Just Who is this Chick Nefertiti?

Her image is literally everywhere. It can even be found on stamps and paper money in the Arab world. One would have to believe, from all this exposure, this fame, that she was the quintessential Ancient Egyptian queen. The epitome of the Ancient Egyptian lady of antiquity. Small problem though, she doesn't look Egyptian! She doesn't even look like the other portraits we have of her - the ones we rarely see. In fact she looks like a white woman! Strange? Well, so is the story behind this famous bust:
   A German excavator by the name of Ludwig Borchardt 'discovered' the painted limestone bust in 1912. (The same year Charles Dawson 'discovered' the fake - British missing link - the Piltdown man. This hoax lasted 40 years.) The circumstances of its export to the Berlin museum were the source of controversy at the time. (Some suggested that Borchardt did a little of the painting himself.) It did not go on exhibit until 1924!
   One is immediately reminded of the fake Egyptian figure of Tetisheri, Queen mother of the 17th and 18th dynasties, which also did not look Egyptian. It too, looked like a white woman. The figure was part of an exhibit held by the British museum in 1990. The exhibit was titled "Fake? The Art Of Deception." The Testisheri hoax lasted 100 years.
   Is the Berlin bust also a hoax? Inquiring minds want to know.

Nefertiti Resurrected
(as seen on the Discovery Channel)

This is what a team of British scientists, using modern forensic
methods on the mummy believed to be that of Queen Nefertiti,
have determined what she looked like in life.

Irrelevant ScepticismThis discovery has engendered
the inevitable debate as to whether or not it is actually
the remains of Queen Nefertiti. Whether or not it
is the mummy of the celebrity queen or not is irrelevant.
It is an Egyptian Royal mummy.
This is what Ancient Egyptian royalty looked like
. And that, quite simply, is the more important point.

Nefertiti as she appeared in life - Nefertiti Resurrected (The Discovery Channel)

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