2024-01-31 23:02:00
She alone dominates the domed hall: behind a structure made of protective glass, Nefertiti sits enthroned, seemingly detached from time and space. Every year, hundreds of thousands of people are captivated by the light effects in front of the bust of the ancient Egyptian queen. The voices in the North Dome Hall of the New Museum seem to sound even more muffled than in other parts of Berlin’s Museum Island. The figure was presented publicly here for the first time 100 years ago.
The just 49 centimeters of limestone, painted stucco, wax and rock crystal secured worldwide fame – and ongoing demands – soon following the exhibition opened on April 1, 1924. Ludwig Borchardt, head of the excavation in Tell el-Amarna, Egypt, wrote next to a sketch of the bust in his diary: “Colors as just laid out. Work very excellent.” But language hardly seems to be enough for Nefertiti. “Describing is no use, looking at it.”
The bust was found on December 6, 1912. In the previously agreed division of finds, the “folding altar of Cairo” is at the top on the Egyptian side. The Germans really want Nefertiti. The bust thus becomes the property of the Berlin entrepreneur and patron James Simon. In 1920 he bequeathed the bust, along with numerous other works of art, to the Berlin museums. It will remain under wraps for another four years until it is first presented. The historical Nefertiti lived in the 14th century BC as the main wife of Pharaoh Amenhotep IV, the later Akhenaten. There is hardly any reliable information regarding her; at the time of Amenhotep’s coronation, Nefertiti was probably 12 to 16 years old.
The historian Sebastian Conrad is certain: “If Nefertiti had simply held out for a few more years following lying hidden in the desert sand for 3,000 years, then she would be in Cairo now. There is absolutely no wrongdoing.” Conrad is one of the many scientists who have studied the bust – and the controversy surrounding it – over the past decades. His book “The Queen. Nefertiti’s Global Career” will be published on February 1st. Conrad refers to the developments in Egypt at that time just a few years following Nefertiti was discovered. When Howard Carter discovered the tomb of the ancient Egyptian King Tutankhamun in the Valley of the Kings in 1922, the export of the finds was already banned.
Nefertiti, on the other hand, can establish her world fame from Berlin. “The moment of the first presentation, the first exhibition in the 1920s plays a very central role,” says Conrad in an interview with the German Press Agency in Berlin. “Nefertiti corresponds to the beauty standards of the time. If you will, she is seen as a Greta Garbo.” The presentation in Europe also ensures that it will become an icon in Berlin and quickly in Western Europe and the USA. “This then enables their worldwide resonance.”
Missing eye was never found
Even just one eye made of colored beeswax with thin rock crystal doesn’t change that. The missing left eye was never found – if it existed. Nefertiti becomes a cult object, appears as a figure in the Duck family, inspires fashion, music and films, and is raised to new levels of meaning in art by Isa Genzken, for example. If you like, you can also have a colored copy of the bust made for almost 10,000 euros.
Over the course of a century, Nefertiti has developed into the ruler of the Museum Island. Perhaps the Pergamon Altar and Ishtar Gate in the neighboring museums can counteract their appeal. “In the Louvre in Paris, people look at the Mona Lisa whether they find it aesthetically pleasing or not,” says Conrad. “In Berlin, Nefertiti is the star of the exhibitions on the Museum Island. It is an economic factor, a magnet for museums, and therefore worth money.”
But Nefertiti is not just beautiful. “It represents this origin story of modernity,” says Conrad. It is the moment “in which monotheism, rationality and the individual are invented. This is the narrative that has been woven since the beginning of the 20th century.”
New attempt in the return dispute
Hawass, now something of a pop star in archeology and known as “the real Indiana Jones”, is like many other experts of the opinion that excavation director Borchardt cheated when sharing the finds. The bust was brought to Berlin illegally and Borchardt even hid it from the public for more than ten years.
“I have collected all the documents and evidence to prove that Borchardt stole them,” says Hawass. Nefertiti is a “national artifact” and belongs in the new Great Egyptian Museum at the Pyramids of Giza. During tours, visitors are asked to sign Hawass’ petition, including for the return of the Rosetta Stone from the British Museum in London. This petition currently has 214,000 signatures – Hawass is hoping for a million and then wants to make a new attempt in the return dispute with Berlin. “I will never give up,” says Hawass.
From the perspective of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation, to which the New Museum belongs, the bust was found as part of an excavation approved by the Egyptian Antiquities Administration and was not illegally taken out of the country. For foundation president Hermann Parzinger, the situation is clear. “It is documented that when the finds were shared, both sides had a complete list of all finds, and even photos of the better pieces. There is a whole series of black and white photos, from all angles.” This has already been published several times.
“The German claim to this bust is at least very doubtful,” says historian Conrad. Today no one would accept a regulation like the one in 1912. “These laws are actually what lawyers call immoral.” Even at that time, no one would have been able to take finds from places like Italy or Greece. For the historian, “the Egyptian claims are no less plausible than the German ones.” Conrad suggests “taking the concept of world heritage literally, entrusting ownership to an international organization and then allowing different exhibition venues in that way.” Ruler Nefertiti still has her majestic seat in Berlin.
1706754295
#Nefertiti #attracting #visitors #years
