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Primary sourceSculpturec. 1347-1330 BCE

Relief of Queen Nefertiti

c. 1347-1330 BCE

A sandstone relief fragment from the Amarna period depicting Queen Nefertiti in profile, with hieroglyphic inscriptions.

This relief fragment is identified by the museum as a portrait of Nefertiti in formal royal dress.

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Photo of a sandstone relief fragment with a carved human figure in profile facing left, wearing a tall headdress and a pleated garment, with hieroglyphs carved in vertical columns on the right. The background is a plain gray gradient.
Relief of Queen Nefertiti, Amarna Period, c. 1347-1330 BCE. Metropolitan Museum of Art.

About this source

What it is

This sandstone relief fragment, dated about 1347-1330 BCE, shows a figure in profile wearing a tall headdress and pleated garment, identified as Queen Nefertiti, with hieroglyphs carved beside her. It dates from the Amarna Period, during Akhenaten's reign, and is held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Why it matters

Reliefs like this were part of the distinctive art style developed under Akhenaten, which showed royal figures, including Nefertiti, with elongated features and in detailed formal dress. As a surviving fragment with her name or title likely recorded in the hieroglyphs, it helps historians identify and study depictions of Nefertiti across different collections.

Look closer

  • What details in the headdress and clothing suggest this figure is royal?
  • Why might only a fragment of the original relief have survived?
  • What might the hieroglyphs next to the figure have originally recorded?

This sculpture 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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Primary source

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