New find: Age of Nefertiti

The new findings destroy the myth of Nefertiti as the icon of youthful beauty

Her 3,300 year-old bust has firmly established ancient Egyptian queen Nefertiti as one of the most beautiful women who ever existed, but it seems that like every other woman on the planet, even she had to deal with the problem of wrinkles and bags under her eyes, reveals a new investigation on the bust.

Discovered in 1912 at Tel-El-Amarna in what used to be the workshop of the sculptor Thutmose, the bust-depicting a woman with a long neck, elegantly arched brows, high cheekbones, a slender nose and an enigmatic smile played about red lips, has become the international symbol of beauty.

However, a new examination of the famous bust has revealed visible wrinkles running down her slender neck, and puffy bags circling, leading experts to now believe that Nefertiti was an aging beauty.

Dietrich Wildung, director of Berlin’s Egyptian museum, who is part of the investigation, revealed that signs of aging had been discovered when he considered using a different kind of lighting to display the bust at Berlin’s Altes Museum.

"We discovered that Nefertiti shows some signs of her age. Now she is even more fascinating," Discovery News quoted him, as saying.

The findings of wrinkles and bags under the eyes were supported by a CT scan carried out in July. Wildung says the bust was most likely meant to serve as a model for the official portrait of the "Great Royal Wife" of the renegade pharaoh Akhenaton IV, who ruled from 1353-1336 B.C. in the Amarna period.

"Most likely, the bust was meant to serve as a model for the official portrait. This explains why the eye on the left side is missing. The artist simply wanted to show his pupils how to make the internal part of the eye," Wildung said.

Egyptologist Francesco Tiradritti said that the finding held great importance as it destroyed the myth that Nefertiti was an icon of youth and beauty.

"This is a very important finding. It destroys the myth of Nefertiti as the icon of youthful beauty and reveals a new, fascinating woman in her mature beauty," he said.

He added that it also showed that Egyptian art should not be portrayed in museums as something mysterious, but that the lighting should be such that it displayed "even the smallest detail".

"Egyptian art should not be displayed as something mysterious, under heavy light and dark arrangements. On the contrary, full lighting should be adopted to show even the smallest detail. This is what the Egyptians wanted for their artworks," Tiradritti added. — ANI