3.31.2009
Nefertiti: a Two-Faced Queen
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Nefertiti, royal wife of the heretical pharaoh Akhenaten, it was announced today, was completely two-faced. Inside, the famed bust was carved from a single piece of stone, and showed some wrinkle lines around the mouth and a slight bump on the nose.
Outside, the internal eccentricities were smoothed away by the application of layers of plaster 2mm thick, functioning almost like a mask of make-up. Was this an attempt to give the statue a makeover on the queen's death? Or rather, was there something ritualistic or symbolic about the changes that may have reflected the change from heliocentric sun-disk (aten) religion of Akhenaten based in middle Egypt back to the old standby, Amun, based in Thebes? Experts aren't sure.
However, the episode represents another use of detailed CT/MRI technologies to solve practical problems.
Labels: egypt, middle, minya, nefertiti
