All the secrets of the Egyptian queen Nefertiti cannot be unraveled, but scientists around the world are making every effort to do this to this day. Despite this, on the basis of already found sculptural images, papyri and other artifacts of the ancient Egyptian era, it became possible to highlight some moments of this woman’s life.
The generally accepted biography of Nefertiti
According to some information, it is assumed that the future queen was from Mitanni and came from quite noble family. The birth dates back to 1370 BC. e. Her real name is Taduchela and at the age of 12 she was sent by her father to the harem of Amenhotep III for a significant amount of gold and jewelry. Soon the pharaoh died and, according to the traditions established at that time, all the wives were inherited by his successor Amenhotep IV. The beauty of Nefertiti or Nefer-Nefer-Aten attracted the attention of Amenhotep IV, who later received the name Akhenaten. At the same time, a marriage was concluded, and the concubine of the harem became a full-fledged co-ruler of Ancient Egypt.
During her marriage, the ancient Egyptian queen took an active part in reforming the religious system and had influence on political relations between Egypt and other countries. Peculiar thinking, a sharp mind, authority and some cruelty were able to conquer the pharaoh, and he followed the advice of his young wife in many managerial matters.
During the entire period of marriage, Nefertiti gave birth to six daughters, but, unfortunately, the wife did not receive an heir. It is with this that historians associate Akhenaten’s remarriage with a young commoner named Kiya, who later bore him a son, known in history as Tutankhamun. Nefertiti became an exile and was given the care of her husband's son, but a year later she was brought back by her husband.
The union of Akhenaten and Nefertiti was restored, but soon after, the pharaoh was killed and the Egyptian beauty, at the age of 35, became the sole ruler, under the name of Smenkhkare. Her reign lasted no more than 5 years, which ended with the tragic death of the female pharaoh at the hands of the exiled priests. The body was mutilated, and her tomb was destroyed and plundered by vandals. Perhaps if the death had occurred under different circumstances, it would have been easier for historians to reconstruct the image of this woman.
The appearance of the Egyptian queen Nefertiti can be imagined from preserved sculptures and images. According to these data, the woman had a miniature and slim figure until the end of her life, and even the birth of six children did not affect her grace. Nefertiti had a clear facial contour and a strong-willed chin, which was not at all typical for the indigenous people of Egypt. Her black arched eyebrows, full lips and expressive eyes could be the envy of many women, even today.
Regarding psychological portrait Nefertiti, then it is formed very blurry.
According to some sources, the beauty was distinguished by her rebellious disposition and cruelty, while according to others, she was submissive and faithful wife, who supported her husband in everything. Perhaps the combination of absolutely opposite characters is the unique personality of the unique ancient Egyptian queen. Modern psychologists, analyzing data about Nefertiti, have suggested the possibility that the woman possessed certain qualities considered masculine at that time. In addition, assumptions about the high education of the queen, which was very rare for Ancient Egypt and was characteristic mainly only of men, were confirmed.
There are also various guesses about what attracted Akhenaten more to her: Nefertiti’s beauty, her inquisitive mind and wisdom, or mastery in the art of love. Indeed, throughout the entire marriage, even with the advent of a new young wife, the pharaoh did not let go of his ex-wife from your life and bed.
Myths or as yet unestablished facts about the life of Nefertiti
1. More recently, British scientists found a mummy whose appearance is almost completely identical external description ancient Egyptian queen. If this is indeed the case, then the assumption about the early and tragic death of the pharaoh’s wife is refuted.
2. Nefertiti was not a foreigner, but was the sister of Amenhotep IV, who later became Akhenaten. This fact is quite real, since in Ancient Egypt marriages between brothers and sisters, as well as fathers, were quite legal and common. All this was done to prevent incest, but as history has shown, it led to the extinction of many dynasties.
3. After Nefertiti was relegated to the status of second wife, she never forgave her husband. In order to take part in lovemaking as little as possible, she taught one of her daughters the art of love. Thus, at the age of 11, the girl became her father's mistress.
4. The marriage of Nefertiti and Akhenaten was purely political and the pharaoh did not experience any reverent feelings for his wife. He was more interested in her sharp mind and cold prudence in various government issues. There is also an assumption about Akhenaten’s homosexual relationships and that his second wife Kiya was chosen precisely because of her great resemblance to the man.
5. Throughout the entire marriage, only Kiya lived in Akhenaten’s heart. Nefertiti could not cope with her rival, and the images of the scenes happy family were just a fake farce. After numerous attempts to win back her husband’s favor, Nefertiti came to her senses and began raising the common son of Akhenaten and Kiya, who was to become the husband of her own daughter.
6. Nefertiti was not at all a timid and obedient wife. She not only constantly influenced weak character husband, but also allowed herself to keep a large number of concubines. Moreover, her pride knew no bounds, and she could demand the destruction of all the relatives of the man who aroused any emotions in her.
Naturally, not all of the above assumptions should be taken as real facts, since they found 100% confirmation. In any case, the name of the ancient Egyptian queen Nefertiti is still for a long time will remain in world history. With each generation there will be more and more scientists trying to uncover the secrets of this unique woman.
Photo depicting Nefertiti
The amazing story of the fate of Queen Nefertiti does not leave indifferent many people interested in the history of Ancient Egypt. For more than three thousand years she was not remembered, and her name was lost in history. However, in the last millennium, one of the French scientists F. Champoln managed to decipher the ancient writings of Egypt.
In the 20th century, the world learned about Nefertiti something that could have remained forever forgotten.
An expedition of scientists from Germany in the early 40s of the last century, after excavations in Egypt, handed over the found objects for inspection by inspectors of the Antiquities Service. Among all the objects found, experts discovered an ordinary-looking stone block, in which experts eventually recognized the head of the queen. There is an opinion that several unscrupulous archaeologists tried to hide the ancient masterpiece from society, for which they were deprived of the right to participate in excavations in Egypt.
The name Nefertiti was rapidly gaining popularity, legends were formed about her beauty, and her personality became very famous. For centuries, no one except her contemporaries knew about her, and now, after 33 centuries, her name has been recognized and discussed.
There are not enough accurate facts preserved about Queen Nefertiti herself to speak about her biography with one hundred percent certainty. However, it is believed that Nefertiti was born in Mitania, where the famous Aryans lived, into a family of poor people. The year of her birth according to some sources is 1370 BC. Initially, her name was Taduchela and as a twelve-year-old girl she ended up in the harem of Amenhotep III for a considerable fee to her father. After the death of the pharaoh, according to ancient Egyptian principles, the entire harem was inherited by his successor Amentohep IV. The splendor of the girl did not leave the young ruler indifferent, who became known as Akhenaten, and he took her as his legal wife and she was able to rule Egypt together with her husband.
Queen Nefertiti actively helped her lover in government affairs, her strong character influenced many of her husband’s actions. Nefertiti was influential in external relations other states with Egypt.
In her marriage to Akhenaten, the beauty gave birth to six daughters. The couple waited for a long time and in vain for an heir, and in the end the pharaoh decides to enter into a new marriage with a girl from a simple family, whose name was Kiya. The new wife pleased Akhenaten with a son, who is known to us as Pharaoh Tutankhamun. Queen Nefertiti was practically expelled; little Tutankhamun was given to her to raise. Soon, a year later, Akhenaten decides to bring Nefertiti back.
Their relationship, as history knows, was not as warm and reverent as it was before. Soon Nefertiti decides to teach her daughter the secrets of love and introduced her to Akhenaten as his wife, that is, the father married his own daughter. Such traditions certainly seem unusual to modern man, but after all we're talking about about ancient Egyptian traditions that were acceptable in their time. The practice of marriage between siblings in Ancient Egypt was popular; noble individuals did not want incest, but their family, naturally, could not last long.
After the death of the pharaoh, Nefertiti began to rule Egypt independently, her in the royal name became Smenkhkare. Her reign lasted about 5 years and was tragically cut short by murderous conspirators. There is an assumption that the queen's body was disfigured, Nefertiti's tomb was destroyed and devastated by thieves. Surely, if the circumstances of death were different, scientists would be able to provide more accurate information about the queen to modern man.
The beauty of Queen Nefertiti
The queen's appearance can be described from existing evidence such as sculptures and drawings. According to them, Nefertiti was small in stature with a well-proportioned figure, her grace remaining unchanged even after the birth of six children. Her face was extraordinary for most Egyptian women; she had neat arched bright black eyebrows, her lips were full, and her eyes were colorfully expressive. The beauty of Queen Nefertiti would make many girls jealous in modern times.
There are also controversial rumors about the beauty's character. Some argue that she had a tough and obstinate character, her disposition was more similar to that of a man. Others, on the contrary, insist on Nefertiti’s grace and humility, on the fact that the queen was unusually prudent and educated for that time, her sensible speeches helped their spouse in running the state.
There is also an opinion about what attracted the great pharaoh to this amazing woman: her pleasant appearance, her sound mind and wisdom or ability to love. Akhenaten could not forget about the beauty even after the appearance of his young wife and did not part with her almost until his death.
Bust of Queen Nefertiti
The bust of Nefertiti, this famous work of art, has been studied many times by scientists. More recently, researchers discovered that many of the queen's facial features were not true. Researchers from Germany decide to unveil the queen’s new appearance. With the help computer technology, scientists examined the hidden features of the girl’s face under the retouching paint that was applied to the legendary bust.
As it turned out, the bust of Queen Nefertiti had a hump on her nose, her lips were not as large as depicted, her cheekbones were not as expressive and she had dimples on her cheeks. The invited specialist corrected the queen’s bust, namely: he made her gaze deeper, the cheekbone area became less protruding. As is obvious, the changes that occurred to the face of the sculpture were more negative than positive.
The actual image of the sculpture lacks an eye. It is assumed that the ancient Egyptians believed that when creating a sculpture, the image of both eyes meant that the soul of the person depicted was moving to another world. There is also an opinion that when depicting the pharaohs, their second eye was missing for the possibility of their rebirth.
Legends about Queen Nefertiti.
1. Scientists in England recently discovered a mummy whose external description is similar to the supposed appearance of Nefertiti. In this case, the theory about the girl’s mutilated body is erroneous.
2. Queen Nefertiti, despite the origin of her name, which means “foreigner,” was the sister of her future husband.
3. The union of Pharaoh and Nefertiti was planned and had nothing to do with love. Their relationship was strictly political. There is an opinion about the unconventional orientation of Pharaoh Akhenaten, who chose Kiya as his new wife only because of her masculine appearance.
4. The queen was not a calm and obedient wife, her influence on the pharaoh was great, she skillfully used her charm and wisdom, taking advantage of Akhenaten’s weak character. Many of the husband's relatives were exterminated at the request of the beauty.
Of course, the above hypotheses may not be facts, because they do not have scientific evidence. One way or another, the personality of the legendary beauty will remain in the memory of the public, undoubtedly, for many centuries. And we hope that researchers will be able to please us with new discoveries and facts about the life of this great queen.
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The pyramids are far from the only mystery of Ancient Egypt that fuels thoughts that there may have been interference from extraterrestrial forces. And the pharaohs? At least some of them looked very suspicious in this sense. Especially Akhenaten is the probable father of the famous Tugankhamun and the husband of the no less famous Nefertiti.
An elongated face with a snake-like expression, the skull is like an egg, the occipital part is strongly pulled back. The capacity of this skull is one and a half times greater than that of ordinary people. Fingers are like spider legs. Feet like flippers. Huge buttocks. And women's breasts.
This is how Akhenaten was portrayed by his contemporaries. And it seems they did not distort reality, writes the Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper. The remains of the pharaoh, discovered back in 1907, were severely damaged. Scientists are still not sure whether they actually belong to Akhenaten. But the more or less preserved skull in the sarcophagus looks quite bizarre for a person - like a huge curved egg.
“I was truly amazed by this skull,” said renowned Egyptologist Professor Donald Redford. And he promised to organize a thorough study of it.
Where did such obvious deformities come from? To begin with, pathologists tried to answer this question. And they reported their findings at a recent conference. Meetings of this kind are annually organized by the University of Maryland Medical School, devoting them to the “case histories” of different historical figures. At one time, Napoleon, Mozart, and even Alexander the Great were examined here. Now the object is Akhenaten (aka Amenhotep IV Uaenra Neferkheperura), who lived more than 3,500 years ago.
According to Irwin Braverman of Yale University, the appearance of the pharaoh was disfigured by genetic abnormalities. But here's what's strange. The scientist discovered manifestations of several mutations at once. Akhenaten may have suffered from Marfan syndrome, which lengthens the limbs, the face, and makes spider-like fingers. Kleinfertel syndrome, which causes the body to produce excessive amounts of female sex hormone, has led to gynecomastia - the appearance of large female breasts. Frohlich syndrome provoked fat deposits on the buttocks and thighs female type. Well, the head was stretched out because in childhood, Akhenaten’s skull bones fused early.
There are at least two problems that prevent you from believing that the pharaoh was just a sick guy. The syndromes do not occur together, but separately they manifest themselves not only externally. Men suffering from at least one are, firstly, impotent with microscopic genitals, and secondly, infertile. Akhenaten, as they testify historical chronicles, was neither one nor the other. Possessed an impressive manhood, kept a huge harem. He had two official wives and more than a dozen children. Only the beautiful Nefertiti bore him six daughters.
Akhenaten's daughters
Tutankhamun is the son of the pharaoh's second wife, Queen Kiya, about whom little is known. By the way, the effeminate figure of Tutankhamun is a serious argument in favor of the fact that Akhenaten was his father.
Tutankhamun
Ufologists believe that Akhenaten's genetic abnormalities are the result of experiments carried out by aliens. Namely, some lizard-like creatures that flew to Earth from the Sirius region. Mention of them is found among many peoples, including the Egyptians, Sumerians and Dogon.
DNA tests from the remains of Akhenaten could put an end to this dispute. Braverman and Redfod expect their research to be of interest Egyptian authorities and they will give permission for experiments.
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 the history of mankind. 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?
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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.
20th century, as if demonstrating whimsicality human memory, raised Nefertiti to the pinnacle of glory. 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 items allocated for German museums, there 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 rose so quickly, as if this woman was not ancient Egyptian queen, but a modern movie star. It’s as if her beauty had been waiting for recognition for many centuries, and finally the time has come, aesthetic taste whom Nefertiti elevated 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 Nefertiti’s mother was called her nurse in many official documents.
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 “Sun Pharaoh” holidays, Amenhotep III gave his wife a truly royal gift: a summer residence, stunning in its beauty and richness, the 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 accepted power over the most powerful and rich country peace. 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 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 a bed with him for many years and bore him several children. True, only the eldest son lived to adulthood, 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 an 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 by a brick wall and connected by a monumental covered bridge spanning the road. To residential buildings royal family adjoined by 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 of eternal life to the royal couple
Along with intimate scenes in the palace gardens, in the tombs of the nobles of Akhetaten, other episodes of the family life of the king and queen were preserved - 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 with dishes decorated with lotus flowers, vessels with wine. A female choir and musicians entertain the feasters, and servants bustle about. The three eldest daughters - Meritaten, Maketaton 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 the little princess went to kingdom of the dead Tiu, the only person at the court that supported Akhenaten. 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 Amon. 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 did. 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 things. He only became angry and withdrawn into himself, spending more and more time with architects and sculptors.
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 become turning point in the life of Nefertiti. 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. While his father was still alive, the Mitanni princess Taduheppa arrived in Egypt as a guarantee of political stability in interstate relations. 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 was just whispering about crown princes Smenkhkare and Tutankhaten, without being 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 finds it very quickly common language with your influential enemies, knows who to be friends with.
After Ey left, the queen sat alone for a long time. The sun was setting. 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. The successors of Akhenaten's work, his spiritual and cultural revolution, there are none left. 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 written everywhere that after Amenhotep III power passed to Horemheb. Only here and there were reminders of the “criminal from Akhetaten” left by chance. 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 was once 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!”
Queen Nefertiti (Nefer-Neferu-Aten) (late 15th century BC - 1354 BC), main wife of the ancient Egyptian pharaoh of the 18th dynasty Akhenaten (Amenhotep IV), under whose reign the largest war was carried out Egyptian history religious reform.
“It’s pointless to describe. - Look!"
...Dust began to fall from a small fragment of stone... and the archaeologists froze, unable to move or say even a word... A beautiful woman looked at them, smiling slightly... A graceful long neck, perfect lines of cheekbones, an exquisite outline of the nostrils, full lips that, It seemed that a little more and they would open up in a smile...
In the small Arab village of El Amarna, in the sculptural workshop of the ancient Egyptian artist Thutmose, an inexpressibly beautiful female head was found: a high wig entwined with a gold bandage, on the forehead a uraeus (snake) - a symbol of royal power, the right eye, with a blue iris made of rock crystal and with an ebony pupil, it feels like he’s looking right at you... That same day, archaeologist Borchardt wrote in his diary: “It’s pointless to describe. - Look!".
In order to take this sculpture, which they could no longer part with, to Berlin, the scientists had to resort to fraud. They wrapped the bust in foil, and then covered it with plaster, “aging” it, turning it into a time-worn stone block, which neither customs officers nor Egyptian inspectors paid attention to. (This image of Queen Nefertiti of Egypt is still kept in the collection Egyptian Museum in Berlin. It was never exhibited in Egypt.)
When the deception was discovered, a terrible international scandal broke out, which was only brought to an end by the Second World War. However, for many years, the path to Egypt was closed to German archaeological scientists...
The discovery, which was made in 1912 by the German archaeologist L. Borchardt, spread throughout the world - the beauty of a woman who lived so long ago that it was difficult to imagine, captivated everyone. She became a “star” of the 20th century, proving that true beauty- eternal.
...She sincerely loved and was loved. In her life there was one man, one love, a lot of happiness, but also a lot of suffering.
She probably amazed everyone with her cuteness, as she was called “The Beauty to Come,” or Nefertiti. According to one version, her parents were from the priestly caste of the city of Koptos. The father, a court nobleman, was named Ey, and the mother, Tii, was the second cousin of Akhenaten’s mother, Tei. However, in official documents, for some reason, Tia is called only “the nurse of Nefertiti, the great wife of the king.” Perhaps this was done to hide the “non-divine” origin of Nefertiti or her blood connection with the priestly caste.
In any case, her family was rich and lived in the most brilliant city in the world - Thebes, the capital of Egypt, during its heyday. Since childhood, Nefertiti was surrounded by huge temples and luxurious palaces, majestic statues and avenues of sphinxes. Ivory, the most expensive incense, gold, ebony - all the most valuable and luxurious things that could be in the world were taken to Thebes. She had a happy childhood, and from the hands of loving parents she immediately fell into the arms of her beloved husband.
This loyalty was indecent for Pharaoh
...From the first moment, from the first glance that Amenhotep IV cast at his young wife, he realized that now there was only one woman for him. He had never seen anything more beautiful in his life, and she became the only one for him for 12 long years.
Such loyalty was surprising and even indecent for the pharaoh; this feeling amazed everyone around him - the courtiers, the nobility, the enemy priests.
Pharaoh had big harem, and in order to reduce the influence of Queen Nefertiti, they began to send him the most beautiful concubines from all over the world.
However, Akhenaten saw only the beauty of his Nefertiti. Moreover, she turned out to be a wonderful friend, a wise adviser who understood human nature well, but at the same time she was pure in soul and friendly to everyone without exception.
No, just look,” they whispered in the palace, “how can this be?! Well, okay, he made him the main wife, but he doesn’t look at other women AT ALL. He remains faithful to her, although he can have thousands of beauties if he just wants to!!!
Never before had ancient Egyptian artists depicted such a clear feeling of love between the royal couple in their works - sculptures, bas-reliefs. They are always depicted together, side by side, as if they had never been apart.
...Here they are sitting next to each other festive table, which is laid in honor of the arrival of Akhenaten’s mother, Teye, and next to them are their three daughters, musicians. Servants are bustling around.
...Here is the scene of the ceremonial departure: the pharaoh and his wife are so carried away by the conversation that they do not notice how their youngest daughter pushes the team rushing at full speed with a pole.
...But here is an almost erotic moment - the sculptor captured the spouses during a passionate love kiss.
And in all these scenes, Aten is always present - the new main deity - the solar disk with many hands that protect the couple, promising them eternal life...
Maybe Akhenaten was right when he chose a new deity for himself and his people, because his name and the name of his wife actually survived for centuries...
There is an assumption that Amenhotep was considered a rather strange ruler - humane, kind and proclaiming some “unthinkable” principles - equality and love between people and peace between nations. The pharaoh of Egypt, who lived 3,000 years ago, professed downright Christian values. However, despite this, it was Amenhotep IV who did what NONE of the 350 rulers who occupied the Egyptian throne had dared to do before him. He rebelled against pagan polytheism, declaring that main god- one. And this is Aten, the solar disk, life-bringer everything earthly.
In the name of this religion, he adopted the new name Akhenaten, which means “pleasing to Aten,” and Nefertiti, who supported her husband with all the passion of her soul, took for herself the name “Nefer-Nefer-Aten” - “beautiful with the beauty of Aten,” or “sun-faced.”
Of course, in addition to humanistic motives and religious ideals, the pharaoh and his wife also had their own political goals. By that time, the influence of priests of various cults had become quite strong. The high priests (especially Amon) had the most the best lands, beautiful buildings and very strong influence on the people and courtiers, sometimes could compete with the influence of the pharaoh himself. So, by “abolishing” their religions and proclaiming himself and his wife the high priests of the new cult, Akhenaten “killed two birds with one stone.”
It was dangerous, and he needed reliable allies - Queen Nefertiti became his most devoted friend, fanatically, undividedly devoted.
They began to build a new capital for the new deity - the city of Akhetaten. In a beautiful and fertile valley between Thebes and Memphis, where snow-white rocks, coming close to the river and then retreating, form an almost regular semicircle, this grandiose construction began.
Many slaves simultaneously erected snow-white temples, palaces for the pharaoh and courtiers, housing for artisans, warehouses, administrative buildings, workshops... Huge trees were brought here and planted in pits dug into the rocky ground and filled with water - it was too long to wait until this land will sprout greenery...
And, as if in a fairy tale, a beautiful city with lakes and palaces, sparkling with gilding and inlays of semi-precious stones, in which the floors were painted like ponds with fish swimming in them, grew up in the middle of the desert.
This city belonged to two of them - Pharaoh Akhenaten and Queen Nefertiti of Egypt.
The Great Royal Consort, the Lady of Upper and Lower Egypt, the wife of God herself was a divine incarnation on earth. As a high priestess, she took part with the pharaoh in the most important temple rituals, appeasing the supreme deity with the beauty of her voice and the charm of her face. “She sends Aten to rest with a sweet voice and beautiful hands with sisters, at the sound of her voice they rejoice” - these words, enclosed in hieroglyphs, were carved during her lifetime. Huge sculptures of Nefertiti in the image of the daughter of the Sun adorned the palace walls. The palace was erected in the capital to celebrate the sixth anniversary of Akhenaten's reign.
The hieroglyphs that Egyptologists deciphered convince us that the beauty of the “mistress of joy, full of praise...” was not only external, but also internal. She had a beautiful soul - “the mistress of pleasures,” contemporaries wrote about her, “pacifying Heaven and Earth with her sweet voice and her kindness.”
Nefertiti was beautiful and knew it, but she was lucky - despite this knowledge, which shattered the fates of many women, despite her deification, she was able to remain herself.
Perhaps that’s why Eternity spared her?
She loved to wear white translucent dresses made of the finest corrugated linen.
“The delight of my heart,” Akhenaten called her and covered papyrus scrolls with words about what ideal family happiness befell him. “Our love will last forever,” the romantic pharaoh believed.
But his prediction did not come true. After 12 years happy marriage Nefertiti has a rival.
Aton turned his face away from her
What could have caused this? Faded love, inexorable time?
The fact that Queen Nefertiti, having given birth to 6 girls, never gave the pharaoh an heir?.. Her elusive beauty?
Or perhaps Nefertiti herself fell in love with another?
Eat beautiful legend that the sculptor Thutmes, who immortalized her beauty, fell hopelessly in love with the “wife of God” on the day of the pharaoh’s ascension to the throne. And, having captured the beautiful face in his memory, he carved it out of simple sandstone for many weeks, since he was poor and did not have money for marble (this unfinished head of the very young Nefertiti has also survived to this day).
Thutmes was the author of the second, most famous bust of Nefertiti. When his workshop was excavated, among his belongings they found a casket with the inscription: “the sculptor Thutmes, praised by the pharaoh,” which means that he was already represented at court, and there is a version that he helped Nefertiti in the design and construction of a tomb for her daughter.
Perhaps it was his love that made her appearance so perfect? But was it mutual?..
Or maybe the couple was separated by the death of their daughter, Maketaton, which each experienced alone.
We will never know the answer to this question.
But the name of the homewrecker is known - Kiya. According to one version, the new main wife was not Egyptian - this princess was sent to Akhenaten as a sign of friendship between the two states. Kiya gave the pharaoh the long-awaited sons of Smenkhkare and Tutankhaten. And the new frescoes that emerged from the masters’ chisels even depicted her in the pharaoh’s crown as Akhenaten’s co-ruler. From the bas-reliefs a wide-cheeked face with a hard expression in the eyes and mouth looks at us, rough and beautiful only with the audacity of youth.
And Nefertiti, yesterday a demigoddess, and today a woman abandoned and abandoned by her husband, is “exiled” to one of the castles on the northern outskirts of the city, essentially relegated to the status of a simple concubine.
The Great Aton turned his face away from her!.. How can she live without love?..
In the last lifetime sculpture, Nefertiti is depicted tired, with a tired face, there is a certain brokenness in her entire appearance, and the figure, after six births, has already lost the perfection of its lines.
After four years, Akhenaten is tired of his new wife and sends her away. However, it is no longer possible to return Nefertiti - her love was too sincere and her disappointment was too strong...
And then Akhenaten marries their eldest daughter Meritaton (who bore him a daughter).
And then another one of the younger ones - Akhesenpaaton. In ancient Egypt, such marriages between blood relatives were common. But perhaps Akhenaten wanted to turn back time, trying to discern a reflection of the beauty of their mother Nefertiti in the faces of his daughters?
By the way, Meritaton, avenging broken heart her mother, began to destroy all images and mentions of Kiya, as if erasing from the face of the earth any mention of her from the memory of descendants. Even after her death, Kiya was not destined to find peace - her mummy (probably on the orders of one of Nefertiti’s daughters) was thrown out of the crypt, death mask was mutilated, and the inscriptions with her name were cut out. Only according to the inscriptions on the vessels in which the Egyptians separately buried the entrails, they restored the name of the one who was deprived of peace after death. And her eldest son was buried in the sarcophagus.
Cruel revenge...
When Akhenaten died, his last wife and daughter Akhesenpaaten were married to her half-brother Tutankhaten. The priests convinced the young pharaoh to return to his former faith and change his name to Tutankhamun. The capital was returned to Thebes, temples and statues dedicated to Aten were destroyed, any mention of him was erased from scrolls and destroyed on bas-reliefs, people began to leave Akhenaten, leaving for the old capital.
The mirage city dies along with its queen
Nefertiti grew old, and along with her, the beautiful mirage city built by her husband grew old and collapsed - from both of them, drop by drop, life disappeared into the sand of the desert that surrounded them. She was destined to survive her beloved husband, the destruction of their faith, and the death of the city that they built together. She had the whole world - and she lost everything.
What were her last hours? Whose face did she remember, whose name was on her lips?
According to legend, at her request, she was buried in a modest sarcophagus next to Akhenaten (and not in a golden one, like her rival Kiya), in a tomb among the rocks that surrounded their city.
But the name and fate of Queen Nefertiti of Egypt were not lost in the sands of Eternity.
Thousands of years later, in a world that has changed beyond recognition, her beautiful features that glow true love and happiness, they still delight people with their perfection, giving them the joy of contact with true beauty.
