Nefertiti, Queen of Ancient Egypt, still reigns supreme. Her beauty remains immortalised through brushstrokes of art and sculptures’ hands; her presence lighting up fashion catwalks and literary pages alike.
As Akhenaten was known, she was the wife of Pharaoh Amenhotep IV (commonly referred to as Akhenaten) and instrumental in his religious revolution, creating the worship of Aten. But that is only where her story starts!
1. She Was a Leader
Queen Nefertiti’s beauty has long captured the hearts and imaginations of people worldwide. When her bust was discovered in 1912, it created an international dialogue on femininity and female beauty as symbols of national identity. Today, her image remains an object of fascination among scholars and art historians as well as contemporary artists alike.
Queen Nefertiti led an unprecedented religious reform that transformed Egyptian culture by abandoning polytheism and introducing a new cult of Aten (sun god), an unprecedented movement which dramatically altered Egypt. While her new faith proved alienating for some Egyptians, its spread took hold due to her influence as both royal wife and figurehead.
Nefertiti was an iconic presence during her era and depicted on temple walls as equal in stature to her husband Akhenaten; often standing next to him or even using her mace to strike foreign enemies before Aten statues. But after disappearing from historical records in Year 12 of Akhenaten’s rule and the defacement of her monuments, many questions arose as to what had become of Nefertiti. While scholars speculate about whether or not she died; its cause still remains a mystery.
Modern African artists are pushing back against Western claims about Nefertiti, asserting that she represents Egypt’s cultural and spiritual heritage. Hossam Dirar’s oil paintings reimagine her with legs and wings for an image both formidable and approachable; his pieces incorporate modern fashions such as off-the-shoulder tops, sweetheart dresses, and ankh necklaces to give global audiences access to her image.
2. She Was a Mentor
As wife of a new king, Nefertiti gained more power than any previous Egyptian queens. Her image became synonymous with his religious program centered on Aten and she was depicted more prominently than other queens on monuments, coregency stelae and ushabti fragments.
Her name means “a beautiful woman has come,” and she personified the ideals of beauty that her people admired. She represented light, fertility, immortality and her alluring features and poised posture made her one of the most captivating figures in world art – in particular her bust which caused classical canons which had defined male and female beauty for millennia to crumble down, giving way to new trends such as photorealism.
Although her parentage remains unknown, it’s believed she came from noble bloodlines. It has long been noted that her beauty can be attributed both genetically and to divine gifts from both of her parents.
Early on in her life, Nefertiti is believed to have adhered to the cult of Aten and may have had an influence on her husband’s shift away from polytheism to monotheism, leading him to abandon his original title and rule alongside her until his death and disappear from historical records.
Scholars remain uncertain as to Nefertiti’s fate; many believe she was interred alongside her husband at Akhetaten. Artist LaKela Brown recently elevated iconic images of Queen Nefertiti with her 2018 work Composition of Doorknocker Earrings with Pharaoh Heads and Nefertiti Recesses in Plaster. Fusing together hallmarks from contemporary and ancient aesthetics, LaKela created an eye-catching work which paid homage to Nefertiti while attributing it to African-American material culture more generally.
3. She Was a Visionary
Nefertiti, as Great Royal Wife of Pharaoh Amenhotep IV/Akhenaten, played an essential part in revamping Egyptian state religion away from polytheism towards worshipping of one sun god. Her iconic sandstone bust can now be found on display at Berlin’s Neues Museum; yet much about her remains unknown.
What we know for sure about Nefertiti, whose name translates to “The Beautiful Woman Has Come”, is that she was an innovator. Utilizing her beauty, Nefertiti seized public attention with skill. Her beauty helped propel her through history-making feats; both physically and socially she was formidable force that could navigate a complex world with ease and poise.
LaKela Brown’s 2018 work Composition of Doorknocker Earrings with Pharaoh Heads and Nefertiti Recesses brings Nefertiti into African American material culture by attaching her bust image with “doorknocker” earrings popular among black women; thus recasting Nefertiti’s iconic status into modern, globalist African-American culture while calling attention to her ongoing relevance and significance.
Nefertiti has been an inspiration for generations of artists, such as Jamaican-American Lorraine O’Grady who used her likeness as the basis for her 1980/94 Cibachrome photography collection Miscegenated Family Album. O’Grady placed Nefertiti and her daughters – also former queens – alongside herself and her own mother and sisters to represent matrilineal traditions across time and cultures; by placing Nefertiti in an up-to-date context O’Grady gave her symbolic black feminist significance that was absent before.
4. She Was a Mother
Queen Nefertiti’s life remains obscure. Unlike most ancient rulers, she did not leave written records that provide concrete historical facts.
Thought to have been born around 14th century BC in a palace court, she married Amenhotep IV (later Akhenaten) when she was only eleven. Historians believe she influenced his decision to abandon polytheism and adopt monotheism centered around Aten – monotheism which later spread throughout Egypt and later across its empire.
Many archaeological sites show her alongside her husband as an equal in stature and active in protecting Egypt from enemies. Unfortunately, after 12 years of her husband’s rule and monument defacement, no historical record remains to document what became of her fate.
Though historians lack concrete details about Meritaten, it is believed she had two daughters with her husband; Meritaten became female Pharaoh herself while Ankesenpaaten or Ankhesanamun became queen consort.
Ludwig Borchardt discovered a life-size bust of Queen Nefertiti in 1912, which now resides at Berlin’s Neues Museum (New Museum). This image has become one of the most iconic symbols of antiquity as an emblem representing femininity and beauty.
Egyptian artists are fighting back against Western claims about Queen Nefertiti, and reclaiming her as an icon of Egyptian identity. Hossam Dirar uses off-the-shoulder tops and sweetheart dresses adorned with ankh necklaces in his oil paintings to redefine Queen Nefertiti as a global figurehead of Egyptian identity. Detroit-born, New York-based artist LaKela Brown uses Queen Nefertiti’s image to elevate African-American material culture; her 2018 work Composition of Doorknocker Earrings with Pharaoh Heads and Nefertiti Recesses by Brown brings hallmarks from both modern and ancient Egyptian aesthetics together to reinforce her impactful presence within modern and ancient Egyptian material culture as part of African-American material culture and material culture overall.
5. She Was a Wife
Ludwig Borchardt must have been thrilled when he discovered Queen Nefertiti’s bust emerging from Egypt’s sandy terrain in 1912. The vibrant artwork was an instantaneous success and represented not only ancient Egyptian culture’s power and beauty, but also represented its hopes and aspirations for change in an impending nation.
Queen Nefertiti was known as “The Beautiful One Has Come.” She emerged into public awareness as the face of a new Egypt, quickly seizing power and influence with remarkable agility. Her beauty helped legitimize her husband’s religious reforms by legitimizing their belief in Aten as the sun god who brought life and fertility.
Though much remains unknown about her life, we do know that she was born into a royal family and eventually married Amenhotep IV/Akhenaten at an unknown age. When she mysteriously vanished from historical records around Year 12 of Akhenaten’s reign accompanied by defacement of her monuments scholars believe either that she died or was banished from the kingdom.
Still today, Nefertiti is revered as an icon of femininity and power – so much so that brands such as Chanel and Nike use her image in their advertisements and campaigns. She is an active symbol for African-American women today – provoking debate over how modern culture portrays black women and how our collective representations impact real women of color lives.
However, some artists have taken it upon themselves to counter Western claims of African belonging. Egyptian artist Hossam Dirar showcased Nefertiti in his 2018 solo exhibition at Zamalek Art Gallery in Cairo; his oil paintings captured her as both divine and familiar – juxtaposing off-the-shoulder tops, sweetheart dresses and ankh necklaces to present an reimagined contemporary Queen Nefertiti.
