Tag: Thutmose

Fantastic Images of the Nefertiti Bust at the Neues Museum Berlin

The Nefertiti’s Bust – attributed to the sculptor Thutmose from whom’s workshop it was recovered in 1912 – is world famous. Thutmose must have been one lucky sculptor, being asked to capture for eternity the ravishing face of the Queen who’s ancient name meant A Beautiful Woman Has Come. The Queen Nefertiti – wife of Akhenaten and known in Germany as Nofretete – Bust is an icon of the Amarna period art and one of the most valuable items in the collection of the gyptisches Museum Berlin (to much frustration of the Egypt, which demands its return). She first went on display in the Neues Museum in 1924, but was evacuated when World War II bomb damage ruined most of the building. Now the royal bust has finally returned to the Neues Museum. We’ve got some fantastic images of the carefully organized move of the Nefertiti bust and her prime position in Nefertiti Dome gallery (room 210):

This weekend the Ancient Beauty will be the major draw for Berliners who are expected to flock to the public opening. The Neues Museum will be free for visitors on Saturday and Sunday. Organizers are braced for a mass turnout, providing hot drinks for the thousands expected to stand in line, despite the forecast of rain. (We’re kinda happy Heritage Key already got the Grand Tour yesterday!)

The Bust of Nefertiti – A Century-Old Archaeological Detective Story Nearing an End?

In his August 7th, 2009, interview with Heritage Key, Zahi Hawass revealed that the Supreme Council of Antiquities was gathering evidence regarding the illegal appropriation of the bust of Nefertiti by the Altes Museum in Berlin. I will reveal [the evidence] in October when I write the letter to the Berlin Museum for the return of the piece, because it left Egypt illegally, Dr. Hawass stated.

In a new article published in Al-Ahram Weekly (Queen of Egypts heart), Dr. Hawass reveals that his wish is for the bust to be placed in the Museum of National Heritage at Giza in time for its official opening. He may be in for a fight, but thats nothing new for Dr. Hawass, who has returned more than 6,000 artifacts to Egypt in the last seven years.

Discovered, Dislocated, and Defamed

The bust was discovered in 1913 by a German team working under Ludwig Borchardt while excavating the studio of Thutmose, Akhenatens royal Master of Works. At the time Egypt was under French control, and excavation regulations stated only that unique discoveries would become part of the Egyptian national collection and that half of what remained was to go to the excavator. According to the regulations, Borchardt had to publish the results of his excavations within two years, which he didto the exclusion of the Bust of Nefertiti.

I will reveal [the evidence] in October when I write the letter to the Berlin Museum for the return of the piece, because it left Egypt illegally.

The rest of the world would have to wait a decade to view the elegant sculpture of the queen. In 1923 Nefertiti went on display in Germany, and she has been hounded by controversy ever since. The initial complaints were fairly obvious: the bust was clearly a unique artifact, and its conspicuous absence from Borchardts summary of discoveries smacked of subterfuge.

Then, beginning shortly after the 1952 Revolution and culminating with Swiss art historian Henri Stierlin in 2009, questions arose concerning the authenticity of the bust. In interviews following the release of his book, The Bust of Nefertitian Egyptology Fraud, Stierlin claimed It seems increasingly improbable that the bust is an original. However, the authenticity of the bust is perhaps the only thing upon which Dr. Hawass and the Altes Museum agree.

Questions of the queens honor aside, the primary controversy revolves around issues of acquisition and ownership. Germany continues to claim Borchardt brought the artifact to Berlin without deceit, and that the bust of Nefertiti has become a part of German cultural identity, even going so far as to refer to her as the Berlin Bust.

Defender of the Queen

For his part, Zahi Hawass remains unrelenting and continues to gather evidence. One hint of this evidence may have come in February, 2009, when the BBC News reported that Borchardt claimed in his own diary that the bust was indescribable, a word hardly appropriate for a non-unique artifact unworthy of mention in his final report (German guile won Queen Nefertiti). The BBC further revealed that Borchardt misrepresented the bust in such descriptions as he did provide, stating that it was made of gypsum rather than limestone, and produced a photograph that was unflattering by design.

Hopefully we will learn more when Dr. Hawass publicly discloses the content of his letter to the Berlin Museum in October. Dietrich Wildung, curator of the Altes Museum, seems to be preparing his own counter argument, claiming that the bust is now too fragile to move. We could never be certain that she would arrive in good health.

Herr Wildung! How ungallant!

Has Nefertiti Gone Bust?

Shes an enduring symbol of feminine beauty, and one of the most iconic and replicated images of ancient Egypt. But is Queen Nefertitis bust discovered in the ruins of Amarna by Ludwig Borchardt in 1912 actually a fake?

Apparently so, according to leading Swiss art historian Henri Stierlin. He claims that the painted limestone and plaster sculpture is not the original, carved in the workshop of the Egyptian artist Thutmose 3,400 years ago, but actually a copy, created a century back by an artist commissioned by Borchardt.

The historian alleges that when the copy went on display in December 1912, it was much admired as an original work by German prince Johann Georg. Borchardt, who couldnt sum up the courage to ridicule his guests, failed to correct them, and the lie has stood for a 100 years, during which time Nefertiti has been on display in Berlins Altes Museum.

By way of evidence, Stierlin highlights the fact that the bust has no left eye, an insult for an ancient Egyptian who believed the statue was the person, plus the fact that the shoulders are cut vertically while Egyptians usually cut shoulders horizontally. He also points out that Nefertitis facial features are accentuated in a manner resembling an Art Nouveau style.

Speaking to The Guardian newspaper, the director of Berlins Egyptian Museum Dietrich Wildung dismissed the allegations. A beautiful woman and a putative scandal, he commented. That always sells.

The claims are made in Stierlins new book Le Buste de Nefertiti une Imposture de l’Egyptologie? (The Bust of Nefertiti an Egyptology Fraud?). The bust, which attracts half a million visitors annually, will become a major showpiece at Berlins reborn Neues Museum when it opens in October 2009.

Image of bust of Nefertiti (top) by Carlo Struglia.