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Akhenaten and Nefertiti

When I went to the Louvre in 2015, this was one of my must-see pieces! The love story of Akhenaten ๐“‡‹๐“๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ๐“…œ๐“๐“ˆ– and Nefertiti ๐“„ค๐“๐“‡๐“˜๐“— has always fascinated me . This painted limestone ๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“ˆ™๐“Œ‰ statue ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“๐“€พ reminds me of the popular โ€œcouples statues,โ€ which depict a husband and wife sitting together, that were prominent in burials during the Old Kingdom!

Akhenaten and Nefertiti

Nefertiti ๐“„ค๐“๐“‡๐“˜๐“— was the โ€œGreat Royal Wife ๐“‡“๐“๐“ˆž๐“๐“…จโ€ of Akhenaten ๐“‡‹๐“๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ๐“…œ๐“๐“ˆ–. This statue depicts Nefertiti ๐“„ค๐“๐“‡๐“˜๐“— (left) and Akhenaten ๐“‡‹๐“๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ๐“…œ๐“๐“ˆ– (right) holding hands and walking forward. We know they are walking forward because one foot is placed in front of the other.ย 

Letโ€™s talk about their clothing! They both have sandals ๐“ฟ๐“ƒ€๐“๐“‹ธ๐“ช on their feet and wearing broad collars ๐“…ฑ๐“‹ด๐“๐“Žบ๐“‹๐“ฆ, the necklace ๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“‡‹๐“๐“‹ง of choice for royals and the gods ๐“Šน๐“Šน๐“Šน. Akhenaten ๐“‡‹๐“๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ๐“…œ๐“๐“ˆ– is also wearing the blue Khepresh crown ๐“†ฃ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ™๐“‹™ on his head, while Nefertiti appears to be wearing what looks like the red crown ๐“‚ง๐“ˆ™๐“‚‹๐“๐“‹”, but there is blue ๐“‡‹๐“น๐“๐“„ฟ๐“ธ๐“ฅ paint ๐“‡จ๐“‚‹๐“…ฑ๐“ญ๐“ธ๐“ฆ on it! . The Uraeus ๐“‡‹๐“‚๐“‚‹๐“๐“†— is still present on the front of both crowns!ย 

What was the purpose of this statue ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“๐“€พ? This most likely came from a private home, where it was used in a shrine ๐“๐“Šƒ๐“…“๐“‚œ๐“‰ to worship ๐“‡ผ๐“„ฟ๐“€ข Akhenaten ๐“‡‹๐“๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ๐“…œ๐“๐“ˆ– and Nefertiti ๐“„ค๐“๐“‡๐“˜๐“—. The common people would worship Akhenaten ๐“‡‹๐“๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ๐“…œ๐“๐“ˆ– and Nefertiti ๐“„ค๐“๐“‡๐“˜๐“— because they were thought to be manifestations ๐“†ฃ๐“†ฃ๐“†ฃ of the Aten ๐“‡‹๐“๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ here on Earth.ย 

The typical Amarna-style (elongated faces and limbs, more body fat in the stomach and thighs) is present here, which makes it very easy to identify these figures as Nefertiti ๐“„ค๐“๐“‡๐“˜๐“— and Akhenaten ๐“‡‹๐“๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ๐“…œ๐“๐“ˆ–. The Amarna art revolution is so interesting because Egyptian art didnโ€™t change much until Akhenatenโ€™s ๐“‡‹๐“๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ๐“…œ๐“๐“ˆ– rule, then there was this drastic change, and then once Akhenaten ๐“‡‹๐“๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ๐“…œ๐“๐“ˆ– died, the ancient Egyptians ๐“†Ž๐“๐“€€๐“๐“ช reverted back to the traditional art style and it stated that way for the rest of the civilization.ย 

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