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Description. This fragment
of a stela, carved in sunken relief, portrays Nefertiti—chief wife
of the pharaoh Akhenaten—and her daughter Maketaten. Nefertiti wears
a thin, pleated robe and a tall crown with a uraeus, a sun disk between
double plumes, and two streamers that fall down her back. Palms close
together, she raises her hands in adoration of the Aten, whose cartouche
embellishes the bracelets on her arm. In response, one of the Aten’s
rays holds an ankh near her nostrils—a privilege reserved only for
Egypt’s king and queen—and another touches a feather of her
crown (Aldred 1968, 168). Maketaten stands behind Nefertiti, wearing a
long gown, which is visible only in outline. Her right hand shakes a sistrum,
a jingling musical instrument used primarily by females during worship
(Arnold 151).
Stela N. The Nelson-Atkins
fragment formed part of a much larger relief, Stela N (reproduced fully
in an early 1900s drawing and photograph in Cooney 70 and Davies pls.
33, 40). The relief of Nefertiti and Maketaten is the only known surviving
fragment of Stela N besides one with Akhenaten’s shoulders and head
in the Albright Art Gallery in Buffalo, New York; the rest of Stela N
was almost completely destroyed in the early 20th century by dealers who
cut apart the monument for sale (Cooney 67-71). When Akhenaten moved his
seat of power from Thebes to Akhetaten (today known as Tell el Amarna,
El Amarna, or Amarna), he defined the perimeters of the Aten’s land
by erecting boundary stelae around the city (for stelae proclamations,
see Murnane 73-86). Stela N shows a typical scene of the royal family
worshipping the Aten. Nefertiti stands behind Akhenaten, her fingertips
almost touching the streamers of her husband’s Blue Crown, the khepersh
helmet (see Statuette of a kneeling pharaoh).
Rays with small hands radiate from the disk of the Aten located above
the figures, touching the pharaoh and his wife, as well as the offering
table laden with food before them. Twenty-six lines of horizontal text
are in the lower half of the relief (Davies 25). At the bottom right corner,
Meretaten stands underneath her younger sister Maketaten, also shaking
a sistrum.
Aten. The increasing
influence of the solar cult throughout the New Kingdom led to the assimilation
of all gods and aspects of Ra into the single god, Aten, during Akhenaten’s
reign. The physical image of the Aten originated with the hieroglyph for
“sunshine” and developed into a sun disk with an ankh, uraeus,
and long rays. Each ray culminated in a hand (Aldred 1968, 166-8). With
the worship of other gods banned, the Aten became the sole creator of
all and the giver of life. Akhenaten, whose name means “Illuminated
Manifestation of Aten,” was the incarnation of the Aten on the earth,
as well as the son of the Aten.
Style and dating. Stylistic
changes in art manifest themselves during Akhenaten’s reign. Shown
with feminine features, like wide hips and exaggerated breasts, Akhenaten
unconventionally places himself in scenes of affection with family members.
Scholars attribute Akhenaten’s cultural break from centuries of artistic
tradition by referring to it either as an artistic revolution necessitated
by the emerging Aten religion (Arnold 19-20; Russmann 113, 115-6) or as
a realistic portrayal of Akhenaten’s supposed physical deformities,
such as Frölich’s syndrome (Aldred 1968, 133-9; Paulshock 160-4
and Nunn 83-4 for pathological argument; Russmann 115 for counter-argument).
Earlier representations of Nefertiti depict her with the exaggerated facial
features of Akhenaten (elongated chin and ears and full lips), which may
emphasize her close relationship with Akhenaten and the Aten (Arnold 18).
These similar features date this stela to the period immediately following
the move to Akhetaten in Akhenaten’s sixth regnal year. In the period
just before Year 8 of her husband’s reign, Nefertiti’s portrait
changes to one with more natural features (Arnold 39).
Nefertiti and Maketaten.
Nefertiti, whose name means “The Beautiful One is Come,” received
almost unprecedented prominence in religious and social functions, affirming
her high status during her husband’s reign. After the twelfth year,
however, this distinction seems to fade; other women assume more conspicuous
positions in art and Nefertiti appears infrequently on monuments (Redford
191). Perhaps she died or assumed a co-regency with Akhenaten or fell
into disgrace (Aldred 1968, 242-3; Samson 109-15; Redford 191-3). Texts
and inscriptions provide insufficient clues for an answer.
The second of six daughters born to Nefertiti,
Maketaten’s name means “She Whom the Aten Protects” (Arnold
11). Born in the early years of Akhenaten’s reign, she died shortly
after the twelfth year of his rule, supposedly in childbirth (Aldred 1968,
95; see also Amarna Princess).
Published: Handbook
1959, 20; Apollo
1972, 477 fig. 4; Aldred 1973,
114; Handbook
1973, 28; Handbook
1993, 113; Anne Capel and Glenn Markoe (eds.), Mistress of the
House, Mistress of Heaven: Women in Ancient Egypt (New York: Hudson
Hills Press, 1996), 112-3.
Stela N Published in:
Richard Lepsius, Denkmaeler aus Aegypten und Aethiopen VI (Berlin:
Nicolaische Buchhandlung, 1849-56), pl. 110 fig. a; N. de G. Davies, The
Rock Tombs of El Amarna V: Smaller Tombs and Boundary Stelae
(London: Egypt Exploration Society, 1903-8), 20, 25 pls. XXXIII, XL; Porter,
Moss IV (1934), 231; John Cooney, “A Relief from Tell el-Amarna,”
The Art Quarterly 2, no. 1 (1939), 67-75; W. M. Flinders Petrie,
Tell El Amarna (1894; reprint, Encino: J.L. Malter, 1974), 6; Julie
Samson, Amarna: City of Akhenaten and Nefertiti; Nefertiti as Pharaoh
(Warminster: Aris & Phillips Ltd., 1978), 136.
Other cited sources:
Cyril Aldred, Akhenaten: Pharaoh of Egypt—a New Study (New
York: Thames and Hudson Ltd., 1968); Dorothea Arnold, The Royal Women
of Amarna (New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1996); William
J. Murnane, Texts from the Amarna Period in Egypt (Atlanta: Scholars
Press, 1995); John F. Nunn, Ancient Egyptian Medicine (Norman:
University of Oklahoma Press, 1996); Bernadine Z. Paulshock, “Tutankhamun
and His Brothers: Familial Gynecomastia in the Eighteenth Dynasty,”
Journal of the American Medical Association 244, no. 2 (1980), 160-4;
Donald B. Redford, Akhenaten: The Heretic King (Princeton: Princeton
University Press, 1984); Edna R. Russmann, Egyptian Sculpture: Cairo
and Luxor (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1989).
(CS)
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