Quick answer
Nefertiti was the Great Royal Wife of the pharaoh Akhenaten, around 1353–1336 BC, the mother of six daughters and one of the most powerful queens Egypt produced. She is famous worldwide for her painted limestone bust in Berlin, but her origins, her later years and her burial place are still unknown, and some scholars believe she ruled as pharaoh after her husband.
What do we actually know about Nefertiti?
Far less than her fame suggests: we know her titles, her children and how she was portrayed, but not where she came from, how she died or where she lies. This table separates the evidence from the guesswork.
| Question | What the evidence says | How sure |
|---|---|---|
| Who were her parents? | Never named. Ay’s wife Tey was her “nurse”, so some suggest Ay was her father | Unknown |
| Did she have siblings? | A sister, Mutnodjmet (or Mutbenret), appears in Amarna tombs | Fairly sure |
| Children? | Six daughters with Akhenaten | Certain |
| Was she alive in his year 16? | Yes: an inscription found in 2012 names her as Great Royal Wife that year | Fairly sure |
| Did she rule as king? | Possibly, as Neferneferuaten | Debated |
| Where is she buried? | No tomb or mummy has been securely identified | Unknown |
Older books say she was a foreign princess from Mitanni. That idea is now out of favour, and most scholars think she was Egyptian, probably from a family of courtiers close to the throne.
What was Nefertiti’s role beside Akhenaten?
She was far more than a consort: Nefertiti appears in more scenes than any queen before her, worshipping the Aten, riding in chariots and even striking down enemies, poses normally reserved for kings. Around the fifth year of the reign she took the extra name Neferneferuaten, “beautiful are the beauties of the Aten”, linking her directly to the god of Akhenaten’s new religion.
At Karnak, before the move to Amarna, a temple building known as the Mansion of the Benben showed her making offerings alone, accompanied only by her eldest daughter, without the king. Talatat blocks from Karnak show her smiting captives on the prow of the royal barge. At Amarna she appears beside the king in almost every royal scene, sharing the Aten’s life-giving rays.
The intimate family scenes of Amarna art often feature her: the couple kissing, or holding their small daughters on their laps. Whether these images reflect a real partnership or simply the theology of a divine royal family, they gave her a public presence unmatched until Cleopatra.
Who were Nefertiti’s daughters?
Nefertiti and Akhenaten had six daughters, and two of them became queens.
- Meritaten, the eldest, later Great Royal Wife of Smenkhkare and possibly a ruler in her own right.
- Meketaten, who died young, around year 13 or 14; a scene in the royal tomb at Amarna shows her parents mourning over her body.
- Ankhesenpaaten, later Ankhesenamun, wife of Tutankhamun.
- Neferneferuaten Tasherit (“the younger”).
- Neferneferure.
- Setepenre.
There is no record of a son. Tutankhamun is generally thought to have been Akhenaten’s son by another woman, probably one of the king’s sisters, so Nefertiti was most likely his stepmother as well as his mother-in-law. Another wife, Kiya, was prominent at Amarna for a time before her name was erased and some of her monuments were reassigned to Nefertiti’s daughters.
What is the story of the Nefertiti bust?
The bust was found on 6 December 1912 by a German expedition under Ludwig Borchardt, in the workshop of the sculptor Thutmose at Amarna, and it has been in Berlin ever since. It is limestone covered in painted plaster, about 48 cm high, and the left eye was never inlaid, which suggests it was a workshop model for other portraits rather than a finished piece.
Under the rules of the time, finds were divided between Egypt and the excavators. In January 1913 the bust went to the German side; whether Egyptian officials were shown its true quality has been argued about ever since. It went on public display in Berlin in 1924 and is now the star of the Neues Museum. Egypt has asked for its return many times, and the Berlin museums have declined. Other portraits of her from the same workshop, including an unfinished quartzite head, stayed in Egypt.
What happened to Nefertiti?
Nobody knows, and there are three main theories. For decades scholars thought she died or fell from favour around year 12 to 14, when her name becomes rarer. Then in 2012 a Belgian team found a quarry inscription at Deir Abu Hinnis, south of Amarna, naming her as Great Royal Wife in year 16 of Akhenaten’s reign, so she was alive and still queen near the end.
- She ruled as king: a female pharaoh called Ankhkheperure Neferneferuaten reigned briefly after Akhenaten, using epithets such as “effective for her husband”. Many think this was Nefertiti; others favour her daughter Meritaten.
- She died late in Akhenaten’s reign or soon after and was buried at Amarna, then moved to Thebes like the rest of the family.
- A hidden tomb: in 2015 the British Egyptologist Nicholas Reeves proposed that she lies in sealed rooms behind the painted walls of Tutankhamun’s tomb. Radar surveys produced conflicting results, and most specialists remain sceptical.
A mummy from tomb KV35, the “Younger Lady”, was once proposed as Nefertiti, but DNA work in 2010 suggested she was a daughter of Amenhotep III, so most scholars now reject the idea.
Where to see Nefertiti in Egypt today
The bust is in Berlin, but in Egypt you can stand in her city and see portraits carved in her lifetime.
- Tell el-Amarna: the tombs of officials such as Meryra and Ay show her with Akhenaten and their daughters beneath the Aten, and the royal tomb holds the mourning scene for Meketaten. Some tombs may be closed at any given time.
- Egyptian Museum, Tahrir, and the Grand Egyptian Museum: the unfinished quartzite head from the sculptor’s workshop, family stelae and Amarna reliefs; check which museum displays which pieces when you visit.
- Luxor Museum: the painted talatat wall from Akhenaten’s Karnak temples, the world in which she first rose to prominence.
Our Nefertiti program combines Cairo’s museums with a Nile cruise, and Amarna can be arranged as a private extension for keen travellers.
Frequently asked questions
Is the Nefertiti bust real?
Yes. Claims that it is a modern forgery have been rejected by specialists; scientific examinations, including CT scans in 2006, are consistent with an ancient workshop piece of limestone and plaster.
Why is the Nefertiti bust in Berlin?
It was allotted to the German excavators in the 1913 division of finds from Amarna. Egypt has repeatedly requested its return, arguing the division was unfair; Berlin has so far kept it.
Was Nefertiti Tutankhamun’s mother?
Probably not. Most Egyptologists think his mother was a sister of Akhenaten. Nefertiti was his stepmother and, through her daughter Ankhesenamun, his mother-in-law.
Has Nefertiti’s tomb been found?
No. The theory that she lies behind Tutankhamun’s burial chamber has not been confirmed by radar surveys, and no mummy has been securely identified as hers.
Did Nefertiti rule Egypt?
Possibly. A female king named Neferneferuaten ruled briefly after Akhenaten, and many scholars think she was Nefertiti, but others argue for her daughter Meritaten.
