Queen Nefertiti ’s 3,000 - year - old makeover trigger off controversy not because of the modern three-D - image technology or the 500 hours scientists drop recreating it . Nope , it was n’t the handcrafted Dior jewellery either .
It was the colour of the 3,400 - class - old - queen ’s skin that incited outrage across the interwebs .
Now , one professor says he ’s not convinced this mummy is Queen Nefertiti to begin with .
Raymond Johnson , inquiry associate and associate professor at the University of Chicago’sNear Eastern Languages and Civilizations , toldWGNTVthere are “ several issues worth word " .
The mummy of the alleged Queen was found in 1898 in a side sleeping room of Amenhotep II ’s imperial grave in the Valley of the B. B. King . Her material identity has remained a mystery ever since and earned her the title of the “ younger lady ” . Buried with her were two other despoiled mummies and nine reburied Martin Luther King .
Located in that side bedroom was another female mummy . Known as the “ elder lady ” , she was identified as Queen Tiye , the wife of Amonhotep III , base onDNA analysis . The analysis suggests the “ younger madam ” was Tutankhamun ’s mother and also the daughter of Amenhotep III and Tiye – a clew that Johnson enjoin do away with the luck she is Nefertiti .
That ’s because Nefertiti was never mentioned as a royal daughter , something Johnson state would have been intelligibly stated in her inscription and 100 of other texts .
He says legion sculpture and bust of Nefertiti have a “ straight nose , heavy - lidded eyes , tenacious graceful neck opening , and a strong solid jaw ” – characteristics not duplicated in Daynes ’ bust of a cleaning woman with a narrow-minded skull , deep - set centre , and triangular jaw . Although , he say , the replica could have been a relative of Nefertiti ’s .
That bring us back to the military issue of raceway and skin tone . Studies suggest Egypt has long been agatewayto and from Africa and resulted in a interracial universe of both European and African races . Theroyal womenreflected this as well and came from so far as the Mediterranean .
While we may never definitively know the skin color of the princess , Johnson say she was doubtlessly “ not pure Caucasian ” . As the theorized daughter of Amenhotep III and Tiye ( both of African descent ) , a “ brown skin colour would have probably been more true to the mortal represented and to her times ” .
It ’s not the first time pelt semblance has sparkle argumentation of ahistorical reconstructionand , of course , Twitter had a few things to say .
Some argue the reproduction whitewash African history .
The true individuality of Queen Nefertiti , whose full name Neferneferuaten Nefertiti means “ Beautiful are the Beauties of Aten , a Beautiful woman has come , ” may never be known .
Johnson did give major props to Elisabeth Daynes for her tough work . Whether or not it ’s " whitewashing " history is a decision we ’ll leave to you .
