Random Facts You May Not Have Known About Queen Nefertiti (22 items)

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  (#17) Nefertiti’s Mummy May Have Been Discovered

  During an excavation of the tomb of King Amenhotep II in 1898, three mummies were discovered behind a hidden wall. The tomb, located in the Valley of the Kings, held the king’s mummy as well as others. One of those mummies, The Younger Lady, might be Nefertiti.   

  In 2010, Zahi Hawass, who was Egypt’s Minister of State for Antiquities Affairs, wrote in a National Geographic piece that the results of DNA from the three mummies prove The Younger Lady was the sister of Akhenaten, as well as King Tut’s mother.  

  In 2013, French Egyptologist Marc Gabolde’s DNA analysis disputed Hawass’s claim and revealed that Nefertiti was The Young Lady and not Akhenaten’s sister. Dr. Gabolde also maintained the mummy was Tut’s real mother.
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  (#6) Her Husband Inherited A Wealthy And Open Egypt - Then Nearly Drove It To Ruin

  Amenhotep IV inherited a very wealthy Egypt from his father, the previous ruler. But the installation of the sun as the center of government and politics ruffled a lot of feathers. Once he became Akhenaten and established the new sun god, things slowly changed in Egypt.

  Eventually, the ruler lost all tolerance for other beliefs and began a campaign to destroy other religions. As a result, turmoil and debt began to plague the empire. Akhenaten retreated from his subjects and public life, but passed before things could truly spin out of control for the kingdom.
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  (#19) Nefertiti Vanished After 14 Years, But May Have Become A Pharaoh

  After 14 years of rule alongside Akhenaten, Nefertiti disappeared from historical records. Some historians say she simply died. Others believe she became a co-regent and ruled as the mysterious Smenkhare. Those historians, chief among them Dr. Nicholas Reeves, believe Nefertiti became a pharaoh during Akhenaten's later years, before ruling on her own after her husband's death and until Tutankhamun was old enough to be king.

  After Nefertiti and Akhenaten’s rule, many artifacts and records were destroyed by the couple's successors. The idea was to wipe out the memory of the pharaoh and his queen, who caused much turmoil during their reign.
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  (#12) Despite Her Husband’s Philandering, Nefertiti Was Thought To Be Faithful

  Akhenaten was known to sire children with other women, one of whom might have been his sister - with the resulting birth being future king Tutankhamun. Some even suggest the king bedded his own daughters. Regardless, Nefertiti is believed to have been faithful to her husband, and some theories even suggest she may have been Tutankhamun's true mother. 
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  (#15) Nefertiti Might Have Died Of The Plague

  Historians have differing opinions on what caused the death of Nefertiti and when it occurred. One theory is that Nefertiti passed six years after her husband and ruled Egypt while King Tut was being prepared to rule. Her plans to remain with the boy king until he was strong enough to rule on his own may have been cut short when she died of the plague.
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  (#21) Nefertiti May Have Been Her Husband’s Cousin

  It was quite common for the ruling class of Egypt - and most of history's monarchs - to have children with their siblings and other family members. Nefertiti and Akhenaten might have continued this tradition, as one theory suggests they were cousins.

  Furthermore, the theory that King Tutankhamun was their child may explain some of the purported physical defects of the ruler.

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