Nefertiti

Attribution: MHarrsch

1390 BC -

Queen, wife of Akhenaten

Key Dates

Disappeared from record around 1360 BC

Relationship	People
Children	Ankhesenamen
Partners	Akhenaten

Born c 1390 BC, Nefertiti was the Great Royal Wife of the king Akhenaten, who ruled during the 18th Dynasty of ancient Egypt. It is thought she was of Egyptian blood but she was also rumoured to have been a foreign princess. The name 'Nefertiti', which means "the beautiful one is come," is of Egyptian origin, and points to the likelihood that she was born within the circle of the Egyptian royal court. She may have been a niece or daughter of Ay, who was keeper of records under King Amenhotep III.

At the age of 15, Nefertiti married Amenhotep IV, who was 16 at the time and later became king upon his father's death. They had six daughters and one son. Nefertiti enjoyed a high profile during the first five years of her husband's reign, but a sea change in Amenhotep's religious beliefs, which saw him abandon polytheism in favour of one supreme god: the sun god Aten, gave rise to much dissent within the kingdom. Nefertiti shared her husband's beliefs and is in fact rumoured to have been the driving influence behind his conversion, and his name change to Akhenaten.

After the fourteenth year of Akhenaten's rule, Nefertiti was no longer painted or depicted in sculpture. She seems to have disappeared from view, possibly after being dismissed from her position and banished to the North Palace at Amarna. However, it could be that her disappearance from record around 1360 BC was simply due to the fact that she died. Either way, her fate remains inconclusive.