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Secondary sourceBook1923

Portraits of Queen Nofret-ete from the 1912/13 Tell el-Amarna Excavations

Ludwig Borchardt · 1923

A 1923 German scholarly study by excavator Ludwig Borchardt analysing portraits of Nefertiti found during the Amarna digs.

This scholarly study examines portraits of Nefertiti discovered during Borchardt's own excavations at Amarna.

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Portraits of Queen Nofret-ete from the 1912/13 Tell el-Amarna ExcavationsPDF · 60 pages
Ludwig Borchardt, Porträts der Königin Nofret-ete aus den Grabungen 1912/13 in Tell el-Amarna, 1923. Scanned book, Internet Archive.

About this source

What it is

This is a scanned academic book published in 1923 by Ludwig Borchardt, the archaeologist who led the German Oriental Society's excavations at Tell el-Amarna in 1912-13. It describes and analyses the portraits and sculptures of Queen Nofret-ete (Nefertiti) found during that dig.

Why it matters

Borchardt's excavation uncovered some of the most famous images of Nefertiti, including sculpture workshop finds. This book is a primary scholarly record from the excavator himself, written soon after the discoveries, and remains an important secondary source for understanding how her portraits were studied and interpreted.

Look closer

  • Why would the person who dug up the artifacts be especially well placed to write about them?
  • What might be lost by this book being written only in German?
  • How might early 20th-century ideas about beauty have shaped how Borchardt described Nefertiti's portraits?

This book is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Queen Nefereti on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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