Z


Nefertiti
The name Nefertiti means "The beautiful one has come" in the Egyptian
language reveals the extraordinary beauty of an Egyptian queen whose bust
was discovered in Amarna in Upper Egypt.
Although Nefertiti was the great wife of Akhnaton her origin has been the
subject of much speculation and some historians claim that she was married
or intended for Amenhotep III. Most historians today believe Nefertiti was
the daughter of Aye the trusted adviser of Akhenaton. Aye was the brother of
queen Tye the great wife of Amenhotep III.Nefertiti and Akhenaton had six
daughters. Their family affection was clear enough from the family
portraits.Nefertiti played an important role in assisting her husband in his
efforts to convert Egypt to monotheism which was a religious revolution at
the time.There were multiple Egyptian Gods and Goddesses worshiped by common
people. Each city had its own deity and an individual might feel attached to
a certain God but no one questioned the existence of other Gods.Akhenaton
decided to go against tradition and convert Egypt to monotheism to worship
the one God Aton (or Aten) the Sun Disc . Nefertiti was a great supporter of
Akhenaten to spread the new religion. They had closed the other Gods'
temples and moved the capital city to a remote part of the land Amarna.
Atenism was largely irrelevant to the common people and the temples to other
gods were closed. Workers were sent to erase the name of Amun wherever it
appeared. Akhenaten appeared to lose interest and authority in the country
at large.By the 14th year of Akhenaton's reign Nefertiti had disappeared
from view. There is no record of her death nor her mummy has been found.
Some historians believe that Nefertiti changed her name to Smenkhkare,
adopted the guise of a man and ruled as co-regent with her husband. The
majority view is that Nefertiti died of natural causes (possibly the
plague).







Copy Right For Ani Papyrus
© Luxor
2006