Why is Nefertiti so famous through history?

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The ancient Egyptian queen Nefertiti is mostly only famous because of the famous stucco-covered limestone bust of her that was discovered in 1912 by a team of German archaeologists led by Ludwig Borchardt at the site of the ancient city of Akhetaten (known today as Amarna) in what is now Egypt’s Minya Governorate.

The bust is believed to have been carved in around 1345 BC by an Egyptian sculptor named Thutmose. It is currently on display in the Neues Museum in Berlin, Germany, although Egypt has repeatedly made calls for its repatriation to Egypt, insisting that the bust was removed from Egypt illegally.

ABOVE: The famous bust of Nefertiti

Apart from the famous bust, however, there are good reasons for why Nefertiti should be famous. Nefertiti was the wife and primary consort of the famous “mad pharaoh” Akhenaten, who abandoned the cults of Egypt’s traditional gods and instead instituted a monolatristic cult of the sun-disk Aten. Akhenaten also abandoned Egypt’s former capital and built a new capital in the middle of the desert known as Akhetaten, which is where the famous bust of Nefertiti was discovered.

ABOVE: Colossal statue of the pharaoh Akhenaten

Additionally, if the mummy identified as “The Younger Lady” is indeed Nefertiti’s, then Nefertiti was also the mother of the famous boy-king Tutankhamun.

ABOVE: Photograph of the mummy of the woman identified as “The Younger Lady,” who has long been suspected to have been Nefertiti and has been shown using genetic evidence to have been the mother of Tutankhamun

Finally, and most excitingly, it has long been suspected that the female pharaoh Ankhkheperure Neferneferuaten, who ruled in her own right at some point for at least roughly two years after the death of Akhenaten, but before Tutankhamun’s ascension to the throne, was most likely Nefertiti. If this is the case, that would mean Nefertiti was one of the very few female pharaohs ever to rule Egypt in her own right.

We cannot be sure, however, that Ankhkheperure Neferneferuaten was Nefertiti. Some Egyptologists believe that she was probably actually Meritaten, the eldest daughter of Akhenaten and Nefertiti and wife of the pharaoh Smenkhkare. If that is the case, then Ankhkheperure Neferneferuaten would be Nefertiti’s eldest daughter, rather than Nefertiti herself.