This is the bust of Nefertiti. It is by far the most recognized and famous piece held by the Berlin Egyptian Museum, whose entire collection is now temporarily housed in the Altes Museum. Every time I return to Berlin, I have found myself gazing at this sculpture for a long time. It is a masterpiece created an amazing 3352 years ago. The craftsmanship that artisans were in possession of at that time is mind-boggling. I'd love to have been a fly on the wall observing how they sculpted her to life. This bust served, as did many others found in the workshop of the Tuthmosis, as a model for artists producing portraits of the queen. The bust depicts her as a grown woman with a harmonic and balanced beauty which is not disturbed by the slight folds under the eyes and chin as well as the slightly sunk cheeks. It is made of limestone which is covered with modelled gypsum. The eye is inlayed with crystal and the pupil attached with black coloured wax. The second eye-inlay was never carried out. Who was this stunning beauty of antiquity? Nefertiti was the wife of Pharaoh Akhenaten. She was little more than a historical whisper when, in 1912, her exquisite sculpture was unearthed at the royal retreat of Amarna. From the moment it went on display at the Egyptian Museum in Berlin in 1924, the enigmatic bust with the swanlike neck assumed a place as one of the world's most famous icons. Her name, meaning "the beautiful (or perfect) woman has come," prompts some scholars to think that Nefertiti traveled to Egypt from a foreign land. Others theorize she was an Egyptian royal by birth. Still others think it unlikely that she was of royal blood, but that her father was a high government official, a man named Ay, who went on to become pharaoh after Tutankhamen. Essentially nothing is known about Nefertiti before she became co-regent of Egypt with her husband, Pharaoh Akhenaten, who ruled from 1352 B.C. to 1336 B.C. It's clear she had an unusually high status during her husband's turbulent reign. The couple's renegade practice of monotheism (worshipping the sun disc god over all others) threatened Egypt's priesthood and ensured they would have no shortage of powerful enemies. Egyptologists think it was Nefertiti who actually instigated this new religion and catalyzed a rift between the royals and the priests. Nefertiti bore Akhenaten six daughters, two of whom may have died in a plague. She was also the stepmother of Tutankhamen. Some Egyptian scholars theorize that around year 12 of Akhenaten's reign Nefertiti may well have become his co-regent, and immediately after his death became a pharaoh in her own right, ruling alone for a short time. As Akhenaten disposed of the plethora of old gods, enraging his priests and subjects, he likely needed a strong female figure to soften the abstract austerity of the sun deity, according to British archeologist Joyce Tyldesley, who wrote a biography of Nefertiti. It's little wonder why his beautiful queen was celebrated in official art and inscriptions that focused on the idyllic domestic life of the royal family. That having been said, like Akhenaten, Nefertiti's name was erased from historical records and her many likenesses defaced after her death when Egypt reverted to its former religion. About this shot. It was taken under very poor lighting conditions. Fortunately, the museum allows photography, but only without using a flash. What you see here, then, is the result of my own "restoration" work. It has involved primarily adjusting the exposure, restoring the wealth of colors to their original condition, and especially correcting the skin color to capture the authentic and life-like nature of the bust. Oct. 6, 2012 addendum: Went on one of my periodic visits to see Nefertiti while in Berlin, and discovered that it is no longer possible to photograph her. Glad I did so while I still had the chance.