Unveiling the Secrets of Queen Nefertiti’s Head

Archaeologist Dr. Zahi Hawass, former Minister of Antiquities, has released documents to return Queen Nefertiti’s head to her native Egypt during a symposium titled “The Search for Queen Nefertiti” held at the Nefertiti Cultural Salon.

During the meeting, Hawass revealed the secrets of finding the beautiful queen’s mummy and her tomb through a frank conversation with the audience.

The History of Queen Nefertiti’s Head

Queen Nefertiti’s head was found in 1912 by a German archaeological mission. The Head of Nefertiti is the famous limestone bust of Nefertiti at Tell el-Amarna in Minya Governorate, and was sent to Berlin the following year.

The statue was sculpted by the Egyptian sculptor Thutmose in approximately 1345 BC for Queen Nefertiti, wife of the more than 3,300-year-old Egyptian pharaoh Akhenaten.

Key Facts About the Statue

• The statue of Nefertiti is 47 cm tall, weighs about 20 kg, and is made of limestone with a layer of plaster.
• The two sides of the face are perfectly symmetrical, and it is almost intact, but the left eye lacks the lining found on the right.
• The pupil of the right eye is of quartz set black coated with wax, the back of the eye is of limestone.
• Nefertiti wears a distinctive blue crown with a gold wreath, and a cobra on her forehead (which is now broken), in addition to a broad necklace carved with flowers.

The Significance of Queen Nefertiti’s Head

This statue made Nefertiti one of the most famous women of the ancient world and a symbol of female beauty.

Since 2009, the statue has been in the New Berlin Museum until now.

Queen Nefertiti’s Life and Legacy

Nefertiti, wife of the Egyptian pharaoh Akhenaten, one of the kings of the eighteenth dynasty of ancient Egypt, lived in the fourteenth century BC.

Akhenaten called for a new religion called the Atenite religion, calling for the unification of the worship of the sun disk Aten.

The Controversy Surrounding the Statue’s Discovery

A document in the archives of the German Oriental Company (which carried out the excavations) revealed a meeting on January 20, 1913 between Ludwig Borchardt and a high-ranking Egyptian official to discuss the division of archaeological finds.

Borchardt, the statue’s discoverer, showed the Egyptian official a poorly lit photo of the statue when the Egyptian inspector general of antiquities, Gustave Lefebvre, went to inspect it, hiding the statue in a box.

Support the Return of Queen Nefertiti’s Head to Egypt

Sign the petition to return Nefertiti’s head to its original homeland here