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Agyptiches Museum, Berlin. Dynasty XVIII 1350 B.C.
This relief shows Queen Nefertiti and her husband, King Akhenaton, playing with two of her daughters while being rejuvenated by the rays of the Aten disc shining upon them. Nefertiti means “The Beautiful one is come”. She was the daughter of a high dignitary of the Pharaoh’s court. She was the wife of King Akhenaten, who ruled from 1379 to 1362 B.C. She was an influential Queen but she is principally remembered for her personal beauty. Details of the life of the beauteous Queen are veiled by the mist of time. One of her six daughters was Ankhesenamun, Tutankhamun’s wife. Her tomb has never been discovered. This relief is a typical example of the Amarna style, brought about by King Akhenaton, who ordered the palace sculptors to abandon Egypt’s long tradition of idealizing portraiture and insisted that he and his family be shown in candid domestic scenes such as this one.
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