Egyptian Queen Nefertiti

The wife of Pharaoh Akhenaten and perhaps a ruler in her own right after his death, Nefertiti was little more than a historical whisper when, in 1912, an exquisite limestone sculpture of her now-famous face was unearthed at the royal retreat of Amarna. It was more than 3,200 years old, dating from 1345 B.C.

But from the moment it went on display at the Egyptian Museum in Berlin in 1924, the enigmatic bust with the swanlike neck assumed a place as one of the world's most famous icons.

Little was known about the woman whose beauty it celebrated. And while Nefertiti's origins — as well as her demise — remain shrouded in mystery, Egyptologists are beginning to piece together more about her life.

We know what we know about Nefertiti mainly from the tomb scenes and inscriptions of the officials who served at the Amarna court; from the Aten temple scenes at Karnak, which have been studied since the 1960s; and from ongoing excavations at Amarna itself — currently by the British Egypt Exploration Society.

Her name, meaning "the beautiful (or perfect) woman has come," prompts some scholars to think that Nefertiti traveled to Egypt from a foreign land. Others theorize she was an Egyptian royal by birth. Still others think it unlikely that she was of royal blood, but that her father was a high government official, a man named Ay, who went on to become pharaoh after Tutankhamen (and, incidentally, may have had a hand in the boy king's death!).

Essentially nothing is known about Nefertiti before she became co-regent of Egypt with her husband, Pharaoh Akhenaten, who ruled from 1352 B.C. to 1336 B.C.

It's clear she had an unusually high status during her husband's turbulent reign. The couple's renegade practice of monotheism —they worshipped the sun disc god over all others, and seem to have outlawed their subjects' polytheistic devotion — threatened Egypt's priesthood and ensured they would have no shortage of powerful enemies.

Some Egyptologists think it was Nefertiti who actually instigated this new religion and catalyzed a rift between the royals and the priests.

She bore Akhenaten six daughters, two of whom may have died in a plague. She was the stepmother of Tutankhamen. Some Egyptian scholars theorize that around year 12 of Akhenaten's reign Nefertiti may well have become his co-regent, and immediately after his death became a pharaoh in her own right, ruling alone for a short time.

As Akhenaten disposed of the plethora of old gods, enraging his priests and subjects, he likely needed a strong female figure to soften the abstract austerity of the sun deity, according to British archeologist Joyce Tyldesley, who wrote a biography of Nefertiti. It's little wonder why his beautiful queen was celebrated in official art and inscriptions that focused on the idyllic domestic life of the royal family.

However, Nefertiti's husband cherished her beyond the demands of propriety or political necessity, postulates Tyldesley. Nefertiti was an elusive subject for Tyldesley because, she says, "meager shreds of evidence" can support a variety of interpretations about the sun queen.

Like Akhenaten, Nefertiti's name was erased from historical records and her many likenesses defaced after her death, as Egypt reverted to its former religion.

With so many enemies, the obvious question is whether Nefertiti died naturally, or was she murdered? We don't know, but the mummy that Joann Fletcher believes could be Nefertiti was mutilated in the years after her death. Perhaps, Fletcher says, it was done to prevent this figure from "living" even in the afterlife.