Power

It is not only Nefertiti’s beauty that is legendary, but her exceptional position of power. Together with her husband, Pharaoh Akhenaton, Nefertiti was responsible for a religious revolution. They replaced the traditional Egyptian pantheon of gods with a single deity, the sun god, Aton.

Great Royal Wife
Nefertiti seems to have been a fervent believer in the new faith. She may well even have used the new religious cult to invest herself with godlike status. Egyptologists are currently searching in the temples of Karnak and Luxor for evidence that might support this theory.

During the period of his rule, in the mid-14th century B.C., Akhenaton commissioned various temples to Aton, built within the precinct sacred to Amun. As this was regarded as a betrayal of the old religion, the buildings were destroyed after the end of his reign. The stone blocks from which Aton’s temples had been built were re-used for monuments erected by subsequent rulers. Bit by bit the scientists are piecing these stones together to form scenes, in the hope of getting a clearer picture of Nefertiti's social ranking.

On one stone part of her name can be deciphered, also one of her honorific titles – "Great Royal Wife". Several representations show Nefertiti driving a battle chariot and holding a sceptre – the symbol of supreme authority within the state. In other pictures she is also portrayed as ruler of her country, slaying Egypt's enemies with a club or sword, travelling on a royal litter, or bestowing the gold of honour on the elite. No female royal consort was ever again depicted in such settings.

Wives of the god Amun
Engraved in the walls of the Temple of Karnak is the mythical story of the creation of Egypt. According to the legend, in the beginning there was nothing. Then the god of creation and fertility, Amun, appeared from the darkness and with him his divine companion, Mut. Amun fell victim to her seductive wiles. The ancient sources say: "She kindles his flame, and in the effusion of his lust the universe is created."

Those closest to the god Amun were the Pharaohs as his representatives on earth, ruling in his name. Likewise closely associated with Amun were women. It was even possible for them to become his consorts, having gone through a particular ritual.

On the evidence afforded by the remaining contemporary depictions, it is believed that selected women went to the shrine of Amun in the Temple of Karnak. There they re-enacted the Creation myth and gave Amun an earthly existence, thus ensuring – the belief had it – that the universe did not revert to Chaos. The women concerned thus became, "Wives and consorts of Amun". Every aristocratic Egyptian woman could acquire this honorific title and the associated prestige.

As powerful as a Pharaoh
During the period of Nefertiti and Akhenaton's rule, the Temple of Karnak had a huge entrance portal on its east side. On the site it has been possible to reconstruct almost one hundred scenes depicting ritual acts. The majority show Nefertiti at the centre of sacred rituals, such as the offering of sacrificial gifts. In fact tradition required that religious sacrifices should only be made by either the Pharaoh, or by a "wife and consort of the god". These frescoes are evidence that Nefertiti had rank and power equal to a Pharaoh's. And although in the new religion just introduced there was no longer any such status as "wife and consort of the god", Nefertiti paid homage to the god Aton with rituals similar to those practised by Amun's human consorts. It looks as though Nefertiti was using the religious tradition of the god's "consorts" to elevate herself to the rank of a goddess.

For more than a decade, she was, after all, the most influential woman of the ancient world.