Queen Nefertiti was not beautiful at all? New findings from an Egyptian scientist

She is undoubtedly an icon of mass culture. The bust of the Egyptian queen Nefertiti is considered the epitome of beauty. The sculpture, known as the ‘Berlin Mona Lisa,’ has been in the capital of Germany for over a hundred years. New findings make us reconsider our perception of her appearance.

[Photo: Miguel Hermoso Cuesta, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons]

Nefertiti (approx. 1380–1340 BC), also known as Nefretete, was the wife of the Egyptian pharaoh Amenhotep IV, also known as Akhenaten. Her name means ‘The Beautiful One Has Come.’ However, it’s not clear where she came from. It was suggested that she might not have been Egyptian, but scientists haven’t definitively proven this.

As beautiful as Nefertiti?

Many publications emphasize her extraordinary beauty. Of course, this is based on the famous bust from Berlin. Meanwhile, an Egyptian scientist, Prof. Tarek S. Tawfik, has just published an article in the ‘Journal of the Faculty of Archaeology’ at the University of Cairo, casting doubt on Nefertiti’s beauty.