Illustrative model — an approximation, not a scan of the original object.
c. 1351 – 1334 BCE
Bust of Nefertiti
Amarna period, reign of Akhenaten.
- Material
- Limestone with painted plaster
- Findspot
- Workshop of the sculptor Thutmose, Amarna
- Discovery
- Found on 6 December 1912 during the German Oriental Society’s excavations led by Ludwig Borchardt, and taken to Germany.
- Held by
- Ägyptisches Museum und Papyrussammlung, Neues Museum, Berlin
- Inventory number
- ÄM 21300
A bust of the queen in her distinctive flat-topped blue crown, its colours remarkably well preserved. One eye is inlaid; the other never was.
It was found in a sculptor’s workshop, so many think it was a model to be copied rather than a statue for display.
Certainty: Established
The bust was found on 6 December 1912 in the workshop of the sculptor Thutmose at Amarna; its Berlin inventory number is ÄM 21300.
- Ägyptisches Museum und Papyrussammlung, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin “Bust of Nefertiti, ÄM 21300 — “In the Light of Amarna”” smb.museum
- Wikipedia “Nefertiti Bust — Wikipedia” en.wikipedia.org
Certainty: Established
Egypt seeks the bust’s return and disputes the circumstances in which it left the country after its discovery.
Scholarly note: Its ownership remains disputed between Egypt and Germany.
- Wikipedia “Nefertiti Bust — Wikipedia” en.wikipedia.org