The Mystery of Queen Nefertiti | Lost Treasures of Egypt

less than 1m read

·Nov 11, 2024

[music playing]

NARRATOR: Nestling on the east bank of the Nile, Nefertiti's capital city covered over 3,000 acres, and was home to up to 50,000 people. What is now barren landscape was once one of the greatest cities in the ancient world. And from these palaces and temples, the royal couple ruled over all of Egypt.

She doesn't appear to be buried here, but does this place hold clues to the fate of the missing queen? Nefertiti is famous today because of this iconic bust of her. She has one of the most well-known faces in all of ancient Egypt. This is about the spot that the bust was actually found.

We're in the house and the workshop of a sculptor who was probably called Thutmose. This is where the Nefertiti bust was originally created. It's one version of Nefertiti's official portrait. She may herself have signed off on this image. But really, we have no idea what she looked like in real life.

NARRATOR: Nefertiti's early life is also still a mystery. Her father was probably Ay, vizier to pharaoh Amenhotep III, so she would have been brought up in a royal palace. By the age of just 15, she married Amenhotep's second son, the new pharaoh Akhenaten, and bore him six daughters. As his queen, Nefertiti became the most powerful woman in all of Egypt.

Yet Nefertiti's ultimate fate remains a mystery that occupies archaeologists all over Egypt.

How Old Can We Get?

Trying to Forget | Badlands, Texas

View All

Ray Dalio & Bill Belichick on Going From Nothing to Something Big: Part 1

I think the interesting thing, one of the most interesting things of the book was when you talked about going from, what was it, a four-person company? Well, it started with me and another guy, and yeah, three people. Three, okay. And how many? 1500? 1500…

3-D Technology Offers Clues to How Egypt’s Pyramids Were Built | Nat Geo Live

My archaeological team actually is very unique because I’m the only ecologist, and the other members are computer scientists, software engineers, and applied mathematicians. We are like a crime scene investigation, patiently documenting with the latest te…

The History of the Bible, Animated | National Geographic

Along the shores of the Dead Sea, three Bedouin shepherds were tending their flocks when one of their goats strayed from the herd. Thinking it had wandered into a cave, one of them threw a stone to scare the animal out. The unexpected sound sparked their …

Exploring Buenos Aires | National Geographic

When I first visited Buenos Aires, I immediately fell in love. To me, there’s no city like this in the entire world. My name is Kristen Borg; I’m a travel enthusiast and a contributor for National Geographic. I first came through here on my way to Patagon…

Good Explanations Are Acts of Creativity

There’s a phrase that you’re going to hear both Brett and I use over and over again, and that phrase is good explanations. Good explanations is Deutsche’s improvement upon the scientific method. At the same time, it’s beyond science. It’s not just true in…

The Problem With the Trolley Problem

You’ve probably heard of the trolley problem, especially if you’re at all interested in philosophy or ethics. Lately, it’s been a subject of discussion when discussing autonomous cars and was referenced explicitly in the show The Good Place. Some people t…

The Mystery of Queen Nefertiti | Lost Treasures of Egypt

More Articles