The legend of the most beautiful and happiest Egyptian queen, the beloved and only wife of Pharaoh Akhenaten, has passed down through all the centuries to this day. But excavations of the 20th century led to the fact that the legends around the name of Nefertiti and her royal consorts grew. However, there is also reliable information about her life, love and death.
Nefertiti is not Egyptian, as is commonly believed. She came from the Mesopotamian state of Mitanni, the country of the Aryans. We can say that she came to Egypt from the Sun itself. The Aryans - Nefertiti's people - worshiped the sun. And with the appearance of a 15-year-old princess named Taduchepa on Egyptian soil, a new god came - Aten. Nefertiti's marriage to Pharaoh Amenhotep III was purely political. The young beauty was exchanged for a ton of jewelry, gold, silver and ivory and brought to the Egyptian city of Thebes. There they gave her a new name, Nefertiti, and gave her to the harem of Pharaoh Amenhotep III. After the death of his father, young Amenhotep IV inherited a foreign beauty. Pharaoh's love did not flare up immediately, but it did flare up. As a result, the young pharaoh dissolved his father's huge harem and declared his wife his co-ruler. Receiving foreign ambassadors and concluding important agreements, he swore by the spirit of the Sun God and his love for his wife.
History of Nefertiti
Nefertiti's husband entered the history of Egypt as one of the most humane rulers. Sometimes Amenhotep is portrayed as a weak, strange, sickly young man, obsessed with the ideas of general equality, peace and friendship between people and different peoples. However, it was Amenhotep IV who carried out a bold religious reform. None of the 350 rulers who occupied the Egyptian throne had dared to do this before him.
Temple of Aten
A huge temple of Aten was built from white stone. Construction has begun new capital Egypt - the city of Akhetaten (“Horizon of Aten”). It was founded in a picturesque valley between Thebes and Memphis. The inspirer of the new plans was the pharaoh's wife. Now the pharaoh himself was called Akhenaten, which means “Pleasing to Aten,” and Nefertiti was called “Nefer-Nefer-Aten.” This name is translated very poetically and symbolically - beautiful beauty Aten, or, in other words, face like the sun.
French archaeologists have restored the appearance of the Egyptian queen
: black eyebrows, strong chin, full, gracefully curved lips. Her figure - fragile, miniature, but perfectly proportioned - is compared to a chiseled figurine. The queen wore expensive clothes, most often white transparent dresses made of thin linen. According to legend and many deciphered hieroglyphs, Nefertiti’s sunny beauty extended to her soul. She was sung as a gentle beauty, the favorite of the Sun, who pacified everyone with her mercy. The hieroglyphic inscriptions praise not only the queen's beauty, but also her divine ability to command respect. Nefertiti was called the “mistress of pleasures,” “pacifying heaven and earth with a sweet voice and kindness.”
Akhenaten himself called his wife “the delight of his heart.”
” and wished her to live “forever and ever.” The papyrus, where the teaching about the family of the wise pharaoh is recorded, tells about the ideal family happiness royal couple until their death. This myth traveled through time from the ancient Greeks to the Romans and became worldwide. The cordial relationship between the king and the queen was captured in dozens and hundreds of drawings and bas-reliefs. On one of the frescoes there is even one extremely bold and frank picture, which we can well call erotic. Akhenaten tenderly hugs and kisses Nefertiti on the mouth. This is the first depiction of love in the history of art.But meticulous archaeologists got to the bottom of the tragedy, without which, it turns out, the life of the sun-like and happy Nefertiti could not have happened. And she had a rival in Ancient Egypt with a loving and wise husband.
The same hieroglyphs and images on stone slabs helped archaeologists find out this secret. The king and queen were usually depicted as an inseparable couple. They were symbols of mutual respect and state concerns. The couple greeted noble guests together, prayed to the disk of the Sun together, and distributed gifts to their subjects.
Amazing finds of archaeologists
But in 1931, in Amarna, the French found tablets with hieroglyphs on which the name Nefer-Nefer-Aten had been carefully scraped off, leaving only the name of the pharaoh. Then more surprising discoveries appeared. A limestone figure of Nefertiti’s daughter with her mother’s name destroyed, a profile of the queen herself with a royal headdress covered in paint. This could only be done by order of the pharaoh. Egyptologists came to the conclusion that drama occurred in the happy home of the pharaohs. A few years before Akhenaten's death, the family fell apart. Nefertiti was expelled from the palace, she now lived in country house and raised a boy destined to be the husband of her daughter, the future Pharaoh Tutankhamun.
Under the images of the royal couple, another female name appeared, inscribed instead of Nefertiti. This name is Kiya. That was the name of Nefertiti's rival. The guess was also confirmed by a ceramic vessel with the names of Akhenaten and his new wife Kiya. Nefertiti was no longer listed there. Later, in 1957, they found an image of the new queen - a youthful face, wide cheekbones, regular arches of eyebrows, equanimity of a look. Features attractive only by the charm of youth... This woman could not become a legend, although she replaced a legendary woman and a loving wife in the arms of Akhenaten. She didn't just win the heart of the pharaoh. IN last years reign, he made Kiya the second (junior) pharaoh. A gold, luxuriously inlaid coffin was even made for her. But a year before his death, Akhenaten also alienated his second wife.
Nefertiti lived in disgrace until Tutankhamun ascended the throne. She died in Thebes. After the death of Akhenaten, the priests of Egypt returned to the old god. Together with the sun god Aten, the name of the sun-like Nefer-Nefer-Aten was cursed. That is why it was not included in the chronicles. Nefertiti's burial remains a mystery; apparently, it was modest. But the image of the queen remained to live in the fairy tales and legends of her people. The people left in them only beauty, harmony and happiness.
One of the popular versions of the life story of Nefertiti
There is another, no less plausible version of Nefertiti’s life story, where the queen appears to us in a completely different image. This is an experienced in love, voluptuous and hard-hearted organizer of orgies, constantly looking for more and more new victims. This Nefertiti told the unfortunate young man in love with her a fable about a woman who did not want to be “despised.” Therefore, for her love, she demanded that her lover give her everything he has, drive away his wife, kill the children and throw their bodies to the dogs. He even had to give away the grave of his elderly parents and the right to embalm their bodies after death and funeral rituals. The queen not only told the story, she herself embodied the plot of the fable and, in the end, drove the unfortunate man away, rewarding him with cold intercourse, and not the fiery heat of her beautiful body.
This Nefertiti was no longer a victim palace intrigues, and she herself fanned the fire of enmity in her wife Akhenaten, hated him, and wished him death. This Nefertiti is the royal hetaera of Egypt, wearing small sandals decorated with precious stones. Every year she gave daughters to the pharaoh, accusing him of not being able to have a son. She had a body that was virginally young and beautiful, insatiable and vicious.
These two Nefertiti are still arguing with each other. However, the Valley of the Kings still reliably keeps its beautiful and terrible secrets.
MENSBY
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Nefertiti was one of hundreds of princesses brought to give birth to sons and face old age alone... But fate gave her a unique chance...
Plastic surgeons copy the shape of her eyes, the shape of her lips and nose, fashionistas repeat the makeup of the famous queen, and designers create flowing dresses, sandals and ethnic jewelry, just like in her portraits...
The mystery of the royal origin of the “coming beauty”
Figure of Nefertiti, Limestone; Amarna; New Kingdom, 18th dynasty; c. 1345 BC
As it became known, Nefertiti was born in 1370 BC. e., but Egyptologists cannot come to a single answer to the question of where and into what family she was born.
Most are sure that the queen’s very name contains the secret of her origin. Nefertiti is translated from Egyptian as “the beauty who came,” which means that she came to Egypt from another region. A version arose that Nefertiti was the daughter of King Tushratta and Queen Juni from neighboring Mitania, a kingdom in Mesopotamia where the legendary Aryans lived. Her parents named the princess Tadukhipa and raised her in the traditions of the monotheistic Aryan religion, which taught to worship the sun as the only deity.
Probably, 12-year-old Taduchepa was sent by her father to Egypt as a gift for Pharaoh Amenhotep III to the “House of Ornaments” (harem) and became one of hundreds of foreign princesses brought to give birth to sons to the ruler and meet old age alone...
But fate gave her a unique chance...
The secret of Nefertiti's brilliant marriage.
Shortly after Nefertiti's arrival, Amenhotep III departed for the next world, and according to tradition, all of the pharaoh's wives had to be sacrificed and buried with the ruler. But the son of the deceased, young Amenhotep IV, saved Nefertiti from death and made him his wife. It is not difficult to guess that the young man was pushed to take such a bold step strong love. He signed every state order with an oath of eternal love for God and Nefertiti.
The husband called the queen “the lady of joy, pacifying heaven and earth with a sweet voice and kindness” and “the delight of the heart.”
The secret of the queen's ideal beauty.
The famous bust of Nefertiti, which German archaeologist Ludwig Borchardt excavated in the desert in 1912, is considered a real miracle of world art. Borchard secretly took the artifact to Germany and gave it to the Berlin Museum. Egyptian authorities demanded the return of the find, threatening Nefertiti with a deadly curse. The Germans rudely refused, and then the fascist leader took the figurine into his bunker and, they say, looked at the silent beauty day and night.
These days, the sculpture is still kept in the Berlin Museum, but the German authorities have begun to gradually give Egypt cultural heritage, and perhaps Nefertiti will return home soon!
So, how did the ancient master portray his queen: charming brown-green eyes, thick black eyebrows, sensual full lips, graceful nose, strong-willed cheekbones, swan neck and a miniature figure - Nefertiti looks simply flawless.
But, like any fashionista, the queen knew ways to become even more attractive: she painted her nails with henna or liquid gold, took baths with sea salt, rubbed aromatic oils into her skin, powdered herself with powder from crushed minerals, lined her eyes with antimony, smeared her lips with berry lipstick, wore translucent linen kalaziris and statement dresses Jewelry(each lobe has two earrings). The pharaoh's wife loved wigs with pigtails, multi-colored strands and shiny clips, having hundreds of hair in her collection.
The secret of Nefertiti's limitless power.
Queen Nefertiti. Schengili-Roberts.
Nefertiti was a virtuoso in politics and the ability to persuade: she renamed herself Nefer Nefer Aten (“beautiful with the beauty of Aten”), advised her husband to abandon the gods of his ancestors and accept her religion, proclaiming the only God - the solar Aten, after which Amenhotep IV changed his name to Akhenaten ("pleasing to Aten") and built Akhetaten - a new capital in the Sahara. The pharaoh declared his wife a co-ruler and ordered that any of her orders be carried out. Nefertiti decided to destroy the ancient temples and begin persecution of the priests of the old faith.
The people silently accepted new religion and with every dawn I prayed in the sun's rays. The queen often went out onto the palace balcony and showered the Egyptians with gold coins, convincing them that these were gifts from Aten, and in holidays artistically performed in front of her subjects, literally hypnotizing the crowd with her speeches.
But in her personal life, Nefertiti became a victim of circumstances: the ruling spouses had daughters one after another, and when the sixth baby was born, Akhenaten made the difficult decision to take a new wife. She became the young Kiya, who gave birth to the pharaoh’s “golden boy” Tutankhamun, thereby ensuring the continuation of the 18th dynasty. And Nefertiti had to leave the palace and live outside the city, raising Tutankhamun as the heir to the throne. A year later, the yearning pharaoh returned his first wife to his chambers, but they were destined to live in the palace for only a short time...
The mystery of the early death and immortal glory of the beautiful queen.
Soon the exiled priests united and carried out a religious revolution. 40-year-old Akhenaten was blinded and then executed, 35-year-old Nefertiti managed to rule for some more time as pharaoh under the name Smenkhkare, but in the end the queen was still killed. The rebel priests destroyed the temples of Aten, destroyed the city of Akhetaten and all the bas-reliefs found royal family. Nefertiti's tomb was plundered, and her body was mercilessly mutilated, consigned to oblivion for millennia.
And suddenly in 2003, British archaeologist Dr. Joann Fletcher announced to the whole world that she had found the mummy of Nefertiti. Scientists conducted a series of digital studies and found that the appearance of the mummified stranger completely coincides with the image of Nefertiti on ancient sculptures!...
From the depths of centuries, the beautiful eyes of Queen Nefertiti, captured in the famous sculptural portrait, look at us. What is hidden behind her incomprehensible gaze?
This woman has reached the heights of power. Her husband, Pharaoh Amenhotep IV (Akhenaton), was one of the most mysterious personalities in human history. He was called the heretic pharaoh, the subversive pharaoh. Is it possible to be happy next to such a person? And if so, at what price does this happiness come?
We have already published a post about Nefertiti in our community:
We present to your attention another post on the same topic.
One can only marvel at the unusual historical fate of Queen Nefertiti. For thirty-three centuries her name was forgotten, and when the brilliant French scientist F. Champollion deciphered ancient Egyptian writings at the beginning of the last century, she was mentioned quite rarely and only in special academic works.
The 20th century, as if demonstrating the quirkiness of human memory, raised Nefertiti to the pinnacle of fame. On the eve of the First World War, the German expedition, having completed excavations in Egypt, as usual, presented its finds for verification to inspectors of the Antiquities Service. (“The Antiquities Service” is an agency founded in 1858 to supervise archaeological expeditions and protect monuments of the past.) Among the objects allocated for German museums was an unremarkable plastered stone block.
When he was brought to Berlin, he turned into the head of Nefertiti. They say that archaeologists, who did not want to part with a wonderful work of art, wrapped the bust in silver paper and then covered it with plaster, correctly calculating that the inconspicuous architectural detail would not attract attention. When this was discovered, a scandal erupted. It was only extinguished by the outbreak of the war, after which German Egyptologists were deprived for some time of the right to conduct excavations in Egypt.
However, the priceless artistic merit of the bust was worth even these sacrifices. Nefertiti's star was rising so rapidly, as if this woman was not an ancient Egyptian queen, but a modern movie star. It was as if her beauty had been waiting for recognition for many centuries, and finally the times came whose aesthetic taste elevated Nefertiti to the pinnacle of success.
If you look at Egypt from a bird's eye view, then almost in the very center of the country, 300 kilometers south of Cairo, you can see a small Arab village called el-Amarna. It is here that the time-eaten rocks, coming close to the river, then begin to retreat, forming an almost regular semicircle. Sands, the remains of the foundations of ancient buildings and the greenery of palm groves - this is what the once luxurious ancient Egyptian city of Akhetaten looks like now, where one of the famous women peace.
Nefertiti, whose name in translation means "The Beauty Who Came", was not the sister of her husband, Pharaoh Amenhotep IV, although for some reason this version became very widespread. The beautiful Egyptian woman came from a family of relatives of Queen Tiu - she was the daughter of a provincial priest. And although at that time Nefertiti received an excellent education in special school, such a relationship irritated the proud queen and mother Nefertiti in many official documents was called her nurse.
But the rare beauty of a provincial girl melted the heart of the heir to the throne, and Nefertiti became his wife.
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For one of the holidays, the “sun pharaoh” Amenhotep III gave his wife a truly royal gift: a summer residence stunning in its beauty and wealth - Malkatta Palace, next to which there was a huge artificial lake, planted with lotuses, with a boat for the queen’s walks.
Naked Nefertiti sat in a chair with lion paws near a round golden mirror. Almond-shaped eyes, straight nose, neck like a lotus stem. There was not a drop of foreign blood in her veins, as evidenced by the darkish tint of her skin and the warm, fresh, even blush, intermediate between golden yellow and brownish bronze. “Beauty, mistress of joy, full of praise... filled with beauties,” this is how poets wrote about her. But the thirty-year-old queen was not happy with her reflection as before. Fatigue and grief broke her, a fold of wrinkles lay from the wings of her beautiful nose to her bold lips, like a seal.
A maid, a dark-skinned Nubian, entered with a large jug of aromatic water for ablution.
Nefertiti stood up, as if awakening from her memories. But trusting in the skillful hands of Tadukippa, she again went into her thoughts.
How happy they were with Amenhotep on their wedding day. He is 16 years old, she is 15. They took power over the most powerful and richest country in the world. The thirty years of the reign of the previous pharaoh were not marred by disasters or wars. Syria and Palestine tremble before Egypt, Mitanni sends flattering letters, mountains of gold and incense are regularly sent from the mines of Kush.
The most important thing is that they love each other. The son of King Amenhotep III and Queen Tiu is not very handsome: thin, narrow-shouldered. But when he looked at her, obsessed with love, and the poems written for her came out of his big lips, she laughed with happiness. The future pharaoh ran after the young princess under the dark arches of the Theban palace, and she laughed and hid behind the columns.
The maid laid out the necessary accessories on the richly decorated dressing table: gold boxes with ointments, spoons for rubbing, eye antimony, lipstick and other cosmetics, manicure tools and nail paint. Deftly grabbing a bronze razor, she began to carefully and respectfully shave the queen's head.
Nefertiti indifferently ran her finger over the golden scarab on a jar of rice powder and recalled how once, even before the wedding, Amenhotep revealed his secret to her at sunset.
He stroked her thin fingers and, looking somewhere into the distance with sparkling eyes, said that the day before in a dream Aten himself, the god of the solar disk, appeared to him and spoke to him as to a brother:
-You see, Nefertiti. I see, I know that everything in the world is not as we are all used to seeing. The world is bright. It was created by Aton for happiness and joy. Why make sacrifices to all these numerous gods? Why worship beetles, hippos, birds, crocodiles, if they themselves, like us, are children of the Sun. Aten is the only true god!
Amenhotep's voice rang. He said how beautiful and wonderful the world created by Aton was, and the prince himself was beautiful at that moment. Nefertiti listened to every word of her beloved and accepted his faith with all her heart.
Having received the title of pharaoh, the first thing Amenhotep IV did was change his name. "Amenhotep" means "Amon is pleased." He began to call himself “Akhnaten”, i.e. “Pleasing to Aten.”
How happy they were! People can't be that happy. Almost immediately, Akhenaten decided to build a new capital - Akhetaten, which means “horizon of Aten.” This was supposed to be best city on the ground. Everything will be different there. New happy life. Not like in gloomy Thebes. And the people there will all be happy, because they will live in truth and beauty.
***
The heir's wife spent her youth in Thebes - the brilliant capital of Egypt during the New Kingdom era (XVI-XI centuries BC). Grandiose temples of the gods coexisted here with luxurious palaces, houses of the nobility, gardens of rare trees and artificial lakes. The gilded needles of obelisks, the tops of painted pylon towers and colossal statues of kings pierced the sky. Through the lush greenery of tamarisks, sycamores and date palms, the alleys of sphinxes lined with turquoise-green faience tiles and connecting temples were visible.
Egypt was at the apogee of its heyday. The conquered peoples brought here, to Thebes, countless vessels with wine, leather, lapis lazuli, so beloved by the Egyptians, and all sorts of rare wonders. From the distant regions of Africa came caravans loaded with ivory, ebony, incense and countless gold, for which Egypt was so famous in ancient times. In everyday life there were the finest fabrics made of corrugated linen, lush wigs stunning in their variety, rich jewelry and expensive anointings...
All Egyptian pharaohs had several wives and countless concubines - the East was the East even then. But the “harem” in our understanding never existed in Egypt: the younger queens lived in separate residences next to the palace, and no one was particularly concerned with the comforts of the concubines. Those whom the texts call “The Lady of Upper and Lower Egypt,” “the great royal consort,” “the wife of God,” “the king’s adornment,” were primarily high priestesses who, together with the king, participated in temple services and rituals and supported by their actions Maat - world harmony.
For the ancient Egyptians, every new morning is a repetition of the original moment of the creation of the universe by God. The task of the queen participating in the service is to pacify and appease the deity with the beauty of her voice, the unique charm of her appearance, and the sound of the sistrum - the sacred musical instrument The status of the “great royal wife,” unattainable for most mortal women, who possessed great political power, was based precisely on religious foundations. The birth of children was a secondary matter; the younger queens and concubines handled it well.
Theia was an exception - she was so close to her husband that she shared her bed with him for many years and bore him several children. Before mature years True, only the eldest son survived, but the priests saw the providence of Heaven in this too. They became aware of how misinterpreted this fishery was much later.
Amenhotep IV ascended the throne in 1424 BC. And... he started a religious reform - a change of gods, an unheard of thing in Egypt.
The universally revered god Amon, whose worship increasingly strengthened the power of the priests, was, by the will of the pharaoh, replaced by another god, the sun god - Aten. Aten - “visible solar disk”, was depicted in the form of a solar disk with palm rays that bestow benefits on people. The pharaoh's reforms were successful, at least for the period of his reign. A new capital was founded, many new temples and palaces were erected. Along with the ancient religious foundations, the canonical rules of ancient Egyptian art also disappeared. Having gone through years of exaggerated realism, the art of the time of Akhenaten and Nefertiti gave birth to those masterpieces that were discovered by archaeologists millennia later...
In the winter of 1912, German archaeologist Ludwig Borchardt began excavating the remains of another house in the destroyed settlement. It soon became clear to archaeologists that they had discovered a sculpture workshop. Unfinished statues, plaster masks and accumulations of stones of various types - all this clearly determined the profession of the owner of the vast estate. And among the finds was a life-size bust of a woman made of limestone and painted.
Flesh-colored nape, red ribbons running down the neck, blue headdress. A gentle oval face, a beautifully outlined small mouth, a straight nose, beautiful almond-shaped eyes, slightly covered with wide, heavy eyelids. The right eye retains a rock crystal insert with an ebony pupil. The tall blue wig is entwined with a gold bandage decorated with gems...
The enlightened world gasped - a beauty appeared to the world, having spent three thousand years in the darkness of oblivion. Nefertiti's beauty turned out to be immortal. Millions of women envied her, millions of men dreamed of her. Alas, they did not know that they pay for immortality during their lifetime, and sometimes pay an exorbitant price.
Together with her husband, Nefertiti ruled Egypt for about 20 years. Those same two decades that were marked by a religious revolution unprecedented for the entire ancient Eastern culture, which shook the foundations of the ancient Egyptian sacred tradition and left a very ambiguous mark on the history of the country.
Nefertiti played important role in the events of her time, She was the living embodiment of the life-giving power of the sun, giving life. In the large temples of the god Aten in Thebes, prayers were offered to her; none of the temple actions could take place without her - the guarantee of fertility and prosperity of the entire country “She sends Aten to rest with a sweet voice and beautiful hands with sisters,- it is said about her in the inscriptions of the tombs of noblemen of her contemporaries - At the sound of her voice, everyone rejoices.”
Having banned the cults of traditional gods and, above all, the universal Amun - the ruler of Thebes, Amenhotep IV, who changed his name to Akhenaten ("Effective Spirit of Aten"), and Nefertiti founded their new capital - Akhetaten. The volume of work was enormous. At the same time, temples, palaces, buildings of official institutions, warehouses, houses of the nobility, homes and workshops were erected. Holes dug in the rocky ground were filled with soil, and then specially brought trees were planted in them - there was no time to wait for them to grow here. As if by magic gardens grew among the rocks and sand, water splashed in ponds and lakes, the walls of the royal palace rose high in obedience to the royal order. Nefertiti lived here.
Both parts of the grandiose palace were surrounded brick wall and were connected by a monumental covered bridge spanning the road. The residential buildings of the royal family were adjacent to a large garden with a lake and pavilions. The walls were decorated with paintings of bunches of lotuses and papyrus, swamp birds flying out of ponds, scenes of the life of Akhenaten, Nefertiti and their six daughters. The floor painting imitated ponds with swimming fish and birds fluttering around. Gilding and inlay with faience tiles and semiprecious stones were widely used.
Never before in Egyptian art have there appeared works that so vividly demonstrate the feelings of royal spouses. Nefertiti and her husband are sitting with their children, Nefertiti is swinging her legs, climbing on her husband’s lap, and holding her little daughter with her hand. On every stage there is always the presence of Aten - the solar disk with numerous hands holding out symbols to the royal couple eternal life
Along with intimate scenes in the palace gardens, other episodes have been preserved in the tombs of the nobles of Akhetaten family life king and queen - unique images of royal lunches and dinners. Akhenaten and Nefertiti sit on chairs with lion paws, next to them is the dowager queen-mother Teye, who arrived on a visit. Near the feasters there are tables decorated with lotus flowers with dishes, vessels with wine. The feasters are entertained by a female choir and musicians, the servants are bustling about. The three eldest daughters - Meritaten, Maketaten and Ankhesenpa-aten - are present at the celebration.
Nefertiti treasured the pictures of those happy years in her heart.
They were building a city. The best masters and the artists of Egypt gathered in Akhetaten. The king preached among them his ideas of a new art. From now on, it was supposed to reflect the true beauty of the world, and not copy ancient frozen forms. Portraits must have features real people, and the compositions must be vital.
One after another, their daughters were born. Akhenaten adored them all. He spent a long time fiddling with the girls in front of happy Nefertiti. He pampered them and extolled them.
And in the evenings they rode a chariot along the palm alleys of the city. He rode the horses, and she hugged him and cheerfully joked about the fact that he had acquired a large belly. Or we rode in a boat along the surface of the Nile, among thickets of reeds and papyrus.
Their family dinners were full of carefree fun, when Akhenaten would portray the angry Sobek, the crocodile god, with a piece of chop in his teeth, and the girls and Nefertiti would roar with laughter.
They held services in the Temple of Aten. The deity was depicted in the sanctuary in the form of a golden disk stretching out thousands of arms to people. The pharaoh was himself the high priest. And Nefertiti is the high priestess. Her voice and divine beauty bowed the people before the shining face of the true God.
While the maid anointed the queen’s body with precious oil, which spread the scent of myrrh, juniper and cinnamon, Nefertiti recalled what a holiday there was in the city when Tiu, Akhenaten’s mother, came to visit her children and granddaughters in Akhetaten. The girls jumped around her and vying with each other to amuse her with their games and dances. She smiled and did not know which of them to listen to.
Akhenaten proudly showed his mother his new capital: palaces for the nobility, houses of artisans, warehouses, workshops and the main pride were built - the Temple of Aten, which in size, pomp and splendor was supposed to surpass everything existing in the world.
- There will be not one altar, but several. And there will be no roof at all, so that the sacred rays of Aten fill it with their grace,” he enthusiastically told his mother. She listened silently to her only son. Tiu's intelligent, penetrating eyes looked sad. How could she explain that his efforts to make everyone happy were of no use to anyone. That he is not loved or respected as a sovereign, and only curses come from everywhere. The beautiful city of the sun emptied the royal treasury within a few years. Yes, the city is beautiful and delightful, but it eats up all the income. But Akhenaten didn’t want to hear about saving.
And in the evenings, Tiu had long conversations with her daughter-in-law, hoping to at least influence her son through her.
Oh, why, why, then she didn’t listen to the words of the wise Tiu!
But the couple's personal happiness did not last long...
Everything began to fall apart the year their eight-year-old daughter, the cheerful and sweet Meketaten, died. She went to Osiris so suddenly that it seemed as if the sun had stopped shining.
Remembering how she and her husband gave orders to the gravediggers and embalmers, the sobs that had been suppressed for a long time burst out in a stream of tears. The maid with a jar of eyebrow dye stopped in confusion. Great Queen After a minute, she pulled herself together and, swallowing her sobs, exhaled and straightened up: "Continue."
With the death of Meketaten, happiness ended in their palace. Disasters and grief followed in an endless series, as if the curses of the overthrown gods fell on their heads. Soon, Tiu, the only person at court who supported Akhenaten, followed the little princess into the kingdom of the dead. With her death, there was no one left in Thebes except her enemies. The widow of the powerful Amenhotep III alone restrained with her authority the rage of the offended priests of Amun. With her, they did not dare to openly attack Akhenaten and Nefertiti.
Nefertiti squeezed her temples with her fingers and shook her head. If only she and her husband had been more careful, more political, more cunning then. If then Akhenaten had not expelled the priests from the old temples and had not forbidden people to pray to their gods... If only... But then it would not have been Akhenaten. Compromises are not in his nature. All or nothing. He destroyed everything old obsessively and mercilessly. He was confident that he was right and that he would win. He had no doubt that they would follow him... But no one came. A bunch of philosophers, artists and craftsmen - that’s his whole company.
She tried, tried repeatedly to talk to him, to open her eyes to the real essence of things. He only became angry and withdrawn into himself, spending more and more time with architects and sculptors.
IN Once again, when she approached him to talk about the fate of the dynasty, he shouted at her: “Rather than meddle in my affairs, it would be better if she gave birth to a son!”
Nefertiti gave birth to six daughters to Akhenaten in twelve years. She was always by his side. His affairs and problems were always her affairs and problems. At all services in the temples of Aten, she always stood next to him wearing a crown, ringing the sacred sistrums. And she did not expect such an insult. She was pierced to the very heart. Nefertiti came out silently and, rustling her pleated skirt, retired to her chambers...
The cat Bast entered the room with silent steps. Around the neck of the graceful animal was a gold necklace. Approaching the owner, Bast jumped onto her knees and began to rub herself against her hands. Nefertiti smiled sadly. Warm, cozy animal. She impulsively pressed her to herself. Bast, with some instinct, always guessed when the mistress was feeling bad and came to console her. Neferiti ran her hand over the soft light gray fur. Amber eyes with vertical pupils looked at the man wisely and condescendingly. “Everything will pass,” she seemed to say.
“You really are a goddess, Bast,” smiled the reassured Nefertiti. And the cat, majestically raising its tail, left the room, showing with its appearance that it had more important things to do.
The death of Maketaten appears to have been a turning point in Nefertiti's life. The one whom contemporaries called "beautiful, beautiful in a diadem with two feathers, mistress of joy, full of praises and filled with beauty", a rival appeared. And not just a temporary whim of the ruler, but a woman who really ousted his wife from his heart - Kiya.
All of Akhenaten's attention was focused on her. Even during his father's lifetime, he went to Egypt as a guarantee of political stability in interstate relations The Mitanni princess Taduheppa arrived. It was for her, who according to tradition took the Egyptian name, that Akhenaten built the luxurious country palace complex Maru-Aten. But most importantly, she gave birth to two sons to the pharaoh, who later married their older half-sisters.
However, the triumph of Kiya, who bore sons to the king, was short-lived. She disappeared in the 16th year of her husband's reign. Having come to power, Nefertiti's eldest daughter, Meritaten, destroyed not only the images, but also almost all references to her mother's hated rival, replacing them with her own images and names. From the point of view of the ancient Egyptian tradition, such an act was the most terrible curse that could be carried out: not only the name of the deceased was erased from the memory of descendants, but also his soul was deprived of well-being in the afterlife.
Nefertiti was already finishing her vestments. The maid dressed her in a white dress made of the finest transparent white linen, and buttoned up a wide chest decoration studded with gems. She put a fluffy wig curled in small waves on her head. In her favorite blue headdress with red ribbons and a golden uraeus, she had not gone out for a long time.
Aye, an old dignitary and former scribe at the court of Amenhotep III, entered. He was “the bearer of the fan at the right hand of the king, the chief of the king’s friends” and “the father of God,” as he was called in letters. Akhenaten and Nefertiti grew up in the palace before his eyes. He taught Akhenaten to read and write. His wife was at one time the princess's nurse. And Nefertiti was like his own daughter.
At the sight of Nefertiti, Aye’s wrinkled face broke into a gentle smile:
- Hello, my girl! How are you
- Don't ask, Aye. Good is not enough. You heard that Akhenaten gave this upstart Kiya, a concubine from Mitanni, the palace of Maru-Aten. She appears everywhere with her. This creature already dares to wear a crown.
Aye frowned and sighed. The girl from the harem gave birth to two sons for the king. Everyone just whispered about the crown princes Smenkhkare and Tutankhaten, not embarrassed by Nefertiti.
The princes were still small children, but their fate was already decided: they would become the husbands of Akhenaten’s eldest daughters. The royal line must continue. The blood of the pharaohs of the 18th dynasty from the great Ahmes himself flowed in their veins.
-Well, what's new in Thebes? What do they write from the provinces? - The queen courageously prepared to listen to the difficult news.
- Nothing good, queen. Thebes buzzes like a swarm of bees. The priests ensured that the name of Akhenaten was cursed on every corner. There's still this drought here. All to one. King Dushratta of Mitanni demands gold again. They are asking the northern provinces to send troops to protect them from the nomads. And the king ordered everyone to refuse.” Eye shrugged. “It’s a shame to watch.” With such difficulty we achieved influence in these lands, and now we are losing them so easily. There is discontent everywhere. I told Akhenaten about this, but he doesn’t want to hear anything about the war. He is only annoyed that the delivery deadlines for marble and ebony are missed. And also, queen, beware of Horemheb. He very quickly finds a common language with your influential enemies, he knows who to be friends with.
After Ey left, the queen sat alone for a long time. The sun went down. Nifertiti went out onto the balcony of the palace. The huge cloudless dome of the sky on the horizon glowed with white flames surrounding a fiery disk. Warm rays painted the ocher mountain peaks on the horizon soft orange and reflected in the waters of the Nile. Evening birds sang in the lush greenery of tamarisks, sycamores and date palms that surrounded the palace. The evening coolness and anxiety came from the desert.
It is not known how long Nefertiti lived after this decline. The date of her death has not been revealed by historians and the queen’s grave has not been found. In essence it doesn't matter. Her love and happiness - her whole life - went into oblivion along with her hopes and dreams of the New World.
Prince Smekhkara did not live long at all and died under Akhenaten. After the death of the reformer pharaoh, ten-year-old Tutankhaten assumed power. Under pressure from the priests of Amun, the boy pharaoh left the city of the Sun and changed his name. Tutankhaten (“Living Likeness of Aten”) henceforth began to be called Tutankhamun (“Living Likeness of Amun”), but did not live long. There are no continuers of Akhenaten’s work, his spiritual and cultural revolution. The capital returned to Thebes.
The new king Horemheb did everything to erase even the memory of Akhenaten and Nefertiti. The city of their dreams was completely destroyed. Their names were carefully erased from all records, in tombs, on all columns and walls. And from now on, it was everywhere indicated that after Amenhotep III, power passed to Horemheb. Only here and there, by chance, were reminders of the “criminal from Akhetaten” left. A hundred years later, everyone forgot about the king and his wife, who 1369 years before the birth of Jesus Christ preached faith in one God.
For three thousand four hundred years, sand rushed over the place where there once was a beautiful city, until one day residents of a neighboring village began to find beautiful shards and fragments. Lovers of antiquity showed them to specialists, and they read on them the names of a king and queen unknown in the history of Egypt. Some time later, a cache of rotten chests filled with clay letters was discovered. The history of the tragedy that befell Akhetaten gradually became clearer. The figures of the pharaoh and his beautiful wife emerged from the darkness. Archaeological expeditions flocked to Amarna (as this place was now called).
On December 6, 1912, in the ruins of the workshop of the ancient sculptor Thutmes, the trembling hands of Professor Ludwig Borchard brought to light an almost intact bust of Nefertiti. He was so beautiful and perfect that it seemed that the queen’s Ka (soul), exhausted by suffering, returned to the world to tell about herself.
For a long, long time the elderly professor, the leader of the German expedition, looked at this beauty, which was so unreal for hundreds and thousands of years, and thought a lot, but the only thing he could write down in his diary: “There is no point in describing, just look!”
Nefertiti and Akhenaten are historical figures who lived about 3400 years ago in Ancient Egypt. Archaeologists first learned about the existence of Amenhotep, better known as Pharaoh Akhenaten, and his main wife Nefertiti thanks to a discovery made during the excavations of Akhetaten.
The found tablets with records led scientists to believe that the description of the ceremonies in these artifacts reliably confirms the marriage between the pharaoh and the queen. The enthusiastic epithets that described the beauty of the young girl made scientists doubt this statement, but the bust found later fully confirmed the truth of what was written in the ancient tablets.
Who is she?
Scientists are still arguing about who the Egyptian queen Nefertiti was; her origins have not been clarified for certain. Many questions remain: when exactly did the queen die, was Nefertiti’s separate tomb erected or was she buried near Akhenaten, and was Nefertiti’s mummy preserved. The tablets found during excavations in the 20th century allow us to put forward several versions of where the young beauty came from:
2. The young maiden belonged to the highest nobility and arrived at the court to become one of the favorites of the pharaoh. The ceremony of her receiving the title “Nefertiti, Queen of Egypt”, the biography set out in ancient tablets - all this confirms this version and points to high birth beauties.
3. Latest version is the most wealthy and says that Taduhepa (or Taduchepa) was the second daughter of the Mitannian king Tushratta, and she arrived in Egypt after her older sister. As was customary at that time, the girl changed her name and began to be called Nefertiti, which meant “perfect.” Disputes between scientists that Nefertiti was, after all, Geluhepa’s older sister were resolved after the discovery of a historical archive that contained information about her age.
Disputes about the beauty of the queen
It is known for certain that in those days Egyptian women were considered one of the most beautiful women, and the historical evidence found confirms the existence of the cult of beauty.
The ancient Egyptians were truly virtuoso cosmetologists: the number of recipes for moisturizing, nourishing, and anti-aging creams numbered in the hundreds. All of them were made on the basis of aromatic oils, medicinal herbs, milk or clay. At the same time, the prototype of a modern deodorant appeared - small bags with fragrant herbs, which were attached to the armpits. Special attention was given to the body: there are known recipes for ointments for peeling and redness, as well as products for massage and bathing.
So what did the young queen look like in life? Disputes about this ceased after the discovery of a bust of Nefertiti by Ludwig Borchardt during excavations near a small Egyptian village. The bust was made famous sculptor antiquity by Thutmose.
The archaeologist was so amazed by the beauty of the queen that he made the following entry in his diary: “Look and admire.” Borchardt disguised the find as an ordinary stone containing insignificant notes, and then secretly took it abroad. Now this artifact is in the Berlin museum dedicated to the history of Ancient Egypt.
We must pay tribute to the beauty of Nefertiti; she had a very elegant, sophisticated appearance and used cosmetics very skillfully. There is several evidence that Nefertiti took a bath at least five times a day, changed her outfits and makeup, and did it on a grand scale.
Over a hundred subjects could be present at the ablution ceremony, offering incense, ointments and creams, clothes and jewelry, as well as light snacks. The queen took a special bath of milk and aromatic infusions every evening, thanks to which her skin was supposed to remain smooth and soft.
Appearance in the harem and the struggle for power
Some people became known by chance Interesting Facts: Akhenaten was still playing with dolls when he received the throne and his father's huge harem. Tia, without any doubt, of all the girls chose Nefertiti as her son’s wife and married them. The perfection of the girl's features, her impeccable figure and sharp mind so impressed the young pharaoh that he was not interested in the other women of the harem.
Immediately, a fierce confrontation began between Tia and Nefertiti for influence over Akhenaten - thanks to her cunning and intelligence, Nefertiti won. The mother was immediately removed from power, and her supporters were removed from important positions.
The queen always accompanied her husband: they went for walks together, supervised the construction of the temple in honor of Aten, and received important guests. They also checked the posts around the city together, and the guard had to give a brief report to both spouses. This idyll lasted for many years; during the marriage, Nefertiti had six children, but all of them were girls, which greatly saddened Akhenaten.
last years of life
From historical records It is known that the enormous influence that Nefertiti had on Akhenaten irritated many. Their marriage began to crumble after it became clear that the queen would not be able to give birth to a boy. Disagreements between the spouses intensified when Nefertiti’s middle daughter, Maketaten, died. The ill-wishers did not fail to take advantage of the opportunity and presented the young beauty Kiya to the pharaoh.
After the death of her daughter, Nefertiti retired to another palace, and the new favorite completely captured Akhenaten’s heart. The vows of eternal love for his ex-wife were forgotten, and to emphasize the status of the new chosen one, Kiya was given the title of junior pharaoh. All images of Nefertiti begin to be destroyed, and tablets with records are removed from the palace archives. However, Kiya was not able to stay in power for long; after a few years she was expelled from the palace.
Nefertiti was survived by her husband; papyri have survived to this day confirming the queen’s participation in government. In the chronicles she is described as “insightful and omniscient,” and a fragment of a document has also been preserved confirming the courtship of a noble nobleman to her.
Unfortunately, Nefertiti’s grave has not been found, and scientists are still arguing about who was buried in the tomb at Akhenaten’s feet. The legend that a golden coffin with the remains of the queen was found in the 19th century has no reliable evidence. Author: Natalya Ivanova
Author - XP0H0METP. This is a quote from this post
Myths and Legends * NefertitiNefertiti
Bust of Queen Nefertiti. Berlin Museum
Wikipedia
Nefertiti(Nefer-Neferu-Aten Nefertiti, ancient Egypt. Nfr-nfr.w-Jtn-Nfr.t-jty, “The most beautiful of the beauties of Aten, the Beauty Has Came”) - “the main wife” ancient egyptian pharaoh The XVIII dynasty of Akhenaten (c. 1351-1334 BC), whose reign was marked by large-scale religious reform. The role of the queen herself in carrying out the “sun-worshipping coup” is controversial.
Origin
Legends say that Egypt has never before given birth to such a beauty. She was called "Perfect"; her face adorned temples throughout the country.
From the beginning of research and excavations in the ruins of Akhetaten (modern Tel el-Amarna) in the 80s of the 19th century until now, not a single clear evidence of the origin of Nefertiti has been found. Only mentions on the walls of the tombs of the pharaoh's family and nobles provide some information about it. It was the inscriptions in the tombs and the cuneiform tablets of the Amarna archive that helped Egyptologists build several hypotheses about where the queen was born. In modern Egyptology there are several versions, each of which claims to be true, but is not sufficiently confirmed by sources to take a leading position.
In general, the views of Egyptologists can be divided into 2 versions: some consider Nefertiti an Egyptian, others - a foreign princess. The hypothesis that the queen was not of noble birth and accidentally appeared at the throne is now rejected by most Egyptologists.
Nefertiti - foreign princess
Supporters of the foreign origin of Nefertiti have two versions, supported by several arguments. It is believed that Nefertiti is a Mitannian princess sent to the court of Akhenaten's father, Pharaoh Amenhotep III. The then Mitanni king Tushratta (c. 1370 - c. 1350 BC) had 2 daughters: Gilukhepa (Giluhippa) and Taduhepa (English) (Taduhippa), both were sent to the court of the pharaoh. Some sources mention that Nefertiti's younger sister later became the wife of one of the subsequent pharaohs (perhaps Horemheb became her husband).
Gilukhepa arrived in Egypt during the life of Amenhotep III and was given in marriage to him. The idea that Gilukhepa could be Nefertiti is currently refuted by evidence of her age.
Younger sister Taduhepa (English) arrived early in the reign of Amenhotep IV Akhenaten. In defense of their hypothesis, scientists cite the meaning of Nefertiti’s name “The Beautiful One Has Come,” which clearly indicates a foreign origin. It is believed that Princess Taduhepa, having arrived in Egypt, took a new name, as all foreign brides did. She was considered the daughter of the goddess of beauty.
Version about Egyptian origin
Initially, Egyptologists followed a simple logical chain. If Nefertiti is the “chief wife of the pharaoh,” she must be an Egyptian, moreover, an Egyptian of royal blood. Therefore, it was initially believed that the queen was one of the daughters of Amenhotep III. But none of the lists of the daughters of this pharaoh contains any mention of a princess with that name. Among his 6 daughters there is no Nefertiti’s sister, Princess Mut-Nojemet (Benre-Mut).
Possibly the daughter of the nobleman Ey, one of Akhenaten’s associates, later pharaoh, and probably Akhenaten’s cousin.
Daughters
From Akhenaten she gave birth to six daughters.
Nefertiti's daughters
Meritaten (“beloved by Aten”): before the wedding or immediately after (1356 BC). After being removed from power, Nefertiti became Akhenaten's main wife.
Maketaten: year 1-3 (1349 BC).
Ankhesenpaaten (later changed her name to Ankhesenamun), married Tutankhamun, later became the wife of Ey.
Neferneferuaten-Tasherit (English) Russian: year 6 (1344 BC)
Nefernefrura (English) Russian: year 9 (1341 BC).
Setepenra (English) Russian: year 11 (1339 BC).
Reign and art of her era
The queen's lack of a son, an heir to the royal throne, could have affected the deterioration of relationships within the royal family. The love of the royal couple became one of the main subjects for the artists of Akhetaton, the capital of Akhenaten and Nefertiti. Never before in Egyptian art have there appeared works that so vividly demonstrate the feelings of royal spouses.
Nefertiti, " beauty, beautiful in a diadem with two feathers, mistress of joy, full of praise... full of beauties»with their spouse they look after their children; Nefertiti dangles her legs, climbing onto her husband's lap and holding her little daughter with her hand. One of the reliefs discovered in Akhetaten depicts the climax of this idyll - the kiss of Akhenaten and Nefertiti. On each stage there is always the presence of Aten - the solar disk with numerous hands holding out symbols of eternal life to the royal couple of the ankhs.
Nefertiti played an extremely important role in the religious life of Egypt at that time, accompanying her husband during sacrifices, sacred rites and religious festivals. She was the living embodiment of the life-giving power of the sun, giving life. In Gempaaton and Khutbenben - large temples of the god Aten in Thebes, prayers were offered to her; none of the temple activities could take place without it, the guarantee of fertility and prosperity of the entire country. " She sends Aten to rest with a sweet voice and beautiful hands with sisters, - it is said about her in the inscriptions of the tombs of contemporary nobles, - at the sound of her voice they rejoice" The walls of the hall erected by Akhenaten in the 6th year of his reign in his capital for the celebration of the Sed ceremony were decorated with colossal sculptural images of Nefertiti, identified with the goddess Tefnut - the goddess of moisture, the daughter of the Sun-Ra, who stands for maintaining world harmony and divine law. In this incarnation, Nefertiti could be depicted as a sphinx, striking the enemies of Egypt with a club.
Possessing enormous power and authority, the queen was most often depicted in her favorite headdress - a tall blue wig entwined with gold ribbons and a uraeus, which symbolically emphasized her connection with the formidable goddesses, the daughters of the Sun.
In the 12th year of Akhenaten’s reign, the middle daughter of the royal couple, Princess Maketaten, dies, and soon Nefertiti herself disappears with historical arena, perhaps falling into disgrace; her place was taken by a minor queen from Akhenaten’s female house, Kiya, and later by Nefertiti’s eldest daughter, Meritaten.
By the 14th year of Akhenaten's reign (1336 BC), all mention of the queen disappeared. One of the statues discovered in the workshop of the sculptor Thutmose shows Nefertiti in her declining years. Before us is the same face, still beautiful, but time has already left its mark on it, leaving traces of weariness over the years, fatigue, even brokenness. The walking queen is dressed in a tight-fitting dress, with sandals on her feet. The figure that has lost the freshness of youth belongs no longer to a dazzling beauty, but to the mother of three daughters, who has seen and experienced a lot in her life.
In 1912, the German archaeologist Ludwig Borchardt discovered a unique bust of Queen Nefertiti in the workshop of the sculptor Thutmose in el-Amarna, which has since become one of the symbols of the beauty and sophistication of ancient Egyptian culture.
Initially, her bust was discovered by the team of Egyptologist L. Borchard and taken to Germany (where it is now kept); to hide it from Egyptian customs they specially smeared it with plaster. In his archaeological diary, opposite the sketch of the monument, Borchardt wrote only one phrase: “There is no purpose in describing, you have to look.” Exported to Germany in 1913, the unique bust of the queen is kept in the collection of the Egyptian Museum in Berlin. Later in 1933, the Egyptian Ministry of Culture requested it back to Egypt, but Germany refused to return it, and then German Egyptologists were prohibited from archaeological excavations. Second World War and the persecution of Borchard's wife because of her Jewish origin prevented the archaeologist from continuing his research to the fullest extent. Egypt officially demands that Germany return the exported bust of Nefertiti.
Recently it was discovered that the bust of the beauty Nefertiti has late “plastic surgery” with plaster. Initially molded with a “potato” nose, etc., it was later corrected and began to be considered the standard of Egyptian beauty. It is not yet known whether the original image of Nefertiti was closer to the original and later embellished, or, on the contrary, subsequent completion improved the inaccuracies of the original work... This can only be proven by studying the mummy of Nefertiti herself, if she is discovered.
Tomb
Nefertiti's mummy was not discovered or identified among the mummies already found.
Prior to genetic research in February 2010, Egyptologists had speculated that Nefertiti's mummy might be one of two female mummies found in tomb KV35, such as mummy KV35YL. However, in the light of new information, this hypothesis is rejected.
One of the archaeologists, who led excavations in Akhetaten for a number of years, writes about the legend local residents. Allegedly, in late XIX century, a group of people came down from the mountains carrying a golden coffin; soon after this, several gold objects with the name Nefertiti appeared among antique dealers. This information could not be verified.
Busts and figures of Nefertiti, Berlin, Egyptian Museum
Reign of Nefertiti
beginning of the 14th century BC
The legend of the most beautiful and happiest Egyptian queen, the beloved and only wife of Pharaoh Akhenaten, has passed down through all the centuries to this day. But excavations of the 20th century led to the fact that the legends around the name of Nefertiti and her royal consorts grew. However, there is also reliable information about her life, love and death.
Nefertiti is not Egyptian, as is commonly believed. She came from the Mesopotamian state of Mitanni, the country of the Aryans. We can say that she came to Egypt from the Sun itself. The Aryans - Nefertiti's people - worshiped the sun. And with the appearance of a 15-year-old princess named Taduchepa on Egyptian soil, a new god came - Aten. Nefertiti's marriage to Pharaoh Amenhotep III was purely political. The young beauty was exchanged for a ton of jewelry, gold, silver and ivory and brought to the Egyptian city of Thebes. There they gave her a new name, Nefertiti, and gave her to the harem of Pharaoh Amenhotep III. After the death of his father, young Amenhotep IV inherited a foreign beauty. Pharaoh's love did not flare up immediately, but it did flare up. As a result, the young pharaoh dissolved his father's huge harem and declared his wife his co-ruler. Receiving foreign ambassadors and concluding important agreements, he swore by the spirit of the Sun God and his love for his wife.
Temple of Nefertiti (Egypt)
Nefertiti's husband entered the history of Egypt as one of the most humane rulers. Sometimes Amenhotep is portrayed as a weak, strange, sickly young man, obsessed with the ideas of general equality, peace and friendship between people and different nations. However, it was Amenhotep IV who carried out a bold religious reform. None of the 350 rulers who occupied the Egyptian throne had dared to do this before him.
A huge temple of Aten was built from white stone. Construction began on the new capital of Egypt - the city of Akhetaten (“Horizon of Aten”). It was founded in a picturesque valley between Thebes and Memphis. The inspirer of the new plans was the pharaoh's wife. Now the pharaoh himself was called Akhenaten, which means “Pleasing to Aten,” and Nefertiti was called “Nefer-Nefer-Aten.” This name is translated very poetically and symbolically - beautiful with the beauty of Aten, or, in other words, with a face similar to the sun.
Nefertiti
French archaeologists have restored the appearance Egyptian queen: black eyebrows, strong chin, full, gracefully curved lips. Her figure - fragile, miniature, but perfectly proportioned - is compared to a carved figurine. The queen wore expensive clothes, most often white transparent dresses made of thin linen. According to legend and many deciphered hieroglyphs, Nefertiti’s sunny beauty extended to her soul. She was sung as a gentle beauty, the favorite of the Sun, who pacified everyone with her mercy. The hieroglyphic inscriptions praise not only the queen's beauty, but also her divine ability to command respect. Nefertiti was called the “mistress of pleasures,” “pacifying heaven and earth with a sweet voice and kindness.”
Nefertiti
Akhenaten himself called his wife “the delight of his heart” and wished her to live “forever and ever.” The papyrus, where the teaching about the family of the wise pharaoh is recorded, tells about the ideal family happiness of the royal couple until their death. This myth traveled through time from the ancient Greeks to the Romans and became worldwide. The cordial relationship between the king and the queen was captured in dozens and hundreds of drawings and bas-reliefs. On one of the frescoes there is even one extremely bold and frank picture, which we can well call erotic. Akhenaten tenderly hugs and kisses Nefertiti on the mouth. This is the first depiction of love in the history of art.
Nefertiti and Akhenaten
But meticulous archaeologists got to the bottom of the tragedy, without which, it turns out, the life of the sun-like and happy Nefertiti could not have happened. And she had a rival in Ancient Egypt with a loving and wise husband.
The same hieroglyphs and images on stone slabs helped archaeologists find out this secret. The king and queen were usually depicted as an inseparable couple. They were symbols of mutual respect and state concerns. The couple greeted noble guests together, prayed to the disk of the Sun together, and distributed gifts to their subjects.
But in 1931, in Amarna, the French found tablets with hieroglyphs on which the name Nefer-Nefer-Aten had been carefully scraped off, leaving only the name of the pharaoh. Then more surprising discoveries appeared. A limestone figure of Nefertiti’s daughter with her mother’s name destroyed, a profile of the queen herself with a royal headdress covered in paint. This could only be done by order of the pharaoh. Egyptologists came to the conclusion that drama occurred in the happy home of the pharaohs. A few years before Akhenaten's death, the family fell apart. Nefertiti was expelled from the palace, she now lived in a country house and raised a boy destined to be the husband of her daughter, the future Pharaoh Tutankhamun.
Kia. That was the name of Nefertiti's rival
Under the images of the royal couple, another female name appeared, inscribed instead of Nefertiti. This name is Kiya. That was the name of Nefertiti's rival. The guess was also confirmed by a ceramic vessel with the names of Akhenaten and his new wife Kiya. Nefertiti was no longer listed there. Later, in 1957, they found an image of the new queen - a young face, wide cheekbones, regular arches of eyebrows, equanimity of a look. Features attractive only by the charm of youth... This woman could not become a legend, although she replaced a legendary woman and a loving wife in the arms of Akhenaten. She didn't just win the heart of the pharaoh. In the last years of his reign, he made Kiya the second (junior) pharaoh. A gold, luxuriously inlaid coffin was even made for her. But a year before his death, Akhenaten also alienated his second wife.
Nefertiti lived in disgrace until Tutankhamun ascended the throne. She died in Thebes. After the death of Akhenaten, the priests of Egypt returned to the old god. Together with the sun god Aten, the name of the sun-like Nefer-Nefer-Aten was cursed. That is why it was not included in the chronicles. Nefertiti's burial remains a mystery; apparently, it was modest. But the image of the queen remained to live in the fairy tales and legends of her people. The people left in them only beauty, harmony and happiness.
Nefertiti (Arthur Braginsky)
There is another, no less plausible version of Nefertiti’s life story, where the queen appears to us in a completely different image. This is an experienced in love, voluptuous and hard-hearted organizer of orgies, constantly looking for more and more new victims. This Nefertiti told the unfortunate young man in love with her a fable about a woman who did not want to be “despised.” Therefore, for her love, she demanded that her lover give her everything he has, drive away his wife, kill the children and throw their bodies to the dogs. He even had to give away the grave of his elderly parents and the right to embalm their bodies after death and funeral rituals. The queen not only told the story, she herself embodied the plot of the fable and, in the end, drove the unfortunate man away, rewarding him with cold intercourse, and not the fiery heat of her beautiful body.
This Nefertiti was no longer a victim of palace intrigue, but she herself fanned the fire of enmity in her wife Akhenaten, hated him, and wished him death. This Nefertiti is the royal hetaera of Egypt, wearing small sandals decorated with precious stones. Every year she gave daughters to the pharaoh, accusing him of not being able to have a son. She had a body that was virginally young and beautiful, insatiable and vicious.
These two Nefertiti are still arguing with each other. However, the Valley of the Kings still reliably keeps its beautiful and terrible secrets.
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