June 11, 2003

Nefer say Titi Again

While most Egyptologists are skeptical, British archaeologist Joann Fletcher claims that a mummy in her possession may be none other than that of Nefertiti. (When archaeologists unearthed the bust of her at left in 1912, her beauty was so great that they literally gasped.)

While the sceptics are probably right, I hope they're not. I LOVE this period of Egyptian history and it would answer some 3,500 year old mysteries.

1- What happened to her? (She was co-regnant with her husband and included along with their daughters in all of his pictures, then suddenly vanished from the record.)
2- Why did the later statues of AkhenAten depict him as a transexxual? Was it because of a "merger" of him and his queen?
3- Was she a blood relative of Tut? (One theory of Tut's parentage is that he was the offspring of Akhenaten by one of his and Nef's daughters, and that his wife was another of Akh and Nef's daughters, which would make the stillborn daughters of Tut found in his tomb simultaneously his children, nieces, grandnieces, cousins, and CPA, thus accounting for their deformity)

I'm surprised that the ultimate historical novel of this period hasn't been written since it's a historical fiction writer's dream: enough is known to give it a solid context but enough is forgotten to allow considerable lee-way in reconstruction. In addition, it can hardly be coincidence that the first world leader to embrace monotheism was followed so soon by the Hebrew monotheistic movement, (personally I follow Freud's take on this) which could add a great character to the novel.

For those who'd like to judge for themselves the merits of the mummy, there is a photograph of it here still wearing some of its funerary jewelry. I'll admit it's gory, but then it has been in the ground for more than 30 centuries.