Nefertiti’s name has persisted because written evidence suggests she had an exceptionally influential role as wife and queen at court.
The bust of Nefertiti is one of the most famous icons of Ancient Egypt, yet the queen herself is still shrouded in mystery and intrigue. As the consort of Pharaoh Akhenaten, the couple ruled from 1353 to 1336 BC during one of the most contentious periods in Egypt’s cultural history.
At this time, Pharaoh Akhenaten reshaped Egypt’s religion around the worship of the sun god Aten and moved the empire’s capital to Amarna.
Although she was not a pharaoh, Nefertiti’s name has persisted because written evidence suggests she played an exceptionally influential role as wife and queen at court.
Historians have deduced that Nefertiti was a major supporter of Akhenaten’s religious and cultural movement. She represented the feminine element of the Aten while her husband represented the masculine, and both acted as a bridge between the Aten and the Egyptian people. The bust of Nefertiti is identified as her likeness due to the characteristic blue crown, which she wears on all other inscribed depictions of her.
The limestone sculpture is believed to have been completed by the artist Thutmose in 1345 BC. Upon its discovery in 1912, the portrait immortalized Nefertiti as the symbol of ideal female beauty and remains a popular attraction at the Neues Museum in Berlin.
Despite the little surviving evidence we have of Nefertiti, there is enough to build a picture of the remarkable woman who made an impact on the ancient world. For a deeper understanding of Queen Nefertiti, read on for 11 facts about her life.
NEFERTITI WAS A TEENAGE QUEEN
Unsurprisingly for the time, Nefertiti was fifteen when she married the sixteen-year-old Amunhotep IV and assumed the throne as queen consort. In the fifth year of his reign, the pharaoh began his religious movement and renamed himself Akhenaten.
Akhenaton and Nefertiti built a new city
With the foundation of their new monotheistic religion worshiping the sun god Aten, Nefertiti and Akhenaten further broke away from the “old kingdom” of Ancient Egypt and built a new capital called Amarna.
NEFERTITI COULD HAVE BEEN OF ROYAL HERITAGE
Nefertiti’s parentage is mainly conjectured with two prevailing theories. Some historians believe that her father was Ay, who was an important adviser to the royal family, including Nefertiti’s future husband. (Ay even became pharaoh after King Tutankhamun’s death in 1323 BC.) Other scholars speculate that Nefertiti was a princess from the kingdom of Mitanni in northern Syria.
We know that Nefertiti had a younger sister named Mutbenret (or Mutnodjemet), who is mentioned in surviving Amarna art.
HE HAD MANY TITLES
Like most royals, Nefertiti had many titles during her time in power, including:
• Crown princess
• Great of praises
• Lady of Grace
• Sweet of love
• Lady of the Two Lands
• Wife of the Principal King
• His beloved
• Wife of the Great King
• Lady of all women
• Lady of Upper and Lower Egypt
NEFERTITI DID HONOR TO HER NAME
Nefertiti was born in 1370 BC in the Egyptian city of Thebes. Her name in English means “the beautiful woman has come”. When she and her husband Akhenaten initiated the change in the religion of Egypt, Nefertiti adopted the additional name of Neferneferuaten.
Taken together, her full name means “beautiful are the beauties of the Aten, a beautiful woman has come.” According to the surviving images of Nefertiti, she had beauty in abundance.
SHE RULED DURING THE RICHEST PERIOD IN THE HISTORY OF ANCIENT EGYPT
Akhenaten and Nefertiti ruled during arguably the richest period in Ancient Egyptian history.
During Akhenaten’s reign, the new capital of Amarna achieved an artistic boom unlike any other in Egypt.
The Amarna style showed movement and figures of more exaggerated proportions, with elongated hands and feet. Depictions of Akhenaten during this time give him distinctly feminine attributes with wide hips and prominent breasts.
SHE WAS A POWERFUL WIFE
Nefertiti was Akhenaten’s favorite consort, or Great Royal Wife, from the beginning of his reign. According to historical records, Nefertiti had six daughters by Akhenaten with the names Meritaten, Meketaten, Ankhes-en-pa-aten, Neferneferuaten-tasherit, Neferneferure, and Setepenre. Despite not having children, Amarna’s art depicts the royal couple as having a strong and loving relationship.
Nefertiti is also shown in a variety of roles, including driving chariots, attending ceremonies with Akhenaten, and beating up enemies.
SHE WAS LOVED AND HATED.
Although Nefertiti and Akhenaten ruled Ancient Egypt at a time of unprecedented wealth, their new religion destabilized the empire. As queen, Nefertiti was loved by some for her charisma and grace. However, she was also largely hated due to her important religious role in the cult of Aten.
NEFERTITI POSSIBLY RULED AS PHARAOH AFTER HER HUSBAND’S DEATH
The circumstances surrounding Nefertiti’s death are a mystery, as her name disappears from the historical record around the 12th year of Akhenaten’s 17-year reign.
A popular theory suggests that Nefertiti abandoned her former title at this time and became an official co-regent under the name Neferneferuaten.
Some also propose that Nefertiti actually served as the pharaoh Neferneferuaten, who Egyptologists know was a ruler who ruled towards the end of the Amarna period.
TWO OF HIS DAUGHTERS BECAME EGYPTIAN QUEENS
Nefertiti and Akhenaten had six known daughters: Meritaten, Meketaten, Ankesenpaaten (later known as Ankhesanamun), Neferneferuagen Tasherit, Neferneferure, and Setepenre. While we do not have substantial records of all the princesses, historians do know that two of them served as queens of Egypt.
Meritaten, whose name means “She who is loved by the Aten,” became the Great Royal Wife of Pharaoh Smenkhkare. After her death, she might even have served as a female king under the name Neferneferuaten, the same figure some Egyptologists speculate was Nefertiti.
Nefertiti’s other daughter, Ankesenenpaaten became Ankhesanamun after her father’s death, reflecting Egypt’s return to polytheism. Some time after the short reigns of King Smenkhkare and Neferneferuaten, she married her half-brother Tutankhamun, becoming Royal Great Wife.