Nefertiti
Nefertiti
Unknown–Unknown near the end of the reign of Akhenaten (1352–1336 b.c.e.)
Queen
Chief Queen.
Nefertiti's parents are not known. Scholars assume she was born to a high-ranking family. She first appears in history already the wife of Akhenaten and with him worshipping the Aten. By the fourth year of Akhenaten's reign about 1348, Nefertiti was the subject of a series of extraordinary reliefs in the new temples that the king built in Karnak. Here Nefertiti behaves like a king, smiting Egypt's enemies with a mace. Nefertiti's face in representations of her worshipping with the king and their six daughters is indistinguishable from the king's face. Nefertiti also wore other kingly symbols in art depicting her. She wore the Uraeus snake over her forehead and also wore several different crowns. In one relief she wore the Nubian hairstyle usually worn by male soldiers. Artists also depicted Nefertiti receiving life with an ankh sign from the god Aten. The only other person who held this honor was the king. All of these royal representations provide the only evidence for understanding her role in history.
sources
Dorothea Arnold, The Royal Women of Amarna (New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1996).
Ray W. Smith and Donald B. Redford, Akhenaten Temple Project I: Initial Discoveries (Warminster, England: Aris and Philips, 1976).