a Veritable treasure of humanity, the beauty of the bust of Nefertiti cache as much of the mysteries and the enigmatic smile of the Mona Lisa. And this is why, the enterprising and controversial egyptologist Zahi Hawass, ex-minister of Antiquities, has asked, once again, at a lecture given in Sao Paulo under the auspices of the embassy of Egypt in Brazil, the return of the famous sculpture in its cradle at Giza, along the Nile. It is preserved today at the Neues Museum in Berlin.
The archaeologist calls today to a kind of patriotic history of the Egyptians: «The bust of Nefertiti was taken out illegally from Egypt. I request my fellow countrymen that they require to be presented to the public during the inauguration of the Grand Egyptian Museum in 2020.»
» READ ALSO – Nefertiti return to the «New Museum» in Berlin
The history of the bust of Nefertiti back to 1912, when an archaeological mission of the German, led by egyptologist Ludwig Borchardt, had traveled to Cairo to sign a contract with the egyptian government giving him the right to acquire some of the artifacts found in the vicinity of Tell el-Amarna, the capital built under the reign of Akhenaten (about 1371-1338 av J.-C). Among the treasures transferred by this mission, was the bust of the wife of the pharaoh builder. Since the sculpture has become a cultural symbol of Berlin, and periodically triggers the controversy between the cultural leaders of German and egyptian.
» READ ALSO – The tomb of Nefertiti, discovery or tourist trap?
queen Nefertiti was the wife of pharaoh Akhenaton, one of the kings of the Eighteenth dynasty in ancient Egypt. Together, they were at the origin of a religious revolution based on the worship of the sun, or Aton. Discovered by German archaeologists in 1912, the bust will be exhibited at the Neues Museum for the first time in 1924. Buried under rubble on the banks of the Nile for more than 3000 years, the statue of the «beautiful queen» was its setting But for Zahi Hawass, the argument is not sufficient. Nefertiti and his legend belong to the banks of the Nile. Firmly-held ever.
● The mysterious legend of the queen Nefertiti