QUEEN NEFERTITI

Queen Fine

Nefertiti was the wife of the Egyptian Pharaoh amenhotep iv (later akhenaten) and mother in law of the pharaoh tutankhamun. Her name riughly translates to the beautiful one is come she also shares her name with a type of elongated gold beads that she was often portrayed as wearing known as nefer beads famed throughout the ancient world for her outstanding beauty nefertiti remains the one of the most well known queen of egypt though akhenaten had serveral wives queen nefetiti was his chief wife.

She was made famous by her painted limestone bust (above) now in berlins`s Egyptian Museum shown to the right. The bust seen from two different angles is indeed the most famous depiction of queen nefertiti found in the workshop of the famed sculptor thutmose the bust is believed to be a sculptor`s model. The technique which begins with a carved piece of limestone reqires the stone core to be first plastered and then richly painted flesh tones on the bust life.

Her full lips are enhanced by a bold red. Although the crystal inlay is missing from her left eye both eyelids and brows are outlined in black. Her graceful elongated neck balsnces the tall flat top crown which adorns her sleek head. the vibrant colors of the her necklace and crown contrast the yellow brown of her smooth skin. While everything is sculpted to perfection the one flaw of the piece is a broken left ear. Because this remains The Most beautiful woman in the world .

Nefertiti`s origins are confusing it has been suggested to me that tiy was also her mother another suggestion is that nefertiti was akhenaten`s cousin. Her wet nurse was the wife of the vizier Ay who could have been tiv`s ay sometimes called himself the god`s father suggesting

that he might have been akhenaten`s father in law. however Ay never references that nefertit`s sister mutnojme is featured prominently in the decoration of the tomb of Ay. we may never know the truth of this bloodline. perhaps they didn`t know it either.

Nefertiti joined her husband in worship of this new religiion she was a priest. supposedly it was onlythrough the combined royal pair that the full blessing god aten could be bestowed.