QUEENS WHO RULE!!

 Hello ladies and gents this is the Viking telling you that today we are talking about

NEFERTITI

The bust of Nefertiti is celebrated all over the world as a symbol of stunning feminine beauty. She was also a symbol of power. But was it her beauty that rose her to power or power that made her symbolic to beauty?

Nefertiti was the wife of the Pharaoh Amenhotep, a priestess, goddesses and later a Pharaoh herself. She is one of the most fascinating Egyptian rulers in history. Having a powerful influence over the Egyptian reign, she, along with her husband remodeled the religion of ancient Egypt therefore changing the laws of the region.

Despite the fact that her bust is known all over the world, her life story still remains a mystery. One of the many reasons possible is that since she was the most powerful Egyptian Queen of her time, she had many rivals who wanted to erase her memories forever, which they couldn't quite do completely.

So, here are the facts that you may not know about the mysterious Queen of Egypt, Nefertiti:

1. A Teenage Queen

It was pretty normal for people in ancient times to rule at a young age, even as young as 3 was a King of Uganda by the name of King Oyo.

Therefore, it was normal for Queen Nefertiti to ascend to the throne at the age of 15. She was also married to Pharaoh Amenhotep who was 16.

2. One-Eyed Beauty

If you look carefully at her picture, you will notice that her left eye is blank, it has no lens.

Since there is not much known about Nefertiti, there are many different theories on why she doesn't have one eye:

Thutmose was the royal artist who created sculptures of the royal family. One theory suggests that when Thutmose’s workshop fell into ruin, the quartz piece for her eye might have fallen out.

The other suggests that she might have suffered from an ophthalmic infection and lost her eye.

Her enemies might have removed the quartz eye-piece to indicate a major flaw in beauty to insult her and ruin her image.

The most interesting theory suggests that Thutmose himself fell in love with the Queen. After his advances were turned down, he left one eye blank to indicate that she was blind to see the admiration that he had for her.

3. A Practicing Monotheist

Pharaoh Amenhotep was a monotheist who worshipped god Aten — the god of the Sun. He was symbolized by a disc of the Sun. Pharaoh Amenhotep along with Nefertiti who was a priestess promoted this monotheistic religion.

The ruling couple even built the city of Tell el-Amarna for the sake of god Aten to worship him. They also demanded from the people of Egypt to do the same if they desired to be blessed by Pharaoh Amenhotep and Queen Nefertiti. As time passed, old gods were removed, new laws were formed on the substratum of the new religion.

4. An Equal Pharaoh with Husband

Queen Nefertiti was a powerful wife. The crown that she wears depicts that she was in fact as powerful as the Pharaoh Amenhotep himself. The power couple other than creating the city Tell el-Amarna created a new capital Akhet-Aten, over 200 miles north of Thebes.

On the top of the list of worst rulers comes the name of King Amenhotep. He literally silenced his people to death. The people never wanted to accept the new god Aten but they couldn’t do anything be because any ideology against the King meant straight execution and your body will be hanged in the local street to be eaten away by vultures.

The strategy that King Amhotep used was to call only himself and his Queen the only priests so that anyone else couldn’t distract them from their path.

5. An Independent Pharaoh Before Son

It was common for the Egyptian Queens at that time to rule the period till their orphan son matures enough to play the game of throne.

Ruling by women completely independently, without a male heir was considered an insult in Egyptian culture. It was considered threatful to the Egyptian moral values called the ‘Maat’.

Queen Nefertiti ruled Egypt in three stages:

• With her husband
• As a mother Queen
• As a female disguised in male clothing

and as always have a chilled day from the Viking