Queen Nefertiti Essay

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Queen Nefertiti Queen Nefertiti was born around 1390 B.C. in Thebes, Egypt. Her name roughly translates to “the beautiful one has come.” She also shares her name with a type of stretched out gold bead that she was often portrayed with, known as “nefer” beads. In ancient Egypt she was known for her beauty and she was very proud of her long swan like neck. She was famous by her bust, now in Berlin’s Egyptian Museum. The bust is one of the most copied works in ancient Egypt. It was contributed to the sculptor Djhutmose, and was found in his workshop. Nefertiti’s parents are not known, but people say that she may have been daughter of later Pharaoh Ay and his wife Tey. Nefertiti married King Amenhotep IV and she then became queen. They then had six daughters named Meritaten, Meketaten, Ankhesenpaaten, Neferneferuaten, Neferneferure, and Setepenre. In year for of his ruling,Amenhotep started his worship of Aten. The king led a religious revolution, in which Nefertiti played an important role. In his year five, Amenhotep IV changed his name to Akhetaten. Years later Nefertiti’s daughter Maketaten is mentioned for the last time and she died. During Akenaten’s rule, Nefertiti enjoyed exceptional power, and by the twelfth year of his rule, there is evidence that she may have been equaled in status to the pharaoh himself. She was often depicted on temple walls the same as the king, signifying her importance, and shown worshiping the Aten alone. Perhaps most impressively, Nefertiti is shown on a relief from the temple at Amarna. Such depictions had traditionally been reserved the pharaoh alone, and Nefertiti was shown as such. In year 14 of Akenaten's ruling, Nefertiti herself vanishes, and there is no word of her from then on. Some say a sudden death by a plaque that was sweeping through the city or another natural death. Whatever really happened has been

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