Nefertiti Bust
Ancient Egyptian bust of Queen Nefertiti, discovered in 1912.
The painted limestone bust of Nefertiti, Great Royal Wife of Pharaoh Akhenaten, now resides in Berlin’s Neues Museum. Created around 1345 BC, it was discovered in the sculpture workshop of the artist Thutmose at Tell-el Amarna, Egypt. Among the most reproduced works from ancient Egypt, the bust has made Nefertiti a globally recognized figure and a symbol of feminine beauty.
Nefertiti, whose name means “the beautiful one has come forth,” lived in the 14th century BC as the chief consort of Akhenaten, a pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty who promoted the monotheistic worship of the sun disc Aten. Little is known about her origins—she may have been Egyptian royalty, a foreign princess, or the daughter of the official Ay, who later became pharaoh. She possibly served as co-regent with Akhenaten, who ruled from 1352 to 1336 BC. Nefertiti bore six daughters, one of whom, Ankhesenpaaten (later Ankhesenamun), married Tutankhamun, her stepson. Though once thought to have vanished in Akhenaten’s twelfth year, a limestone quarry inscription from Deir Abu Hinnis shows she was still alive in his sixteenth year. She may have briefly ruled as pharaoh after her husband’s death.
The bust, 48 centimeters tall and weighing about 20 kilograms, has a limestone core coated with painted stucco. Its face is symmetrical and nearly intact, but the left eye lacks the inlay present in the right; the right iris is quartz with black paint, fixed with beeswax, while the left eye socket is bare limestone. Nefertiti wears her characteristic blue crown with a golden diadem band and a broken uraeus (cobra) over her brow, plus a broad collar with a floral pattern. The ears show some damage. No inscriptions identify the bust, but it is securely linked to Nefertiti by the crown, also seen in labeled depictions like the “house altar.”
On December 6, 1912, a German Oriental Company team led by Ludwig Borchardt unearthed the bust in Thutmose’s workshop at Amarna, alongside other unfinished pieces. Borchardt’s diary records: “Suddenly we had in our hands the most alive Egyptian artwork. You cannot describe it with words. You must see it.” A 1924 document from the company’s archives describes a January 1913 meeting where Borchardt discussed dividing the finds with a senior Egyptian official. The document’s author, the company secretary, noted Borchardt “wanted to save the bust for us.” Borchardt sh
- Material
- Limestone core with painted stucco layers
- Height
- 48 centimeters (19 in)
- Weight
- About 20 kilograms (44 lb)
- Date of creation
- Believed to be 1345 BC
- Artist
- Thutmose (sculptor)
- Current location
- Neues Museum, Berlin
- Discovered
- 1912 by a German archaeological team led by Ludwig Borchardt
Lore & Background
Nefertiti (meaning 'the beautiful one has come forth') was the 14th-century BC Great Royal Wife of Pharaoh Akhenaten of the Eighteenth Dynasty. Akhenaten initiated a new monotheistic form of worship called Atenism dedicated to the Sun disc Aten. Little is known about Nefertiti; theories suggest she could have been an Egyptian royal by birth, a foreign princess or the daughter of a high official named Ay. She may have been co-regent with Akhenaten, who ruled from 1352 BC to 1336 BC. Nefertiti bore six daughters, one of whom married Tutankhamun, her stepson. She was still alive in the sixteenth year of her husband's reign according to a limestone quarry inscription, and may have become pharaoh briefly after his death.
The bust was found on 6 December 1912 at Amarna by a team funded by the German Oriental Company, led by Ludwig Borchardt. It was discovered in the workshop of the sculptor Thutmose, along with other unfinished busts. Borchardt's diary records, 'Suddenly we had in our hands the most alive Egyptian artwork. You cannot describe it with words. You must see it.' A 1924 document recalls a 1913 meeting where Borchardt 'wanted to save the bust for us.' Borchardt showed Egypt's French chief inspector a photograph that 'didn't show Nefertiti in her best light,' and the bust was already wrapped in a box. Borchardt wrongly claimed it was made of gypsum instead of limestone. The German Oriental Society maintains the finds were divided fairly.
Reader's Guide
The Nefertiti Bust is one of the most-copied works of ancient Egypt and has made Nefertiti an icon of feminine beauty. It has been kept at various locations in Germany since its discovery, including a bank cellar, a salt-mine, the Dahlem museum, the Egyptian Museum of Berlin, and the Altes Museum, before returning to the Neues Museum where it was originally displayed before World War II. Egypt has called for its return, citing provisions that prohibited items of great archaeological value from leaving Egypt, and accuses Borchardt of wrapping the bust to conceal its value and smuggling it out. The dispute began in 1924 when the bust was first publicly displayed, and it has fueled discussions about the role of museums in undoing colonialism. Egypt continues to demand repatriation, while German officials and the Berlin Museum assert ownership by citing an official protocol signed by German excavators and the French-led Egyptian Antiquities Service at the time of excavation. The bust's missing left eye has prompted various theories, including that it was a sculptor's model deliberately left unfinished. CT scans in 2006 revealed a wrinkled face carved in the inner core, suggesting Thutmose added gypsum under the cheeks and eyes to perfect the sculpture.
Did You Know?
- The bust is made of a limestone core covered with painted stucco layers.
- The left eye lacks the quartz inlay present in the right eye; no iris was found despite an intensive search.
- A CT scan in 2006 revealed a wrinkled face carved in the inner core of the bust.
- The bust was discovered in the workshop of the sculptor Thutmose in Tell-el Amarna, Egypt.
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