museum, Paris.

File:ParapetFragment-NefertitiPresentsMaatToAten BrooklynMuseum.png|Nefertiti presenting an image of the goddess Maat to the Aten. Brooklyn Museum.

File:AmarnaEra-NefertitAndAkhenatenWorshippingAten-ROM.png|Talatat representing Nefertiti and Akhenaten worshipping the Aten. Royal Ontario Museum.

File:Queen Nefert-iti and Princess Meket-Aten on boundary stela, Tell el-Amarna, 18th Dynasty, 1353-1336 BCE - Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art - DSC08150.JPG|Boundary stele of Amarna with Nefertiti and her daughter, princess Meketaten, Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art.

File:WLA brooklynmuseum Relief of Nefertiti Kissing one of her daughters.jpg|Limestone relief of Nefertiti kissing one of her daughters, Brooklyn Museum.

File:AmarnaRelief-Nefertiti-LateReliefImage BrooklynMuseum.png|Talatat with an aged Nefertiti, Brooklyn Museum.

• Nefertiti was portrayed by Geraldine Chaplin in Nefertiti and Akhenaton (1973), Mexican short film by Raul Araiza.
• Nefertiti was portrayed again by Riann Steele in Doctor Who (2012), in the episode Dinosaurs on a Spaceship.
• Nefertiti (presented as the same person as Neferneferuaten) is a key part of the archaeological topics in Jacqueline Benson's 2024 historical fantasy novel, Tomb of the Sun King.

{{reflist}}

• {{cite book

|last= Dodson

|first= Aidan

|author-link=Aidan Dodson

|orig-year=2014

|year= 2016

|title= Amarna Sunrise: Egypt from Golden Age to Age of Heresy

|publisher= American University in Cairo Press

|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=hOPfBgAAQBAJ

|isbn=9781617975608

}}

• {{cite journal |first=Athena |last=van der Perre |url=https://www.academia.edu/6682743 |title=The Year 16 graffito of Akhenaten in Dayr Abū Ḥinnis. A Contribution to the Study of the Later Years of Nefertiti |journal=Journal of Egyptian History |volume=7 |issue=1 |year=2014 |pages=67–106|doi=10.1163/18741665-12340014 }}

{{Sister project links|auto=yes}}

• [http://www.smb.spk-berlin.de/smb/sammlungen/details.php?lang=en&objectId=2 Staatliche Museen zu Berlin: Egyptian Museum and Papyrus Collection] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100702044305/http://www.smb.spk-berlin.de/smb/sammlungen/details.php?lang=en&objectId=2 |date=2010-07-02 }}
• [https://www.academia.edu/14406398/The_Burial_of_Nefertiti_2015_ C. Nicholas Reeves: The Burial of Nefertiti?]
• [https://www.academia.edu/16769699/Who_else_might_be_in_Pharaoh_Tutankhamun_s_tomb_KV_62_c._1325_BC_ Habicht M. et al: Who else might be in Pharaoh Tutankhamun's tomb (KV 62, c. 1325 BC)?]
• [https://sketchfab.com/models/0de77041bfb74f259b313cf9ed81fbaa A 3D model of a bust of Nefertiti]

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