Nefertiti - The beautiful queen of Egypt

Although Nefertiti was the great wife of Akhenaton her origin has been the subject of much speculation and some historians claim that she was married or intended for Amenhotep III.Most historians today believe Nefertiti was the daughter of Aye the trusted adviser of Akhenaton.Some historians believe that Nefertiti changed her name to Smenkhkare, adopted the guise of a man and ruled as co-regent with her husband.Aye was the brother of queen Tye the great wife of Amenhotep III.

Akhenaton decided to go against tradition and convert Egypt to monotheism to worship the one God Aton (or Aten) the Sun Disc .The name Nefertiti means "The beautiful one has come" in the Egyptian language reveals the extraordinary beauty of an Egyptian queen whose bust was discovered in Amarna in Upper Egypt.Smenkhkare appears to have been co-regent for three years and to have died either just before or just after Akhenaton.They had closed the other Gods' temples and moved the capital city to a remote part of the land Amarna.Workers were sent to erase the name of Amun wherever it appeared.Nefertiti was a great supporter of Akhenaten to spread the new religion.

Each city had its own deity and an individual might feel attached to a certain God but no one questioned the existence of other Gods.Nefertiti played an important role in assisting her husband in his efforts to convert Egypt to monotheism which was a religious revolution at the time.Nefertiti and Akhenaton had six daughters.

Akhenaton died after 17 years of his reign in mysterious circumstances and his mummy has not been found.Akhenaten appeared to lose interest and authority in the country at large.There is no record of her nor her mummy has been found.By the 14th year of Akhenaton's reign Nefertiti had disappeared from view.There were multiple Egyptian Gods and Goddesses worshiped by common people.The majority view is that Nefertiti died of natural causes (possibly the plague).Tutankhamun inherited the throne next and in his reign Egypt began the process of restoring the old religion.Atenism was largely irrelevant to the common people and the temples to other gods were closed.Their family affection was clear enough from the family portraits.