Women from Ancient Egypt

This slab of sandstone carved and painted with a female figure and hieroglyphs is a fragment of a larger scene. A woman stands with her arms raised and receives life, represented by an ankh symbol, from the hand of the god Aten. The woman wears a wig with hints of blue pigment. The snake on her forehead, called a Ureaus, was most likely part of a crown that is no longer visible. Light orange pigment partially colors her face, neck, and arms. To her left is a vertical line of hieroglyphs. Parts of the stone are scratched, chipped, and worn away.

The woman is Queen Nefertiti. Her name means “the beautiful [or youthful] woman has come.” In ancient times, when the scene was complete, Nefertiti would have been seen with her husband, the pharaoh Akhenaten. Akhenaten and Nefertiti are best known for leading a religious transformation. They tried to change Egyptian religious practice from the worship of multiple gods to the worship of one deity only—Aten, the disc of the sun. They moved the capital of Egypt from Thebes to Amarna and dedicated the new city to Aten to show their devotion. At some time during her husband’s reign, Nefertiti was made coregent, the pharaoh’s equal. Proof of this is seen on other reliefs that show her the same size as the pharaoh.