Nefertiti, Queen and Pharaoh of Egypt

Her Life and Afterlife

Aidan Dodson

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Hardback

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English

The American University in Cairo Press
10 October 2020

History; Ancient history: to c 500 CE; Egyptian archaeology & Egyptology

Egypt's sun queen magnificently revealed in a new book by renowned Egyptologist, Aidan Dodson

During the last half of the fourteenth century BC, Egypt was perhaps at the height of its prosperity. It was against this background that the ""Amarna Revolution"" occurred. Throughout, its instigator, King Akhenaten, had at his side his Great Wife, Nefertiti. When a painted bust of the queen found at Amarna in 1912 was first revealed to the public in the 1920s, it soon became one of the great artistic icons of the world. Nefertiti's name and face are perhaps the best known of any royal woman of ancient Egypt and one of the best recognized figures of antiquity, but her image has come in many ways to overshadow the woman herself.

Nefertiti's current world dominion as a cultural and artistic icon presents an interesting contrast with the way in which she was actively written out of history soon after her own death. This book explores what we can reconstruct of the life of the queen, tracing the way in which she and her image emerged in the wake of the first tentative decipherment of Egyptian hieroglyphs during the 1820s-1840s, and then took on the world over the next century and beyond.

All indications are that her final fate was a tragic one, but although every effort was made to wipe out Nefertiti's memory after her death, modern archaeology has rescued the queen-pharaoh from obscurity and set her on the road to today's international status.

By: Aidan Dodson
Imprint: The American University in Cairo Press
Dimensions: Height: 240mm, Width: 190mm, Spine: 25mm
Weight: 920g
ISBN: 9789774169908
ISBN 10: 9774169905
Pages: 176
Publication Date: 10 October 2020
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Unspecified

Aidan Dodson is Honorary Professor of Egyptology in the Department of Anthropology and Archaeology at the University of Bristol, UK, and was Simpson Professor of Egyptology at the American University in Cairo in 2013, and Chair of the Egypt Exploration Society during 2011–16. Awarded his PhD by the University of Cambridge, UK, in 1995, he was elected a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London in 2003. He is the author of over twenty books, most recently a new edition of Afterglow of Empire (AUC Press, 2019) and Rameses III, King of Egypt (AUC Press, 2019).

Reviews for Nefertiti, Queen and Pharaoh of Egypt: Her Life and Afterlife

""[T]he most objective and well-balanced summation of her career to date . . . . This volume is well-produced and sumptuously illustrated and a fine addition to this welcome biographical series.""—Morris Bierbrier, Egyptian Archaeology ""Writing an overview of Nefertiti’s life and times is essentially an impossible task. . . Only a few people are up to this task, and thank Heavens that one of them is Aidan Dodson. Bravo!! Buy this book."" —Stephen Harvey, Stony Brook University ""This thoroughly researched, documented, and illustrated book includes maps, a chronology of dynasties, extensive endnotes, and image sources. . . Recommended. Advanced undergraduates through faculty; professionals.""—CHOICE ""Dodson goes beyond prior scholarship by meticulously chronicling her life and offering up new theories about her origins and significance.""—AramcoWorld Praise for Aidan Dodson ""Professional Egyptology at its best."" —Brian Fagan ""Highly Recommended.""—CHOICE ""A masterpiece of meticulous scholarship . . . . ideal for non-specialist general readers with an interest in ancient Egyptian history."" —Reviewer's Bookwatch “Intriguing and involving historical study and extrapolation.” —Midwest Book Review “With copious illustrations, this book supplies intriguing insights into pharaonic politics, arrived at through meticulous, knowledgeable research.” —Book News