E/4: NEFERTITI

"The heiress, The greatest of the Palace, Splendour of beauty, crowned by 2 feathers, exultant in her voice..." 

Amongst all the femenine personalities of ancient Egypt , Nefertiti is the most fascinating and enigmatic of all. The only certainty about her is that she wed AmenhotepIV (later, Akhenatón) with whom she had 6 daughters and that together they led a revolutionary politiacal and religious reform that would change Egypt forever. The rest is a mystery reconstructed from few sources. 

During her life she exercised a power comparable to her consort the Pharoa, and played an important role in the mentioned reforms which established - although only in an ephemeral way - the monotic cult to Aton, and the creation of a new capitol for the kingdom in substitution of Thebes , Tell el-Amarna. 

Despite the historic lagoons, documentation shows us that Nefertiti was an exceptional person. In The Talalat, or Stelae of Amarna she is usually presented as an equal to the king, and in some cases we even see her assuming priviliges exclusive to the Pharoa, mounted inher own chariot, striking the enemies of her country or making offerings to the gods. It seems that the reason for the importance conceded to the queen was in order to increase the royal family's divine catagory in itself, reinforcing their role as intermediaries between the divine and human worlds.

Our interpretation of the bust is primarily based on the mentioned piece in Berlin, and the reconstruction undertaken by a team from Sheffield Universtity relating to a an anonymous mummy discovered by Dr. Joann Fletcher in tomb KV35 in the Valley of the Kings, which sustains the theory that it is the mummy of Nefertiti herself. 

For painting we recommend an intense blue for the crown, and tones natural to semiprecoius gems - Turquoise, Lapis lazuli and Chalcedony - for the Diadem with the Uraeus, The earrings and the  “usekh” or collar. The model is accompanied by the hieroglyphic name of Nefertiti. The hieroglyphs are usually decorated with bright colours. 

Alexandre C.B.

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