Through the Eras

Visual ArtsStela of Akhenaten (left) and his wife Nefertiti holding their children and blessed by the Aten, the sun god, c. 1345 B.C.E Displays offamilial intimacy such as is shown here were unique to the Amarna period. © RUGGERO VANNI/CORBIS.her husband’s face. Her face is distinguished from hisby being slightly less long and with a slightly less pronouncedchin. There is also a groove carved from theoutside corner of her nose extending on the diagonal thatdistinguishes her face from his. Her long neck has onegroove in contrast to his two grooves. Nefertiti wears aUraeus and cap with a diadem. The Uraeus is one of afew normally masculine characteristics this queen bears.In a relief from Akhenaten’s palace, the queen wears theNubian hairstyle, normally reserved for male soldiers.She also wears the Uraeus snake over her forehead. Heralmond-shaped eyes dip toward her nose that is quitelong. Her full lips turn downward at the end. Her neckis long and graceful with two grooves. Of course the mostfamous image of Nefertiti is the plaster bust now in theEgyptian Museum in Berlin. Its long and elegant linesare often compared to a modern fashion model. Yet itsideal of slim elegance could not be farther from the traditionalEgyptian view of the ideal woman. Usuallywomen are portrayed with round, full faces and fewangles. The reversal of typical male and female rolesduring the Amarna Period remains one of its most intriguingcharacteristics.PRINCESSES. Another unusual feature of AmarnaPeriod art is its many representations of Akhenatenand Nefertiti’s six daughters. They are often includedin scenes portraying rituals dedicated to the Aten. In arelief from a chapel in the palace, two princesses playthe sistrum in their most elegant linen dresses. The facialcharacteristics in these reliefs are extremely exaggerated,a fact that places them at the beginning of theperiod. Another image of a princess depicts her pressingher lips to her mother’s lips. Though called a kiss, it isa very rare representation of such an act in Egyptian art.The princess is portrayed as a child with a shaved headand the typical side lock that children wear. She alsowears a flat, disk shape-earring. Such scenes of intimacyand familial feeling are extremely rare in Egyptian art ingeneral but are much more common during the AmarnaPeriod.Arts and Humanities Through the Eras: Ancient Egypt (2675 B.C.E.–332 B.C.E.) 303