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Primary sourceArtifact

Relief of Akhenaten, Nefertiti, and Two Daughters Adoring the Aten

A limestone relief showing Nefertiti and Akhenaten with two daughters worshipping the sun god Aten, a standard image of Atenist devotion.

Nefertiti is shown worshipping the Aten alongside Akhenaten and their daughters, illustrating her religious role.

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Photograph of a large limestone relief in a museum display. Akhenaten, with elongated head and bare body, and Nefertiti, wearing a tall crown, face the sun disk with rays ending in hands. Two small daughters stand before them; altars with offerings are at right, and columns of hieroglyphs fill the upper left. A glass case with small objects is below.
Relief of Akhenaten, Nefertiti and two daughters adoring the Aten. Egyptian Museum, Cairo.

About this source

What it is

This limestone relief from Egypt shows Akhenaten and Nefertiti, with their two daughters, facing the sun disk Aten, whose rays end in hands. It is displayed at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo.

Why it matters

The scene is a classic example of Atenist worship, the religious movement centered on the sun god Aten that Akhenaten and Nefertiti promoted. Nefertiti's prominent place in the scene, wearing a tall crown, shows her active role in this new form of royal religion.

Look closer

  • What do the hands at the end of the sun's rays suggest about how the Aten was imagined?
  • Why might the artist have included the daughters in this religious scene?
  • What does Nefertiti's crown tell us about her status compared to Akhenaten's?

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Painted limestone bust of an Egyptian queen wearing a tall blue crown with a red and green band and a gold-colored brow band. The eyes are inlaid with dark outlines, and the bust rests on a dark base against a black background.Sculpture

Primary source

Bust of Queen Nefertiti

Thutmose · c. 1345 BC

Black-and-white photograph of a painted bust of a woman with a tall flat-topped crown, side-facing, on a dark rectangular pedestal set on a pale plinth. The collar has striped and patterned bands.Sculpture

Primary source

Figure of Nefertiti

Close-up detail of an Amarna limestone relief. A seated woman wearing a tall flat-topped crown is at right, with a sun disc and rays above. At left, a smaller figure with a child's head is seated near her, and carved hieroglyphs fill the background.Sculpture

Primary source

Akhenaten and His Family

c. 1352 BC

Photo of a curved, blue glazed ceramic fragment with white body edge, covered in raised concentric ring motifs with dots. Two holes pierce the piece near its center, with a scale bar along the bottom.Sculpture

Primary source

Relief Fragment Showing the Blue Crown of Nefertiti

Black-and-white line drawing of columns of Egyptian hieroglyphic text arranged in vertical lines, with cartouches visible, copied from a wall inscription. This is a facsimile of the Great Hymn to the Aten.Document

Primary source

Great Hymn to the Aten

Akhenaten · c. 1350 BC

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