In the history of Ancient Egypt, Queen Nefertiti is portrayed as an independent, ambitious woman, striving for power. Her bust, exhibited in the Egyptian collection of the New Museum in Berlin, is one of the most famous works in the world, representing the era of ancient civilization. As part of the study of the history of Ancient Egypt and the role of women in the management of empires in the Middle East, the Harvard Scientific Institute (USA) conducted research in this area. Scientists have come to the conclusion that Nefertiti was perceived by the ancient Egyptians not only as a powerful co-ruler of the pharaoh. But also as a kind of living religious cult of beauty.
Nefertiti "is often presented in history as an independent figure with a reputation for being a strong queen," Professor Williamson, a participant in a conference on the history of the Middle East at Harvard University, explained. “However, in the drawings of the tombs in Amarna, I came across a completely different image of Nefertiti, often hidden for the king. She is depicted on a hill next to her husband. As you know, in ancient Egypt, the pharaoh had unlimited power granted by heaven. ”Amenhotep IV inherited the throne at a time when Egypt was rich and the military power of the empire extended far north to Syria and south to Sudan. He worshiped the sun Ra, whose manifestation was known as the Aten. When he became pharaoh, he received the name Akhenaten, which in ancient Egyptian means "one who comes into force for the Aten."
He married Nefertiti, the daughter of a noble official, in the early years of his reign. Akhenaten introduced in ancient Egypt a new religion of worship of the only Aten, banning all other cults. The funeral rites have also changed. His policy was aimed at destroying the name and image of the cult of Amon. The Supreme Aten was represented as a man with the head of a hawk and the sun above the crown. Akhenaten added to this image a solar disk with rays emanating from it. The pharaoh built a new city for his family and worship of the Aten at Tell el-Amarna in the south of the state. Traditionally, the queen's role was to support her majestic husband. Their status was also associated with the cult of Maat, the progenitor of the entire universe. And Hathor, personifying beauty, fertility and fun, the patroness of lovers and mothers. “Through her magical power of fertility, she filled the life of the king with energy from space, thereby providing him with eternal life,” the scientist believes. “Religious ceremonies in honor of women were held for the rebirth of the universe, which, as the ancient Egyptians believed, took place every day at dawn.”
Under the reign of Akhenaten, Nefertiti and their daughters took center stage in the rites of religious worship in ancient Egypt. Nefertiti wore the crown of Hathor, a symbol of eternal beauty, youth and fertility. The image of Nefertiti was placed on the sarcophagus of the pharaoh in place of Isis. Traditionally, Isis adorned the tombs of representatives of the royal dynasty, but at that time she was replaced by Nefertiti. Thus, the queen became the embodiment of the magical abilities of the cult of Isis.
According to a group of Egyptologists from Harvard University, the temple in Kom el-Nana, discovered in the 1980s, was dedicated to the cult of Nefertiti. During the research, thousands of sandstone fragments with engraved hieroglyphs of Ancient Egypt were found. The records confirm the fact that the temple near the house of Aten was built for the queen. Of great importance is the size of the sculptures and drawings of Nefertiti. In her temple el-Nana, her image is significantly inferior to the image of Akhenaten, demonstrating his superiority and subordination. Thus, the importance of the figure of the king in the political and religious life of ancient Egyptian society was emphasized.
After the reign of Akhenaten and Nefertiti ended, this city was empty, the cult of worship of one Aton was abandoned, and the buildings turned into ruins. 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 millennia, she was not remembered, and her name was lost in history. However, in the last millennium, one of the French scientists F. Champolne managed to decipher the ancient writings of Egypt.
In the 20th century, the world learned about Nefertiti something that could forever remain in oblivion. An expedition of scientists from Germany in the early 40s of the last century, after excavations in Egypt, handed over the items found for inspection by inspectors of the Antiquities Service. Among all the items found, the experts found a seemingly ordinary stone block, in which, over time, experts recognized the head of the queen. It is believed that several unscrupulous archaeologists tried to hide an ancient masterpiece from society, for which they were deprived of the right to participate in excavations in Egypt.
The name of Nefertiti was rapidly gaining popularity, legends were made about her beauty, her personality became very famous. For centuries, no one except her contemporaries knew about her, and now, after 33 centuries, her name waited for recognition and discussion. Enough accurate facts have not been preserved about Queen Nefertiti herself to speak about her biography with absolute certainty. Nevertheless, it is believed that Nefertiti was born in Mitania, where the famous Aryans lived, in a family of wealthy people. The year of her birth according to some sources is 1370 BC. Initially, her name was Taduchela, and being a twelve-year-old girl, she got into 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 indifferent the young ruler, 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 public affairs, her strong temper influenced many of her husband's actions. Nefertiti was also influential in the foreign relations of other states with Egypt. Married to Akhenaten, the beauty bore him six daughters. The couple waited long and in vain for an heir, and as a result, 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 exiled; little Tutankhamun was given to her upbringing. 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 the secrets of love to her daughter and introduced her to Akhenaten as a wife, that is, the father married his own daughter. Such traditions seem, of course, unusual to modern man, but we are talking about ancient Egyptian traditions that were acceptable in their time. The practice of marriages between siblings in ancient Egypt was popular, noble personalities did not want incest, but their family, of course, could not last long.
After the death of the pharaoh, Nefertiti began to rule Egypt on her own, Smenkhkare became her royal name. Her reign lasted about 5 years and was tragically cut short by murderous conspirators. There is an assumption that the body of the queen was disfigured, the tomb of Nefertiti 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 appearance of the queen can be described from existing data, such as sculptures and drawings. According to them, Nefertiti was small in stature with a well-coordinated figure, her grace remained unchanged even after the birth of six children. Her face was unusual for most Egyptians, she had neat curved bright black eyebrows, her lips were full, and her eyes were colorfully expressive. The beauty of Queen Nefertiti could have aroused the envy of many girls in modern times. There are also ambiguous rumors about the character of the beauty. 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 the grace and humility of Nefertiti, on the fact that the queen was unusually prudent and educated for that time, her sensible speeches helped her husband in governing the state. There is also an opinion that the great pharaoh was so attracted 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. The bust of Nefertiti, this famous work of art, has been studied by scientists many times. More recently, researchers have found that many of the queen's facial features did not correspond to reality. Researchers from Germany decide to publish the newly appeared appearance of the queen. Using computer technology, scientists examined the hidden features of the girl's face under the retouching of 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 bust of the queen, namely: he made her look deeper, the cheekbone area became less protruding. As is obvious, the changes that have taken place with the face of the sculpture were rather negative than positive. The eye itself is missing from the image of the sculpture itself. It is assumed that the ancient Egyptians believed that when creating a sculpture, the image of both eyes meant that the soul of the depicted moved to another world. There is also an opinion that when depicting the pharaohs, their second eye was absent for the possibility of their revival.
The beautiful Nefertiti, who lived more than 3400 years ago, is known to this day as the standard of female beauty and wisdom. Amenhotep III, the pharaoh who married Nefertiti, met her at a reception at the king of the state of Mitania. The future husband of Nefertiti, the son of Queen Tiye, fell in love with Nefertiti at first sight. At that time, the future queen was named Taduchep, by this time the fifteen-year-old girl had already received a prestigious education. Amenhotep III had to pay a lot of gold to take the young beauty to Thebes to his harem, which numbered at least a hundred concubines.
Nefertiti - Queen of Egypt and her biography
The future queen was born in a noble family in Mitania. The estimated date of birth of Nefertiti is 1370 BC. The young queen received a new name when she arrived in the capital of ancient Egypt. The people immediately called the girl of incredible beauty Nefertiti, which means “Beautiful are the perfections of the solar disk” or “Beautiful came”, which, according to historians, indicates the foreign origin of the queen. She became the wife of Amenhotep III, but their marriage did not last long, only two years, the husband of Queen Nefertiti died. But just a couple of weeks later, Queen Tiye betrothed her to her son Amenhotep IV. Gradually, the beauty and wisdom of Nefertiti did their job, and the pharaoh moved away from his harem, and made his young wife his co-ruler. The beautiful Nefertite participated in the reign of Egypt on a par with Amenhotep IV. The husband so appreciated the help of his wife that he decorated many temples with the face of Nefertiti, in every prayer the pharaoh spoke of love for his wife. The young queen accompanied the king at all official events, she, along with him, received a report from the guard of the city, met noble guests, participated in the sacrifice and prayed to the disk of the Sun. Often, subjects asked Nefertiti for blessings before receiving the pharaoh.
Many ancient frescoes show that there was love and mutual feelings in the pharaoh's family. Nefertiti gave birth to Amenhotep IV of six daughters. But for every pharaoh it was important to have a son - the heir to the throne. Without waiting for his son, the pharaoh married a young girl from his harem with the name Kiya, and Nefertiti was expelled from the palace. As a token of his love, Amenhotep IV presented his young wife with a golden coffin and even gave her the title of "junior pharaoh". But Kiya quickly got tired of the king and he returned her to the harem. At this time, Nefertiti lived in the province and raised the boy Tutankhamun, the son of Amenhotep IV's sister. Soon the pharaoh died, from a serious illness of the spine at the age of twenty-nine. The next well-known ruler was Nefertiti's pupil Tutankhamun, so as not to lose power, she tied him with marriage to one of her daughters. This is where the mention of the Queen of Egypt Nefertiti ends, in connection with which her name has become even more mysterious.
What did Nefertiti look like?
Various sources are divided in opinions about the appearance of the queen. Some argue that she was not an attractive woman at all, but still, most historians describe Nefertiti as a miniature woman with a beautiful figure and smooth forms. It is because of her appearance that scientists believe that the queen is not of Egyptian origin. She had thick black arched eyebrows, expressive eyes, full lips and high cheekbones and a strong chin. The queen's robes were mostly made of white translucent fabrics, complemented by gold and colored ornaments. The portrait of Nefertiti is admired even by modern women and men.
The secret of the queen's youth is still a mystery, but many secrets, thanks to scientists, have become known. Even in ancient times, women used cosmetics and rejuvenation products. To keep her skin in good shape, Nefertiti took a bath with incense twice, in the morning after waking up and before going to bed. It is known that the queen used creams and masks in her face care, but their recipes have not yet been deciphered. The sculpture of Nefertiti, found in 1912, made an indelible impression on archaeologists, one of them wrote on his page on the Internet that it was pointless to talk about it, you need to see it. Now the sculpture of the queen is kept in the Egyptian Museum in Berlin, it is surprising that she has never been exhibited in Egypt.
It was German scientists who found the bust of Queen Nefertiti and took her to their country, and so that the Egyptian customs did not interfere with them, the statue was covered with plaster. 20 years after this incident, in 1993, the Egyptian Ministry of Culture demanded that the historical monument be returned to their homeland, but having been refused, the Egyptian authorities forbade archaeological excavations on the territory of their country.
There are also several facts about the bust of the queen itself, which are not under
confirmed, but not refuted: initially the queen's face was a little old and rejuvenated, they also say that the bust's nose was originally a "potato"
Nefertiti's tomb found
The tomb of Nefertiti, according to archaeologists, was found in 1907, but no one could say for sure whether the mummy really belonged to the queen. In the secret room of the tomb of Tutankhamen, the burial of three people, two women and a man, was found. And only in February 2010, a genetic examination proved that the tomb contained remains that did not belong to Nefertiti.
But in November 2015, a statement by the Minister of Antiquities appeared that there was another room outside the walls of the tomb of Tutankhamen and, with a high probability, Nefertiti's burial was located there.
The whole life of the beautiful queen is shrouded in secrets. The cause of Nefertiti's death is not known, historians suggest that Nefertiti died at the age of 30.
Nefertiti, Queen of Egypt, photos with her are still popular not only among archaeologists, historians and scientists, many young people are interested in getting to know the standard of beauty, which has held this title for the third century. Nefertiti and pictures with her are used by many eminent designers in their interiors as paintings, panels, figurines and decorative elements. The name of Nefertiti is known more than the name of her husband Amenhotep. Among the many mysteries surrounding the queen, there is a very interesting legend in Egypt which says that in the nineteenth century a group of people were seen in the mountains carrying a small coffin down the slope. And after some time, some antique dealers got gold items with the inscription Nefertiti. This legend is passed down from generation to generation, but it was not possible to find out whether it is a myth or a reality.
From time immemorial, the beautiful eyes of Queen Nefertiti, captured in the famous sculptural portrait, look at us. What lies behind her incomprehensible gaze?
This woman has reached the pinnacle 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 is this happiness given?
We have already published a post about Nefertiti in our community:
Here is another post on the same subject.
One can only be surprised 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, elevated 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 the finds for verification to the inspectors of the Antiquities Service. (“Antiquities Service” is an agency founded in 1858 to control archaeological expeditions and protect monuments of the past.) Among the items 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 an inconspicuous architectural detail would not attract attention. When this was discovered, a scandal erupted. It was extinguished by the outbreak of the war, after which the 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. The star of Nefertiti rose so rapidly, as if this woman was not an ancient Egyptian queen, but a modern movie star. As if for many centuries, her beauty was waiting for recognition, and, finally, the times came, the aesthetic taste of which 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 rocks, corroded by time, come close to the river, then begin to recede, forming an almost regular semicircle. Sands, the remains of the foundations of ancient buildings and the greenery of palm groves - this is how the once luxurious ancient Egyptian city of Akhetaton, in which one of the most famous women in the world reigned, looks like now.
Nefertiti, whose name in translation means "The Come Beauty", was not the sister of her husband, Pharaoh Amenhotep IV, although for some reason this version was very widespread. The beautiful Egyptian 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 a special school, such a relationship irritated the proud queen and Nefertiti's mother 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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By one of the “pharaoh-sun” holidays, Amenhotep III presented his wife with a truly royal gift: a summer residence of stunning beauty and wealth - 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 an armchair with lion's 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 dark tone of her skin and a warm, fresh, even blush, somewhere between golden yellow and brownish bronze. "Beauty, mistress of joy, full of praises ... full of 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 a beautiful nose to bold lips, like a seal.
A dark-skinned Nubian maid entered, carrying a large jug of fragrant bathing water.
Nefertiti stood up, as if waking up 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 overshadowed by either disasters or wars. Syria and Palestine tremble before Egypt, Mitanni sends flattering letters, From the mines of Cush mountains of gold and incense are regularly sent.
Most importantly, 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, possessed by love, and poems written for her broke from his large 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.
On a richly decorated dressing table, the maid laid out the necessary supplies: golden boxes of ointments, spoons for ointments, antimony for the eyes, 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 one day, even before the wedding, Amenhotep revealed his secret to her at sunset.
He stroked her thin fingers and, looking with sparkling eyes somewhere into the distance, said that Aton himself, the god of the solar disk, had appeared to him in a dream the day before, and spoke to him as to a brother:
- You know, Nefertiti. I see, I know that everything in the world is not the way we are all used to seeing it. 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. Aton is the only true god!
Amenhotep's voice rang out. He said how beautiful and wonderful the world created by Aten 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, Amenhotep IV first changed his name. "Amenhotep" means "Amon is pleased." He began to call himself "Akhenaton", that is, "Pleasant to the Aton."
How happy they were! People can't be that happy. Almost immediately, Akhenaten decided to build a new capital - Akhetaten, which means "horizon of the Aten." It was supposed to be the best city on earth. Everything will be different there. New happy life. Not the same as in gloomy Thebes. And the people there will all be happy, because they will live in truth and beauty.
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The youth of the wife of the heir passed in Thebes - the brilliant capital of Egypt of 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. Gilded needles of obelisks, tops of painted pylon towers and colossal statues of kings pierced the sky. Through the lush greenery of tamarisks, sycamores and date palms, avenues of sphinxes lined with turquoise-green faience tiles and connecting temples looked through.
Egypt was at the peak 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 curiosities. From the distant regions of Africa came caravans loaded with ivory, ebony, incense and gold, countless gold, for which Egypt was so famous in ancient times. In everyday life there were the finest fabrics made of corrugated linen, magnificent wigs, stunning in their variety, rich jewelry and expensive ointments ...
All the Egyptian pharaohs had several wives and countless concubines - the East was then the East. But the "harem" in our understanding in Egypt never existed: the younger queens lived in separate residences near the palace, no one was particularly concerned with the conveniences of the concubines. Those whom the texts refer to as the “Lady of Upper and Lower Egypt”, “the great royal wife”, “the wife of God”, “the adornment of the king”, 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 divine service is to pacify and appease the deity with the beauty of her voice, the unique charm of her appearance, the sound of the sistra, a sacred musical instrument. The status of the “great royal wife”, inaccessible to most mortal women, who had great political power, was based precisely on religious foundations. The birth of children was a secondary matter, the younger queens and concubines did an excellent job with it.
Teia 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 survived to adulthood, but the priests saw the providence of Heaven in this. How much they misinterpreted this fishery, they became aware much later.
Amenhotep IV ascended the throne in 1424 BC. And ... started a religious reform - a change of gods, an unheard of thing in Egypt.
The revered god Amon, whose worship increasingly strengthened the power of the priests, was replaced by the will of the pharaoh with another god, the god of the sun - Aten. Aten - "the visible solar disk", was depicted as a solar disk with rays-palms, bestowing blessings 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 principles, 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, the German archaeologist Ludwig Borchardt began excavating the remains of another house in the ruined 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 defined the profession of the owner of a vast estate. And among the finds was a life-sized bust of a woman made of limestone and painted.
Flesh-colored nape, red ribbons descending along the neck, blue headdress. Delicate oval face, beautifully defined small mouth, straight nose, beautiful almond-shaped eyes, slightly covered by wide heavy eyelids. In the right eye, an insert made of rock crystal with an ebony pupil has been preserved. The high blue wig is entwined with a gold headband adorned with gems…
The enlightened world gasped - a beauty appeared to the world, who spent three thousand years in the darkness of oblivion. The beauty of Nefertiti 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 while still alive, and sometimes pay an exorbitant price.
Together with her husband Nefertiti ruled Egypt for about 20 years. The very two decades that were marked by an unprecedented religious revolution for the entire ancient Eastern culture, which shook the foundations of the ancient Egyptian sacred tradition and left a very ambiguous mark in 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, which gives life. In the large temples of the god Aton in Thebes - prayers were offered to her, none of the temple actions could take place without her - a guarantee of fertility and prosperity for the whole country. “She sends Aton to rest with a sweet voice and beautiful hands with sisters,- it is said about her in the inscriptions of the tombs of the nobles of her contemporaries - Everyone rejoices at the sound of her voice.
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 ("The Effective Spirit of the Aten"), and Nefertiti founded their new capital - Akhetaton. The amount of work was huge. At the same time, temples, palaces, buildings of official institutions, warehouses, houses of the nobility, dwellings and workshops were erected. Holes carved in the rocky soil were filled with soil, and then specially brought trees were planted in them - there was no time to wait until they 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 up 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. A large garden with a lake and pavilions adjoined the residential buildings of the royal family. The walls were decorated with paintings of bunches of lotuses and papyrus, swamp birds flying out of the reservoirs, scenes from the life of Akhenaten, Nefertiti and their six daughters. The floor painting imitated ponds with swimming fish and birds fluttering around. Gilding, inlay with faience tiles and semi-precious stones were widely used.
Never before in Egyptian art have there been works that so vividly demonstrate the feelings of the royal spouses. Nefertiti and her husband are sitting with their children, Nefertiti is dangling her legs, climbing onto her husband's lap, and holding her little daughter with her hand. On each scene, there is always an Aton - a 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 Akhetaton, other episodes of the family life of the king and queen have been preserved - unique images of royal lunches and dinners. Akhenaten and Nefertiti are sitting on chairs with lion's paws, next to them is the widowed queen mother Teye, who came on a visit. there are tables with dishes decorated with lotus flowers, vessels with wine The female choir and musicians entertain the feasters, the servants bustle about. Three eldest daughters - Meritaton, Maketaton and Ankhesenpa-Aton - are present at the celebration.
Pictures of those happy years Nefertiti tremblingly kept in her heart.
They were building a city. The best masters and 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 the ancient frozen forms. Portraits should have features of real people, and compositions should be lifelike.
One by one, their daughters were born. Akhenaten adored them all. For a long time he fiddled with the girls in front of the happy Nefertiti. He spoiled them and extolled them.
And in the evenings they rode in a chariot along the palm alleys of the city. He drove the horses, and she hugged him and joked merrily about the fact that he had a solid belly. Or they rode in a boat on the smooth surface of the Nile, among thickets of reeds and papyrus.
Their family dinners were full of carefree fun, when Akhenaten, with a piece of chop in his teeth, portrayed an angry Sobek, the crocodile god, and the girls and Nefertiti rolled with laughter.
They held services in the temple of the Aten. The deity was depicted in the sanctuary in the form of a golden disc, stretching out thousands of hands 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 was anointing the body of the queen with precious oil, which spread the smell of myrrh, juniper and cinnamon, Nefertiti recalled what the holiday was like in the city when Tiu, the mother of Akhenaten, came to visit her children and granddaughters in Akhetaten. The girls jumped around her and vying with each other amused her with their games and dances. She smiled and didn't know which one to listen to.
Akhenaten proudly showed his mother his new capital: palaces for the nobility, houses of artisans, warehouses, workshops and the main pride - the temple of Aten, which was supposed to surpass all existing in the world in size, splendor and magnificence, were laid.
- Altars in it will not be one, but several. And there will be no roof at all, so that the sacred rays of the Aten fill it with their grace, - he enthusiastically told his mother. Silently she listened to her only son. Tiu's intelligent, penetrating eyes looked sad. How could she explain that no one needed his efforts to make everyone happy. That he is not loved and respected as a sovereign, and only curses are rushing from everywhere. The beautiful city of the sun devastated the royal treasury in a few years. Yes, the city is beautiful and delightful, but it eats up all the income. And Akhenaten did not want to hear about economy.
And in the evenings, Tiu talked with her daughter-in-law for a long time, hoping at least through her to influence her son.
Ah, why, why, then she did not listen to the words of the wise Tiu!
But the personal happiness of the spouses did not last long ...
Everything began to crumble in the year when their eight-year-old daughter, the cheerful and sweet Meketaten, died. She went so suddenly to Osiris that it seemed as if the sun had ceased to shine.
At the memory of how she and her husband gave orders to the gravediggers and embalmers, sobs that had been suppressed for a long time burst out into a stream of tears. The maid with the jar of eyebrow paint stopped in confusion. The great queen managed to control herself in a minute and, swallowing her sobs, exhaled and straightened up: "Go on."
With the death of Meketaten, happiness in their palace ended. Disasters and sorrows followed in an endless series, as if the curses of the overthrown gods fell on their heads. Soon after the little princess, Tiu, the only person in the court who supported Akhenaten, went to the kingdom of the dead. With her death, there was no one left in Thebes except enemies. The widow of the mighty Amenhotep III alone restrained with her authority the fury of the offended priests of Amon. Under her, they did not dare to openly attack Akhenaten and Nefertiti.
Nefertiti pressed her fingers to her temples and shook her head. If only then she and her husband were more careful, more political, more cunning. 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. It is not in his nature to compromise. All or nothing. He destroyed everything old obsessively and mercilessly. He was confident in his rightness and victory. He had no doubt that they would follow him ... But no one did. A bunch of philosophers, artists and artisans - that's his whole company.
She tried, repeatedly tried to talk to him, to open her eyes to the real essence of things. He only got angry and closed in on himself, spending more and more time with architects and sculptors.
Once again, when she approached him with a conversation about the fate of the dynasty, he shouted at her: “Than to get into my affairs, it would be better if I 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 the Aten, she always stood next to him in the crown, ringing the sacred sisters. And she did not expect such an insult. She was pierced to the very heart. Silently, Nefertiti came out and, rustling her pleated skirt, retired to her chambers ...
Cat Bast entered the room with silent steps. A golden necklace flaunted around the neck of a graceful animal. Walking up to her mistress, Bast jumped on her knees and began to rub against her hands. Nefertiti smiled sadly. Warm, cozy animal. She pulled her tightly against her. Bast, with some instinct, always guessed when the hostess was ill 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, retired from the room, showing with its appearance that it had more important things to do.
The death of Maketaton, apparently, was a turning point in the life of Nefertiti. The one whom contemporaries called “beauty, beautiful in a diadem with two feathers, mistress of joy, full of praises full of beauty”, a rival appeared. And not just a temporary whim of the lord, but a woman who really ousted her wife from his heart - Kiya.
All Akhenaten's attention was focused on her. Even during the life of his father, the Mitannian princess Tadukheppa arrived in Egypt as a guarantee of political stability in interstate relations. It was for her, who traditionally adopted an Egyptian name, that Akhenaten built a luxurious suburban palace complex Maru-Aton. But the main thing is that 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, the eldest daughter of Nefertiti, Meritaten, destroyed not only the images, but 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 servant girl dressed her in a white dress made of the finest transparent white linen, fastened a wide breast decoration studded with gems. She put on a magnificent wig curled with 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.
Enter Aye, an old dignitary, former scribe at the court of Amenhotep III. He was "the bearer of the fan on the king's right hand, 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 at one time was the nurse of the princess. And Nefertiti was like a daughter to him.
At the sight of Nefertiti, Eye's wrinkled face broke into a gentle smile:
- Hello, my girl! How are you
- Don't ask, Aye. Good is not enough. You heard Akhenaten gave this upstart Kiya, a concubine from Mitanni, the palace of Maru-Aten. Everywhere appears with her. This creature already dares to put on the crown.
Aye frowned and sighed. The girl from the harem bore the king two sons. Everyone was just whispering about the crown princes Smenkhkare and Tutankhaten, not embarrassed by Nefertiti.
The princes were still small children, but their fate had already been decided: they would become the husbands of Akhenaten's eldest daughters. The royal family must continue. The blood of the pharaohs of the XVIII dynasty from the great Ahmes 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 heavy news.
- No good, queen. Thebes are buzzing like a swarm of bees. The priests have achieved that the name of Akhenaten is cursed at every corner. There is still this drought. All to one. The king of Mitanni Duhratta demands gold again. From the northern provinces are asked to send an army to protect against nomads. And the king ordered everyone to refuse. - Ey shrugged his shoulders. - It's a shame to watch. We worked so hard to gain influence in these lands, and now we lose them so easily. Discontent is everywhere. I told Akhenaten about this, but he doesn't want to hear anything about the war. He is annoyed only by the fact that the deadlines for the delivery of marble and ebony are broken. And yet, queen, beware of Horemheb. He very quickly finds a common language with your influential enemies, he knows with whom to be friends.
After Aye left, the queen sat alone for a long time. The sun was going down. Nifertiti went out onto the balcony of the palace. The huge cloudless dome of the sky on the horizon blazed with a white flame that surrounded the fiery disk. Warm rays tinted the ocher peaks of the mountains on the horizon a soft orange and reflected in the waters of the Nile. Evening birds sang in the lush greenery of the tamarisks, sycamores and date palms that lined the palace. From the desert pulled evening coolness and anxiety.
How long Nefertiti lived after this sunset is not known. 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 hopes and dreams of the New World.
Prince Smekhkara did not live long at all and died under Akhenaten. After the death of the pharaoh-reformer, the ten-year-old Tutankhaton assumed power. Under pressure from the priests of Amon, the boy-pharaoh left the city of the Sun and changed his name. Tutankhaton ("Living likeness of Aton") was henceforth called Tutankhamun ("Living likeness of Amon"), but did not live long. There are no successors of Akhenaten's cause, 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 destroyed to the ground. Their names were carefully erased in 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 in some places, by chance, were reminders of the "criminal from Akhetaten." 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, the sand rushed over the place where there was once a beautiful city, until one day the inhabitants of a neighboring village began to find beautiful shards and fragments. Fans of antiquity showed them to specialists, and they read on them the names of the king and queen unknown in the history of Egypt. Some time later, a cache of rotten chests was discovered, which were filled with clay letters. The history of the tragedy that had befallen Akhetaten was gradually becoming clearer. The figures of the pharaoh and his beautiful wife emerged from the darkness. Expeditions of archaeologists reached out 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 Ka (soul) of the queen, exhausted by suffering, returned to the world to tell about herself.
For a long, long time, an elderly professor, the leader of the German expedition, looked at this beauty, which was so unrealistic for many hundreds and thousands of years, and thought a lot, but the only thing he could write in his diary: "It is pointless to describe - look!".
For many centuries, the face of this woman has been considered the standard of female beauty, about which legends are composed, because it is refined and spiritualized. Recently, a real boom has begun near the image of Nefertiti, as women turn to plastic surgeons with requests to copy the shape of the queen's face to them. Women do make-up, which was the famous Egyptian maiden, but fashion designers create outfits, shoes and hats, also reminiscent of Nefertiti's toilets.
There are many versions of the origin of the Egyptian queen, but recently another, more recent version has appeared, according to which she was born in 1370, but not in Egypt, as previously thought. True, historians still cannot come to a common opinion in which country and family she was born.
It’s strange, but before they didn’t pay attention to the name of the queen of Egypt, and after all, Nefertiti, from the Egyptian language is translated - come beauty, this suggests that she arrived in Egypt from another country. This means that the secret of her origin may be in her name, and the shape of Nefertiti's eyes speaks of her non-Egyptian origin. There is a hypothesis that the father of the future queen was from Turkey, and her mother from Mitania. Most likely, it was from Turkey that at a young age the girl was taken to the country of the pyramids as a gift to Amenhotep the third, and became one of the many concubines of the pharaoh. Women from the harem were supposed to give birth to children to the pharaoh and take care of him.
However, fate decreed in its own way, since immediately after the arrival of the future queen in Egypt, the old Amenhotep died, and according to the tradition of that time, all the wives of the pharaoh were to be killed and buried with their master. Unlike the others, Nefertiti was lucky, because the son of the late pharaoh, Amenhotep the fourth, fell in love with her. It was he who took a bold step for those times, left alive his father's concubine, and eventually married her. It is clear that he was driven by a fiery love for the girl, because it was not for nothing that he signed all his decrees with an oath of eternal love for God and Nefertiti.
Even at a young age, the girl watched her husband and learned from him to conduct public affairs. Already at the age of twenty, she was a virtuoso in political games, moreover, she had no equal in the ability to convince her opponents, in that distant time. She did what she wanted, and her husband did not argue with her, but always indulged in everything. Nefertiti convinced her husband to abandon his religion and accept the gods of her land, after which Amenhotep the fourth changed his name and began to be called Akhenaten, which means pleasing to the Aten, that is, the newly proclaimed god of the sun. The pharaoh declared his wife equal to himself and ordered to carry out any of her orders, so Nefertiti achieved what she wanted, namely, she became a real queen with all rights and power.
By her order, a new capital of the country was built, ancient temples were destroyed, and persecution of adherents of the old faith began. The queen once a week went out onto the balcony of her palace, under which the crowd gathered, made fiery speeches, and then presented gifts to her subjects, throwing gold coins on the heads of surprised Egyptians, while not forgetting to mention that these were gifts from the newly proclaimed, solar God Aton.
However, problems began to arise in family life, since Nefertiti gave birth to her husband six daughters, and he needed an heir to the throne, so Akhenaten took another, young wife, who bore him a boy, the future pharaoh Tutankhamun. Nefertiti was taken outside the city, where she lived for exactly a year, after which the yearning Akhenaten returned her to the royal chambers, but they were not destined to live together for long. The expelled and oppressed religious priests united in groups and revolted. The pharaoh was captured, his eyes were gouged out, and then he was executed. Nefertiti was the head of state for several more days, after which she was also killed by enraged fanatics of the old religion. They did not calm down even after the death of Nefertiti, first they plundered her tomb, and then mutilated the body and consigned it to oblivion for millennia.
And the mystery of the origin, power, and personal life of Queen Nefertiti still remains unsolved.
In 1912, during excavations in Amarna, archaeologists found a perfectly preserved painted sculpture of Nefertiti, an Egyptian queen from the 18th dynasty of the New Kingdom. A slender neck, almond-shaped eyes, dreamily smiling lips ... Since then, the opinion has been established that this woman is an undoubted standard of beauty and femininity of the ancient world.
Her husband Amenhotep IV (Akhenaton) went down in history as a pharaoh-reformer who rebelled against the dominance of the old nobility and priests, closely associated with the cult of the Theban god Amun-Ra. Nothing majestic was visible in him, his appearance was ugly, which was especially striking next to Nefertiti. According to the ancient sculptors, the frail and stooped body of Amenhotep IV was crowned with an exorbitantly large head with sharp ears, a drooping jaw and a long nose.
From an early age, he was plagued by ailments. Amenhotep was only twelve when, after the death of his father, he was put on the throne. He was a shy and impressionable child who still played with dolls. He inherited almost nothing from the warlike and despotic character of Amenhotep III. He had time everywhere: he was both a politician and a military leader, he loved wine and magnificent festivities, adored women. His harem consisted of more than a hundred concubines - daughters of nobles, foreign princesses and simply beautiful captives. The administration of the country during this period was in the hands of high-ranking nobles and Tia (or Teia), the first legal wife of the pharaoh, the mother of Amenhotep IV (according to other sources, his nurse).
Tiye came from Mesopotamia. It was there, at the court of King Tushrat, who ruled the state of Mitanni, that the future pharaoh met the young princess Taduchepa (according to some historians, her mother's cousin), who went down in history under the name of Nefertiti. She received a brilliant education for those times in a special school where boys and girls studied together, which was then perceived as almost a revolutionary method of educating the younger generation.
It is difficult to say what the true plans of the first wife of Amenhotep III were, but when she brought the princess from Mitanni, the country of the Aryans (by paying, by the way, a considerable ransom in gold, silver and ivory), she first placed her in the harem of the reigning pharaoh.
When the fifteen-year-old princess arrived with her retinue in Thebes, her extraordinary bright appearance immediately fascinated the townspeople - it was then that she received the new name Nefertiti (“Beautiful has come!”). The prematurely aged pharaoh could hardly enjoy the charms of the new concubine (the turn simply could not reach her). He died two years after her arrival. On the throne was his rightful heir, the boy pharaoh.
A few weeks after the death of the old pharaoh, Tiye married her son to Nefertiti. Immediately, a struggle began between these women for influence over the young pharaoh. The forces turned out to be unequal - youth and beauty slowly but surely won. Amenhotep, according to some reports, disbanded his father's huge harem, which he inherited, and this was Nefertiti's first victory.
Gradually, she became her husband's chief adviser on almost all issues. And his admiration for his wife sometimes crossed all limits: swearing an oath to the god Aton at the foundation of a new capital, Akhenaten swore to the supreme deity not only his God-father, but also love for his wife and children. Leaving to check the outposts around the city, Akhenaten took Nefertiti with him, and the guard reported on his service not only to the lord and commander-in-chief of the army, but also to his wife.
When rewarding dignitaries with gifts and distinctions, she was also present and herself thanked her subordinates for their good service. The nobles more than once asked Nefertiti to put in the right word in front of the pharaoh.
The mystery of Nefertiti's charms, real or imaginary, continues to excite people's minds millennia later. Already today, a doctor from the Moscow Institute of Beauty, while visiting, saw a copy of the sculptural head of the Egyptian queen, and asked the hostess of the house: “Well, what does everyone find in it? An ideally correct face, but cold, even boring…” The hostess, who was an artist, silently took out a thin brush, dipped it in water and made a few strokes on the yellow sandstone. Lips appeared on the stone face, then eyebrows, pupils ... “I could not take my eyes off,” the surgeon recalled, “a woman of amazing beauty was looking at me, as if alive.”
There are many white spots in the biography of Nefertiti. Until now, for example, it is not clear how many children she gave birth to. In any case, these were only daughters (according to some sources, three, according to others - six). The royal spouses were consoled by one thing: the absence of a son would not affect the future of the dynasty in any way, because, according to tradition, power could be transferred through a daughter if she marries a high dignitary. In addition, Akhenaten had sons from other wives, one of them is the famous Tutankhamun. And yet, according to historians, Nefertiti's power over Akhenaten would never have shaken if the gods had sent her a son. After all, whatever you say, but men in all ages dream of an heir, a successor to their deeds.
The inscriptions and drawings restored by scientists say that the young royal couple initially led a luxurious and happy family life. But is it possible to fully trust the sincerity of the then official chroniclers? Akhenaten was a sick man, which undoubtedly affected his personal life. Judging by some inscriptions, Nefertiti was looking for the company of other men, whom, however, she did not keep around her for a long time.
Maybe it all started after the "well-wishers" literally put the lovely Kia, the most beautiful and graceful woman of the royal harem, into bed with her bored husband? Less than a month later, Akhenaten announced that he recognized her as a side wife. By the way, many found that the fragility and grace of the lines of the new wife resembles Nefertiti. But, as practice shows, a copy is often worse than the original.
Hope, it seems, dawned again on the half of the disgraced queen. Having lowered the annoying Kia to an ordinary concubine, the pharaoh returned to the queen in order, as historians write, to marry his third daughter, Ankhesenamun, ”and therefore asked Nefertiti to prepare her for such a serious step, to teach the art that she knows. The girl is already eight years old, she has long been ripe for the marriage bed. The god Aton himself allegedly showed him his new chosen one.
In Egypt and some other states of the Ancient World, such marriages were not seen as anything illegal, on the contrary, they were considered ideal, as they retained the “divine essence” of the ruling house and did not allow its representatives to mix with plebeians or strangers.
An unexpected drama in the palace strengthened the position of the priests of the "old" god Amon. Despite the care of nannies and court doctors, for some unknown reason, at the age of ten, Pharaoh's beloved daughter Maktaton died. Egyptologists came to the conclusion that a few years before the death of Akhenaten, his family broke up: Nefertiti, expelled from the palace, raised the boy appointed as the husband of her daughter, Tutankhamun, in a country house.
In the eighteenth year of the reign of Amenhotep-Akhenaton left this world. The reason, apparently, was a progressive serious illness: the pharaoh's spine was deformed more and more, the body was covered with non-healing ulcers, and at the age of twenty-nine, his earthly path ended. With him, the religion that had been planted by him also left.
After the death of Amenhotep IV, the throne was taken by his son-in-law - the husband of the eldest daughter of Smenkhkare, who immediately restored the cult of the "rejected" god Amun. According to some historians, Nefertiti herself could well have reigned under this male name ... Soon Tutankhamun appeared on the throne, for whom the queen gave her miserable Ankhesenamun. Under him, the capital was firmly established in Thebes. Returned there and Nefertiti. And what was she to do in an abandoned and partially already destroyed city?
Many people sought the hands of a seductive widow, but she did not marry a third time. Although from scattered records it can be understood that Nefertiti did not become a recluse either. Apparently, she did not fall into disgrace and retained her influence at court. In the records, she is called wise and perspicacious.
She died at thirty-seven. She was solemnly buried, as she requested, in the tomb next to Akhenaten.
