Legends of the Ancient World: The Life and Legacy of Queen Nefertiti

Includes pictures of historic artwork depicting Nefertiti and important people, places, and events. 
Discusses the mysteries and controversies surrounding Nefertiti's life, death, and place of burial.
Includes a Bibliography for further reading.
Includes a Table of Contents. 



A lot of ink has been spilled covering the lives of history's most influential figures, but how much of the forest is lost for the trees? In Charles River Editors' Legends of the Ancient World series, readers can get caught up to speed on the lives of antiquity's most important men and women in the time it takes to finish a commute, while learning interesting facts long forgotten or never known. 


In the early 20th century, over 3,000 years after her death, Nefertiti became a household name across the world and one of the most famous women of the ancient world. Egyptologists were aware that she was a queen of the New Kingdom Egypt during the later portion of the 18th dynasty, but she was little known until the presentation of a reconstructed bust depicting her at the Berlin Museum in 1924. Nefertiti means "the beautiful one has come", and if the presented bust is anything to judge by she, was indeed a beautiful woman. 


The bust of Nefertiti caused an enormous sensation following the glamorous discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamen in 1922 by Howard Carter. The bust was the work of the ancient royal sculptor Thutmose and was first discovered by German archaeologists in a fragmented state in the remains of Thutmose's workshop at the ancient city of Akhetaten, known today as Tell el-Amarna. With the discovery and display of the bust, the once little known queen Nefertiti became eponymous with Ancient Egypt, alongside that of the Great Pyramids at Giza and the Golden Funerary Mask of the young Tutankhamen. And thanks to that bust, Nefertiti's image has become immortalized and may be found in replica busts, earrings, necklaces, paintings and seemingly every other artificat that can be found at an Egyptian vendors shop.


But what about the actual woman represented by that bust? As it turned out, far from being an inconsequential queen, Nefertiti may have been an important wife of Akhenaten, whose reign marked the first time Egyptians practiced monotheistic beliefs by worshipping one god, the sun-disc Aten. Ironically, Akhenaten's revolutionary and influential reign has long been obscured by one of his wives and one of his sons, Tutankhamen. 


Despite the artifacts found and the fascination with Nefertiti and Tutankhamen, there is still plenty of uncertainty and mystery surrounding the Egyptian queen. What life did such a hauntingly beautiful woman live? Where was she from? Did a queen sometimes labeled "Lordess of the Two Lands" in ancient artifacts rule Egypt, and if so, when and why? How did she die? Despite her recent fame she is still a relatively enigmatic historical figure, with fragments of her life still being pieced together by historians over the last century. 


Legends of the Ancient World: The Life and Legacy of Nefertiti looks at the known and unknown about the Ancient Egyptian queen and attempts to separate fact from fiction to analyze her life and reign. Along with pictures and a bibliography, you will learn about Nefertiti like you never have before, in no time at all.