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Primary sourceSculpturec. 1353-1347 BCE

Talatat Relief Portrait of Nefertiti from Karnak

c. 1353-1347 BCE

A carved stone block (talatat) from Akhenaten's Aten temple at Karnak, showing a portrait of Queen Nefertiti.

Nefertiti is the subject of this temple relief, which the museum notes shows her more often than Akhenaten himself.

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Carved stone talatat block with a portrait of Nefertiti in relief.
Talatat relief portrait of Nefertiti, from Akhenaten's Aten temple at Karnak, c. 1353-1347 BCE. Cleveland Museum of Art.

About this source

What it is

This is a talatat, a small standardized stone block used in building projects of Akhenaten's reign, carved with a portrait of Nefertiti. It comes from the temple complex Akhenaten built to the sun god Aten at Karnak, dating to around 1353-1347 BCE. It is now held at the Cleveland Museum of Art.

Why it matters

Akhenaten built this Aten temple before moving Egypt's capital to Amarna, as part of his religious changes away from the traditional god Amun. According to the museum's record, Nefertiti appears in these temple reliefs far more often than Akhenaten himself, for reasons not fully understood, showing her striking prominence in his religious program. Ironically, the Aten temples were later dismantled and their blocks reused as building material for temples to Amun.

Look closer

  • Why might Nefertiti have appeared more often than Akhenaten in these temple scenes?
  • What does the reuse of these blocks tell us about the fate of Akhenaten's religious changes after his death?
  • What is missing from a single carved block that a full temple might have shown?

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