Author Description

December 12, 1912. In the ruins of Amarna, German archaeologist Ludwig Borchardt looks over documents when he is alerted of a major find. As the workers brushed away centuries of sand, Borchardt saw a limestone face staring back at him. It was the face of a queen whose name meant 'A beautiful woman has come': Queen Nefertiti. This fantastic discovery would recapture the public's imagination and mysticism of Egypt and Nefertiti. However, the ancient Egyptians did not view their queen as beautiful but as an accomplice to her husband, the Heretic Pharaoh Akhenaten. Together, Nefertiti and Akhenaten overthrew centuries of tradition in favor of their god, the sun-disc the Aten. History says Nefertiti disappeared in 1340 BC; however, the sun queen lived long past Akhenaten's death (1336 BC) and became the second female Pharaoh of the New Kingdom. In her short tenure as pharaoh, Nefertiti kickstarted Egypt's return to normalcy, only to be erased at the tail end of the 18th Dynasty for her crimes against Maat. Still, in real life, Nefertiti was just as remarkable as her bust. Her story, like Akhenaten, would prove to be one of history's greatest detective stories.--Publisher description.