Nefertity—“Exquisite Beauty of the Sun-Disc”

One of the most surprising facts to emerge from the “reconstruction” of the walls of Akhenaten’s buildings at Thebes is the unexpectedly prominent role played by Akhenaten’s wife Nefertity during the Theban period of his reign. In one temple complex she alone is portrayed as the celebrant of the cult, raising offerings to the Sun-Disc both in the temple itself and in the colonnade leading to it. Not only is she alone portrayed in this temple, but when the sum total of attested scenes from the talatat are tallied, we find that Nefertity appears nearly twice as often as her husband the king! Art motifs devised originally for and inspired by the Pharach are carefully translated into a female idiom: Nefertity wields the club or sword in the head-smiting scene, and captive females (alternating blonds and blacks to represent the two ends of the empire) kneel around her throne dais. A surprisingly large number of the ceremonial acts Akhenaten performs are shared by the queen. Very often, she accompanies her husband and is depicted, slightly smaller in stature, standing behind him.

Sometime during the Theban years, Akhenaten conferred on his wife a new title, which henceforth appears with her name, nfr-nfrw-itn, “exquisite beauty of the Sun-Disc.”