Nefertete (also Nefertiti, Nofretete) was the woman of Achnaton, the pharaoh who governed concerning Egypt during 18th the dynasty, from 1352 b.c. up to 1338 b.c.. She was queen during the Amarna period. This period was characterised by the flourishing of a new art form and a religious revolution.

Together they stimulated the worshipping of the sungod Re by introducing the cult of the sun disk Aton. Achnaton and Nefertete raised themselves as live gods; the population only obtained entrance to Aton by honouring the couple.

The name ' Nefertete ' means something like: The beautiful woman has arrived.It is assumed that she only gave birth to daughters and that that is the reason that Achnatons second woman became more popular than her. For this second woman a beautiful temple has been set up. At a given moment this woman disappears however. Many egyptologists assume that a jealous Nefertete assassinated her or let her be assassinated. Nefertete governed with Achnaton. This is assumed because her name was found with the full royal cartouche around it, and not that of a queen.

 

In the fifteenth year of Achnatons reign, the year 1336 b.c. Nefertete disappeared in a mysterious manner. Both the country and place of birth of Nefertete and the cause or reason of her disappearance has been the subject of much speculation. Since she was not the only person who disappeared during that period, there is a theory which assumes there was an epidemic or famine that also caused many victims under the royal family. According to another theory This did not yet mean the end of Nefertete. This theory asumes that she survived her husband remarried with a prince from a neighboring country and still governed Egypt for some time. There also has been told that she contacted the Hittietian king for she hoped to marry one of his sons. However this prince was assassinated on his way by/to Egypt, this Assassinated prince story is -also attributed to the sister and woman of Toetanchamnon, Anchesenamon. Although it is fairly certain that Nefertete still governed for a while after the death of Achnaton, suggestions were made that she did do that a pharaoh and not as a queen. Sometimes people speculated that she changed her name to Smekara and continued her reign using that name.

An udder picture of Nefertete, made by the sculptor Tutmoses,  stands in the Egyptian museum in Berlin. It is not yet clear, if the mummy of Nefertete has been dug up.