33 Queen Nefertiti Facts: Dynasty Of Ancient Egypt!

Queen Nefertiti is known to have been the ultimate symbol of beauty and fertility.

Since there are no proper records of her birth, it is believed that she was either born in a foreign country or was the daughter of the royal adviser named Ay. She was the Great Royal Wife of Pharaoh Akhenaten.

Pharaoh Akhenaten and Queen Nefertiti's reign is mostly remembered for the economic prosperity of the era, as well as the fact that they tried to completely change the religious outlook of the people. Pharaoh Amenhotep IV and Queen Nefertiti both believed in monotheism and made sure that it was the way of the entire population as well. However, the ways in which they implemented the new religious rules may have been a little too strict. They negated the authority of all the deities other than the sun god and demolished many temples. They forced the priests to either change their ways or to agree to lose all their powers. Keep reading to learn more about Queen Nefertiti and her reign.

Family Life Of Queen Nefertiti

The Egyptian Queen Nefertiti is remembered all over the world not only for her splendid beauty but also for the fact that all of her beauty came with a certain level of mystery.

Unlike other Egyptian queens, Nefertiti ruled Egypt with almost the same amount of authority as her husband and there are speculations of her even being a female pharaoh. The mysteries surrounding her bloodline and which family she actually belonged to as a maiden remain since there is not much archaeological evidence regarding this. However, there are many speculations regarding Queen Nefertiti's maiden home. It is believed by archaeologists and historians that Nefertiti was the daughter of Ay, who was the adviser to many ancient pharaohs. Ay also went on to become the pharaoh himself after the death of King Tutankhamun. Another assumption says that Queen Nefertiti may have come from a royal family of the Mitanni kingdom. The historical records regarding one of the most powerful queens of Egypt are therefore largely insufficient. However, it does add to the charm that her figure still holds.

Nefertiti was not only a beautiful woman but also the Great Royal Wife. This essentially means that she was the queen consort to King Akhenaten and was possibly his favorite amongst the many wives. In addition to the bust of Nefertiti, many other archaeological pieces of evidence have been found which show Nefertiti at the Egyptian court as she played an active part in politics during Akhenaten's reign. There are several depictions of how Nefertiti changed the way an ancient Egyptian queen was supposed to be. There are depictions of her playing chess, driving a chariot, and hitting the enemies, which reinforces the fact that Nefertiti stood at almost the same authoritative position as her husband.

She married Amenhotep IV, at the age of 15. At that point in time, he had already become the king but hadn't changed his name to Akhenaten. He was 16 at the time of his marriage to Nefertiti. As a ruler, Pharaoh Akhenaten is remembered for quite a few things. One of the most prominent things that took place during the reign of Akhenaten and the Queen of Egypt, Nefertiti, was that the population was forced towards monotheism.

The great king's wife had six daughters, and hence, Nefertiti came to be known as the symbol of fertility in the ancient world. Her eldest daughter took an active part in the courtly rituals, while one of the other five got married to King Tut in order to make sure that Nefertiti still had some considerable amount of control over the throne.

Since King Amenhotep IV wanted a son, he married several other women, and finally had a son named Tutankhamun. He would later become the king after the death of Amenhotep IV.

Life Achievements Of Queen Nefertiti

Nefertiti held a position in court which was revered by many. The royal couple is remembered for leading their entire land into the most economically stable period of ancient Egypt. The bust of Nefertiti is not only a celebration of her mind-blowing beauty and the image of the perfect beauty that she represented but also of the power she held and the firm hand with which the royal couple pushed the idea of monotheism within the masses.

Pharaoh Amenhotep IV was a monotheist and believed in Aten, or the sun god. Prior to his reign, polytheism was popular in ancient Egypt. However, once he and queen Nefertiti started ruling the land, they made sure that the population either accepted the sun god Aten or were sentenced to death. It was during this period that numerous places of worship were torn down and priests were asked to completely change their ways. The only priests of the sun god Aten were Nefertiti and Pharaoh Amenhotep IV, which negated any ideas of them facing any difference in opinions. Nefertiti is definitely remembered for her firm hand in all matters concerning religion, but at the same time, her husband is remembered as one who was quite unforgiving and would not tolerate any difference of opinions within the masses. Anyone who dared to come up with an opinion that did not match his own views ended up dead. Hence, the population of Egypt was reduced by a lot at this point in history.

Queen Nefertiti was the main king's wife or the favored consort. This was seen in many of the depictions of the couple. As they held hands while performing the rituals of the court and publicly displayed their affection for each other. Nefertiti's status as the favored one only grew over time. In the short span of time that she spent on the throne, she became the one to be worshiping the sun god at the house altar and the one who would be accompanying the king in all official matters.

After the death of her husband, Nefertiti remained active as the ruling figure. There are speculations that Pharaoh Smenkhkare, who came after Pharaoh Akhenaten to fill the spot while King Tut came of age, was in fact Queen Nefertiti herself. She probably had to rule with the dressing of a man so that the people weren't offended by the fact that a woman ruled the land with no supervision from any man.

Even though she was a teenage queen who only sat on the throne for a period a short while, she received many names and titles throughout her life such as Great of Praises, Lady of Grace, Sweet of Love, Lady of the Two Lands, Great King's Wife, Hereditary Princess, and Mistress of Upper and Lower Egypt.

Burial Ceremony Of Queen Nefertiti

Queen Nefertiti's death and burial are just as speculative and mysterious as her bloodline. There are no proper records that depict what happened to her after the young age at which she lost her husband and throne. Her death is thought to have been of natural reasons, but the exact nature of it is unclear to archaeologists and historians alike.

The Nefertiti bust which was recovered during archaeological excavations does say a lot about this beautiful woman and her standing at the court of her husband, but after his death and the consequent passing of the crown to Pharaoh Smenkhkare, there are no proper records. The second daughter of this ancient Egyptian queen married her half brother, King Tut, and the reason behind this is assumed to be the fact that a portion of the power would remain with Nefertiti in this way, but whether or not she could actually sit on the throne as a pharaoh under the disguise of a man is still unclear. Of her six daughters, we only know of the life of some. Thus, the Great Royal Wife had mysteries all around her life and death.

It is known that King Akhenaten built a part of the temple of Aten for Nefertiti alone. However, one of the most interesting theories that surround Nefertiti's burial is that she might have been buried in a tomb as big as that of a pharaoh. In ancient Egypt, there existed a rule that the queen would not be buried in as big and grand a tomb as any king. After King Tut's death, he was buried in a grandiose tomb. However, recent archaeological studies have found some hieroglyphics and markings which point towards a hidden doorway. The theory is that King Tut's tomb was originally built by Pharaoh Akhenaten for his favorite queen, and the chamber was kept in order to make sure that the masses were not appalled by the fact that a queen was to be buried in such a grandiose manner.

As of now, the Nefertiti bust is one of the only shreds of evidence of the existence of this regal woman. If you ever visit Egypt and feel adventurous, spend some time trying to find out about Nefertiti's legacy.

Did You Know...

The famous bust of Nefertiti was found on December 6, 1912, during an excavation.

Nefertiti's bust has a missing eye which gave rise to many speculations. It has been theorized by an ophthalmologist that she might even have suffered from an ophthalmic infection.