Changes

[[Image:Nefertiti bust.jpg|right|thumb|250px|A bust of Nefertiti]]

[[Image:Nefertiti bust.jpg|right|thumb|A bust of Nefertiti]]

'''Nefertiti''' (rough translation:  "The beauty that has come") was the wife of the [[Egypt]]ian [[Pharaoh]] [[Amenhotep IV]], later [[Akhenaten]]. On the basis of her having worn [[crowns]] normally reserved for the Pharaoh himself, it is believed she was the most powerful consort of any Pharaoh, while perhaps less powerful than [[Hatshepsut]] or [[Sobekneferu]], who ruled in their own right. This would also have made her the most powerful woman on Earth during the 14th century B. C. Her cap crown was composed of four main colors: red, which shows power; green, which shows fertility and strength; gold, which shows superiority, preciousness and wealth; and blue, which was the main color used by Egyptians to show virtue, faith and truth.

'''Nefertiti''' (rough translation:  "The beauty that has come") was the wife of the [[Akhenaten]], the "heretic pharaoh" who replaced Egypt's traditional gods with a cult of Sun-worship. On the basis of her having worn [[crowns]] normally reserved for the pharaoh himself, it is believed she was the most powerful consort of any pharaoh. This would also have made her the most powerful woman on Earth during the 14th century B.C. Her cap crown was composed of four main colors: red, which shows power; green, which shows fertility and strength; gold, which shows superiority, preciousness and wealth; and blue, which was the main color used by Egyptians to show virtue, faith and truth.

She had six daughters and apparently died after 14 years of Amenhotep IV's reign. Theories of her death said that she was murdered; that she changed her name to Smenkhare, after the husband of her daughter; that her daughter permitted her to pose as her husband Smenkhare; or that she simply died. There was even a theory to the effect that Nefertiti was a man all along, in which case the fake marriage would have been the one to Amenhotep IV and Nefertiti's children were not hers. This would make her posthumous evolution into an [[archetype]] of the [[Great Mother]] particularly ironic.

She had six daughters and disappears from the historical record in the fourteenth year of Akhenaten's reign. In later years of Akhenaten's reign, a regent who used the reign name "Nerferneferuatan" ruled. This regent is usually identified as Nefertiti. The fourth daughter of Nefertiti and Akhenaten was also named Neferneferuaten, so it is possible that this daughter was the regent. After Akhenaten died, Neferneferuaten briefly ruled as pharaoh. She was succeeded by Smenkhkare, a brother of Akhenaten and the father of [[Tutankhamun]]. Burial goods prepared for Neferneferuaten's funeral were found in Tut's tomb. This implies that a pharaonic burial was prepared, but then denied. The goods prepared for her tomb were then repurposed for Tut's tomb. Perhaps unable to accept a female pharaoh, Smenkhkare may have demoted Nefertiti to queen.

 

Nefertiti was traditionally associated with the [[sun]].

The bust of Nefertiti, on display at the Egyptian Museum in [[Berlin]], [[Germany]], is one of the masterpieces of ancient Egyptian art.

The bust of Nefertiti, on display at the Egyptian Museum in [[Berlin]], [[Germany]], is one of the masterpieces of ancient Egyptian art.