Nefertiti

Nefertiti

Nefertiti

Nefertiti (1390 B.C.-ca. 1360 B.C.) was an Egyptian quenn who still remains a mystery to scholars today.

One of the most famous women in antiquity, Nefertiti remains somewhat of a puzzlement to scholars because of her mysterious ancestry and her disappearance from the record during the last years of Akhenaten's reign. Some believe that she was of Egyptian blood, others that she was a foreign princess. Her name, which translates to "The Beautiful One is Come," is an Egyptian birthname—thus not indicative of a foreign birth—and evidence indicates that she had an Egyptian wet-nurse or governess of noble rank, strong support for a birth within the circle of the Egyptian royal court. She may have been a niece of Ay, who ascended to the throne after Tutankhamen.

Her role, if any, late in Akhenaten's rule remains equally unclear. During the first five years of his reign, Nefertiti enjoyed a high profile, and the large number of carved scenes in which she is shown accompanying him during the ceremonial acts he performed is evidence of her political importance. She is depicted taking part in the daily worship and making offerings similar to those of the king— acts quite unlike those relegated to the generally subservient status of previous chief queens. But after the 14th year of Akhenaten's rule, Nefertiti disappears from view. Some have hypothesized that she was the power behind the throne and thus responsible for the innovations during his rule until being dismissed from her position and banished to the North Palace at Amarna. Her banishment would therefore reflect within the royal family an ideological rift, with Nefertiti favoring the continued worship of Aten while Akhenaten and Tutankhamen supported a return to the worship of Amen-Re. Most scholars, however, now suppose that Nefertiti simply died soon after Akhenaten's 14th regnal year, after which first Meritaten and then Ankhesenpaten took her place at the pharaoh's side. A more dramatic, if less accepted, theory holds that she assumed a new, masculine, identity toward the end of Akhenaten's rule—that Nefertiti and the young pharaoh Smenkhkare were, in fact, the same person. □

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"Nefertiti." Encyclopedia of World Biography. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

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Nefertiti

Nefertiti (14th century BC) Wife and queen of AKHENATEN, Pharaoh of Egypt. She was a devoted worshipper of the Sun god Aten, whose cult was the only one permitted by her husband. She fell from favour, and was supplanted by one of her six daughters. She is known to posterity through inscriptions, reliefs, and above all a fine limestone bust which was found at ancient Akhetaton (modern Tell el-Amarna).

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"Nefertiti." A Dictionary of World History. 2000. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

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Nefertiti

Nefertiti (fl. 14th century bc), Egyptian queen, wife of Akhenaten. She initially supported Akhenaten's religious reforms, although she may have withdrawn her support in favour of the new religion promoted by her half-brother Tutankhamen. She is best known from the painted limestone bust of her, now in Berlin, in which she is shown with a long and slender neck.

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ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "Nefertiti." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "Nefertiti." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. (May 26, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O214-Nefertiti.html

ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "Nefertiti." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 2006. Retrieved May 26, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O214-Nefertiti.html

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Nefertiti

Nefertiti or Nefretete , fl. c.1372–1350 BC, queen of ancient Egypt; wife of Ikhnaton (XVIII dynasty) and aunt of Tutankhamen . She seems to have been divorced by Ikhnaton late in his reign. The exquisite limestone bust of Nefertiti (Berlin Mus.) has given rise to the tradition that she was one of the most beautiful women of antiquity.

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"Nefertiti." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

"Nefertiti." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Encyclopedia.com. (May 26, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-Nefertit.html

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Nefertiti

Nefertiti (active 14th century bc) Queen of Egypt as wife of Akhenaten. She supported her husband's innovative religious ideas and was exceptionally beautiful. Her best surviving representation is a bust now in the Berlin Museum, Germany.

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"Nefertiti." World Encyclopedia. 2005. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

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Nefertiti

NefertitiAlbacete, eighty, Haiti, Katy, Kuwaiti, Leyte, matey, pratie, slaty, weighty •safety • frailty •dainty, painty •hasty, pastie, pasty, tasty •suzerainty •Beatty, entreaty, graffiti, meaty, Nefertiti, peaty, sleety, sweetie, Tahiti, titi, treaty •beastie, yeasty

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"Nefertiti." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

"Nefertiti." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. (May 26, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O233-Nefertiti.html

"Nefertiti." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Retrieved May 26, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O233-Nefertiti.html

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Free newspaper and magazine articles

'Nefertiti' gets second coming at Morton.(Time Out!)
Newspaper article from: Daily Herald (Arlington Heights, IL); 4/16/2004
Is this the mummy of Egypt's beautiful lost queen Nefertiti?
Newspaper article from: Daily Mail (London); 6/9/2003
The Search for Nefertiti: The True Story of an Amazing Discovery.(Book Review)
Magazine article from: African Business; 2/1/2005

Facts and information from other sites

Nefertiti images
Nefertiti. Wikimedia Commons (Public Domain)