Standing Figure of Nefertiti
The “Standing Figure of Nefertiti” is a limestone sculpture of Queen Nefertiti, who was the Great Royal Wife of the Egyptian Pharaoh Akhenaten and Egypt’s Queen during 1370 B.C.-1330 B.C.
The name Nefertiti means “the beautiful one has cometh forth.” As the Great Royal Wife, she was the chief consort of the Egyptian Pharaoh Akhenaten of the Eighteenth dynasty of Egypt.
Dating from the year 1350 BC, the 40 cm high limestone statue is one of the outstanding surviving representations of the Queen, who has a unique role in the history of Ancient Egypt.
The figure was found broken and in multiple pieces. The statue pieces were discovered in 1920 during an excavation by the German Oriental Society in the remains of the studio of Thutmose.
The right arm and parts of the upper left arm were damaged and missing, as are the toes and the nipples. Markings on the statue show that it had not been completed, further work was needed on the face to make it more realistic.
The Queen’s depiction is typical of the art of the Amarna period. She is wearing sandals and a transparent robe, which can only be recognized by the sleeves on the arms.
Her left leg is a step forward, and the back of the sculptured figure is connected to a back pillar.
The ancient Egyptian city of Tell el-Amarna was the short-lived capital of Egypt built by Pharaoh Akhenaten. It was abandoned shortly after his death in 1332 BCE.
Amarna is the largest easily accessible ancient archaeological site from ancient Egypt.
Tell el-Amarna (Amarna), Egypt – site of Pharaoh Akhenaten capital
A German archaeological expedition in 1912 digging in Akhenaten’s deserted city of Akhenaton, at Amarna, found a ruined house and studio complex of “The King’s Favourite and Master of Works, the Sculptor Thutmose.”
During the excavations in Amarna, between 7000 and 10,000 objects were discovered, 5000 of which are now in Berlin. Most of them have not yet been restored or studied.
Some of the Amarna masterpieces that can be seen at the Neues Museum include:
- Nefertiti Bust
- Standing Figure of Nefertiti
- A house altar showing Akhenaten and Nefertiti with their children
- Relief Portrait of Akhenaten
Other historical artifacts recovered from Thutmose’s abandoned studio can be viewed at:
Standing Figure of Nefertiti
- Title: Standing Figure of Nefertiti
- Date: 1345 BCE
- Culture: Ancient Egypt
- Material: Limestone
- Period: New Kingdom, Eighteenth Dynasty, early Amarna Period
- Dimensions: H: 40 cm
- Discovered: 1912: Amarna, Egypt
- Museums: Egyptian Museum of Berlin, Neues Museum, Berlin
Nefertiti – Egyptian Queen & Great Royal Wife of Pharoah Akhenaten
A Virtual Tour of the Neues Museum
- Nefertiti Bust
- Standing Figure of Nefertiti
- Akhenaten and Nefertiti with their Children
- Relief Portrait of Akhenaten
- Priam’s Treasure Necklace
- Treasure from Troy
- Masterpieces of the Neues Museum
A Virtual Tour of Egyptian Art and Artifacts
- Nefertiti Bust
- Tutankhamun’s Mask
- Narmer Palette
- Merneptah Stele
- Standing Figure of Nefertiti
- A house altar showing Akhenaten and Nefertiti with their children
- Relief Portrait of Akhenaten
- The Rosetta Stone
- The Battlefield Palette 3100 BC
- Quartzite Head of the Egyptian Pharaoh Amenhotep III
- Colossal Granite Statue of Amenhotep III
- Hunters Palette
- Tomb of Nebamun
- The Temple of Dendur
- The Sphinx of Hatshepsut
- William the Faience Hippopotamus
- Shawabti of King Senkamanisken
- Younger Memnon (Ramesses II)
- Pillar of Ramsesemperre, Royal Cupbearer and Fanbearer
- Relief of Hormin with a Weighing of the Heart
- Relief of Horemheb with Nubian Prisoners
- Akhenaten and Nefertiti
- Seated Scribe
- Sarcophagus Lid of Queen Sitdjehuti
- Stela of Akhenaten, Nefertiti, and Family
- Statue of Amenhotep III and Tiye
- Colossal Statues of Akhenaten
- Obelisk of Titus Sextius Africanus
- Book of the Dead – Papyrus of Ani and Hunefe
- Mummy of Katebet
Egyptian archeology in Neues Museum Berlin
Examining A Lost Queen Nefertiti
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“What you are doing does not matter so much as what you are learning from doing it.”
– Egyptian Proverb
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Photo Credit: 1) By Photo: Andreas Praefcke (Own work (own photograph)) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons 2) By Olaf Tausch (Own work) [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC BY 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons 3) By Photo: Andreas Praefcke (Own work (own photograph)) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons