Nefertiti: Egypt's Sun Queen

by Joyce A. Tyldesley

Book Overview

For over a decade Nefertiti, wife of the heretic king Akhenaten, was the most influential woman in the Bronze Age world; a beautiful queen blessed by the sun-god, adored by her family and worshipped... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0670869988
• ISBN13: 9780670869985
• Release Date: March 1999
• Publisher: Viking Books
• Length: 232 Pages
• Weight: 1.15 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.3" x 6.4" x 9.4"

Customer Reviews

A very good book to plunge into ancient Egypt

In my opinion, Joyce Tyldesley accomplishes an excelent recopilation of all science currently knows and theorizes about this queen and about the "Amarna" period in Ancient Egypt. What is excelent about it is that she does it in a very readable prose, explaining the nature of family relations, religion, social mobilization, and power during this period of Egyptian history. I loved this book and recommend it to any one who wonders what daily life was back in Egypt 3 to 4 thousand years ago! R-Egypt in the Age of Cleopatra: History and Society Under the Ptolemies

The Mysterious Queen

In the world of Egyptology, Queen Nefertiti is probably the most interesting female figure. Not much is known about the queen making her that much more fascinating. Finding an extended book about Nefertiti is hard to find due to the fact that her history is so vague. This book is probably one of the best about the queen and the book is relatively recent, so the information and new "discoveries" about her are pretty accurate. Not the whole book is about Nefertiti because we don't really know that much about her. The book also describes Amenhotep III and Queen Tiy, the parents of the fascinating Akhenaten. Akhenaten is the other major person besides Nefertiti in the book. He was the husband of Nefertiti as well as the first prominent monotheistic figure in history. One does get the idea of Nefertiti's almost goddess-like presence in Egypt as well as her high status in society often ruling equally beside her husband in the book. Tyldesley does a great job with Nefertiti. This is probably a must have book for Nefertiti as well as Akhenaten.

The disappearing queen...

Joyce Tyldesley's book, `Nefertiti: Egypt's Sun Queen' is a fascinating study of a very important but mostly misunderstood figure in Egyptian history. Perhaps it was due to the confusion of names (another queen, Nefertari, is popularly known due to the use of her name in Biblical epic films), and largely historically due to Nerfertiti's marriage to Akhenaton, a pharoah who was almost erased from history.Akhenaton was a heretic in Egyptian terms -- he renounced the worship of old gods in favour of a more monotheistic framework based upon a sun-worship (Aton) which prompted him to change his name (he had been Amenhotep IV). He built a new capital city at Amarna, where he and Nefertiti lived and raised their children. Nefertiti was perhaps the most influential person on Akhenaton, at that time one of the most powerful rulers on earth. Very little is known of Nefertiti -- her death is not recorded, and her tomb has not been found. Her beauty is renowned from the masks found at Amarna by archaeologists early in this century, having been lost for millenia. It is unusual that such a prominent person's death would not be recorded in the culture of Egypt, symbolised to this day by the monuments to the great who have died in pyramids and tombs. The mystery deepens, however, with the discovery of stelae at Amarna that shows Nefertiti in glorious array while her husband the Pharoah occupies a lesser position.`The Berlin stela provides us with the image of a perfect and semi-divine family inhabiting an ideal world far beyond the experiences of most Egyptians. The exact roles played by the principal members of this family are unclear. Akhenaten seems quite happy perched on his lowly, undecorated stool while his wife occupies the more regal seat, yet to him fall the the honour of holding the more important princess while Nefertiti looks after the babies.'Nefertiti may have been the regnant queen by this point -- unusual but far from unheard of in Egyptian history. Female pharoahs such as Sobeknofru and Hatchepsut had proved this, but it is much more likely that a female would act as regent rather than regnant. She might have served as co-regnant with Akhenaten until his death, and then as a regent for Tutankhamen. Of course, alternate theories also abound. Some inscriptions have been discovered in which a another name, Meritaten, was inscribed over erased names and titles of another woman -- was this Nefertiti? Did she overstep her position? Did she commit some indiscretion or crime? Meritaten, the daughter of Nefertiti and Akhenaton, might have assumed public duties as queen. This was put forward by Egyptologists including Norman de Garis Davies and John Pendlebury. Tyldesley presents various theories of Nefertiti's life and death side by side with evidence supporting each. Alas, the support is difficult no matter which interpretation is preferred -- Amarna was abandoned shortly after the death of Akhenaten, and the old religious ways reinstituted. Akhenaten's

A Great Biography of Nefertiti

Nefertiti: Egypt's Sun Queen is a well-written book about a mysterious time. Joyce Tyldesley sets the stage with an excellent discussion of Amenhotep III and the times prior to the advent of Akhenaten. There is a wealth of information. Of particular interest to me was the tracing of the god Aten and that Amenhotep had awakened interest in this god. If one is to write a life of Nefertiti it has to be undertaken to provide all the various ideas that have sprung up about her. Ms. Tyldesley prepares us for this path, one she is forced into because of the lack of information about Nefertiti and the Amarna period in general. She shifts through all of this material admirably and points out the more probable scenarios. If one is disappointed because this is not a traditional biography it is because of our lack of information. Once could probably fit what we "know" about Nefertiti on a few pages. What possibly happened takes more. If one is interested in Egypt and the Amarna period in particular, this is a valuable book.

Yet another masterpiece by the first lady of Egypt's own.

Once again, Joyce has put together a superb work of elegance and Egyptology at its best. She follows the life of Nefertiti from its earliest known point to its mysterious and unknown conclusion, along the way discaussing other prominent females from Nefertiti's immediate family, among them the dowager queen Tiye. Akhenaten is discussed at length in every chapter, which is to be expected since so much is known of him whereas his wife is more elusive no matter what the occasion. The plates are spectacular, portraying many aspects of Nefertiti in Amarna art and my personal favorite was the plate giving a four sided view of her ever-famous limestone bust simply because it was the first time i had ever seen more than just a frontal or side view of this piece. All in all, Nefertiti: Egypt's Sun Queen is as much a pleasure to have as it is to read, and I recommend it highly for any library, especially those caentering around the mystery and beauty of Amarna.