Every ancient culture has such archaeological finds that become its symbols. For Ancient Greece, it is Venus de Milo, for Ancient Rome - the capitoline wolf. And for Ancient Egypt, such a role was played by the famous bust of Queen Nefertiti, found during excavations in 1912. But is it really an antique artifact? Or is the whole world the victim of the biggest scam in history?
Bust of Nefertiti: The One-Eyed Queen
Pharaoh Akhenaten is one of the most mysterious and complex figures in the history of Ancient Egypt. In the middle of the XIV century BC, he carried out a huge number of reforms and turned life in the country literally upside down. Including transferred the capital from ancient Thebes to the city of Akhetaton founded by him. Now on this place is the Arab city of Tel el-Amarna. Archaeologists took a very long time to get to this object, and systematic excavations there began only in 1907. Akhetaton did not disappoint their expectations, donating many valuable finds. Including - the incredibly beautiful bust of Akhenaten's faithful companion, who helped him in all his achievements - Queen Nefertiti.
An honest section?
The excavations were carried out under the supervision of the German scientific attaché in Egypt, Ludwig Borchardt. He managed to organize the work in the best way: he made a detailed map of the area, and the archaeologists moved systematically, excavating house after house. There were many finds and they never ceased to delight: the mysterious era of Akhenaten opened up to researchers in all its glory.
Among other things, the workshop of the chief sculptor Akhenaten was found, and in it there were many busts of the pharaoh, both whole and split into pieces. Borchardt personally worked on this site, hoping to find outstanding works of ancient Egyptian art. And his instinct did not disappoint - on December 6, 1912, a surprisingly well-preserved painted bust of Queen Nefertiti was removed from the ground. “The paints seem to have just been applied. Great job. It is useless to describe, you have to see,”Borchardt described his discovery with delight.
The sculptural image of the queen had several damaged ears and the left eye was missing. It was paired with the painted head of the Pharaoh himself, which came only in the form of fragments. Moreover, apparently, these injuries were not accidental - the bust of Akhenaten was smashed during the pogrom staged in Akhetaton after his death by those who were dissatisfied with the radical reforms. The fact that the bust of Nefertiti survived is a real miracle.
Completely fascinated by his find, Borchardt was now puzzling over how to get it out of Egypt. The fact is that, according to the existing agreement, everything found by archaeologists was divided into two equal parts - half was taken by the country that carried out the excavations, half remained in Egypt. It seemed quite obvious that the Egyptians would take the half that would have a unique bust.
There are many legends about what tricks Borchardt went on to keep the find for himself. For example, that he specially ordered a fake altar - a painted stele depicting Akhenaten, Nefertiti and their three children. The Egyptian Antiquities Service could not pass by such a gorgeous exhibit. However, there is no direct evidence of the falsity of the altar (which has indeed adorned the halls of the Cairo Museum ever since).
Another version, the beautiful bust of Nefertiti was wrapped in foil and filled with plaster to pass off as an unfinished workpiece. Accordingly, during the division, representatives of the Antiquities Service simply could not see what they were rejecting.
Cairo folding altar, which Egypt received instead of Nefertiti. Also fake?
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Controversy around the masterpiece
One way or another, Borchardt understood perfectly well that Germany received the bust of Nefertiti not entirely honestly. He feared that this could cause problems for further excavations in Egypt. Therefore, I was categorically against the public demonstration of the artifact. For 13 years, the bust was in a private collection at the villa of the cotton magnate James Simon, who financed Borchardt's expedition. There, only representatives of high society could see her. Including Kaiser Wilhelm II, who was delighted that such a masterpiece was kept in Germany.
In 1924, a large permanent exhibition of finds from Tel el Amarna opened at the New Museum in Berlin. There, the bust of Nefertiti was also presented to the public for the first time. He immediately made a splash among both professionals and the general public. And it immediately turned out that Borchardt was absolutely right, fearing claims. Realizing in hindsight what cultural value they allowed to be exported abroad, the Egyptian authorities immediately demanded that Germany return the bust of Nefertiti to its homeland. At the same time, they deprived Borchardt of his excavation license and adopted a new law, according to which all archaeological finds, unique in their artistic qualities, were to remain in Egypt from now on.
In 1929, Egypt practically agreed with the Ministry of Science, Arts and Public Education of Germany to exchange the bust for other historical values. But here the Germans were outraged, who did not want to lose the artifact, which had already become a symbol of German archeology. Under pressure from the public, officials urgently abandoned the deal.
The most real fact that Egypt received Nefertiti back was after the Nazis came to power in Germany. In 1933, the idea of giving a bust to King Fuad I on the anniversary of the coronation was put forward by Hermann Goering, who was then Minister-President of Prussia. He was warmly supported by Joseph Goebbels, who believed that such a step would have a large positive effect on the propaganda point of view. But their arguments did not convince Hitler, and in 1935 the plan was abandoned.
After World War II, the bust of Nefertiti briefly became a bone of contention between the USSR and the United States. Both superpowers claimed to take out the ancient Egyptian masterpiece to their museums. Nobody wanted to give in, and by 1947 the case was finished peacefully, deciding to leave the artifact in Germany. At the same time, the interests of Egypt were completely disregarded, which still believes that in 1913 Nefertiti was taken out by deception and demands the return of the masterpiece.
Fatal misunderstanding
Now the bust of Nefertiti is on display in a separate hall of the New Museum. Thousands of tourists come to see this unsurpassed masterpiece of ancient Egyptian art, which, in terms of its value, can only be compared with the golden mask of Tutankhamun. Meanwhile, quite a few people believe that in fact there is a cunning fake in the museum showcase. This version appeared in the early 1980s, and since then it has both an army of supporters and very consistent critics.
It is interesting that the supporters of the version about the fake bust believe that everything happened not by malicious intent, but because of a misunderstanding. The bust could have been made to order by Borchardt to showcase Egyptian jewelry found earlier at the excavation site. It is known that on the day when the bust of Nefertiti was found, the excavations were visited by members of the Saxon royal house - Prince Johann Georg with his wife and sister. Perhaps it was for them that this impromptu exhibition was conceived.
Distinguished guests, seeing a beautiful bust, took it for a real artifact, were delighted and scattered in delight. It was extremely embarrassing to point them out to them, especially since Prince Johann Georg had a reputation as an outstanding art critic. So I had to urgently compose a story about an amazing find.
The main evidence is usually the queen's missing left eye. This riddle really cannot be solved by any Egyptologist. Why is a skillfully crafted and carefully painted bust made without an eye? Moreover, there are no traces of glue in the eye socket. That is, the tab did not fall out due to damage - it was never there. It can be believed that the master of the early XX century, who worked on the order of Borchardt, did not manage to finish the work on the dummy on time. But it is difficult to imagine that the ancient Egyptian sculptor, who made the most beautiful image of his queen, was so disgraced. You could have lost your head for this!
However, all versions of forgery are refuted by chemical analysis. It was not possible to find a single trace of materials from the early 20th century on the bust, no matter how they looked. But it was possible to establish precisely that the bust was made of the so-called Amarna gypsum-anhydride mixture with limestone particles - the same as other sculptures from the time of Akhenaten. The nuance is that at the time of Borchardt, the composition of this mixture was not yet known. So he would not have been able to forge an artifact with such accuracy, with all his desire.
Magazine: Mysteries of History No. 32, Viktor Banev