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:

Other historical artifacts recovered from Thutmose’s abandoned studio can be viewed at:

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City

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

A Virtual Tour of Egyptian Art and Artifacts

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