137: The Death of Nefertiti

A Short-Lived Reign. By 1344 BCE, Nefer-neferu-Aten (Nefertiti) was in her mid-thirties. She did not have long to live. In her third regnal year, the King of Egypt died. Her death is mysterious: was it natural, an accident, or murder? Studying Nefertiti's last years, and the mummy that might belong to her, we go in search of answers. How did Nefertiti die? Website: www.egyptianhistorypodcast.com. Support the show via Patreon www.patreon.com/egyptpodcast. Make a one-time donation via PayPal payments. Music by Keith Zizza www.keithzizza.com. Music by Ancient Lyric www.bettinajoydeguzman.com. Music by Jeffrey Goodman www.jeffreygoodmanmusic.com Select Bibliography: Dodson, Aidan. Amarna Sunrise: Egypt From Golden Age to Age of Heresy. Cairo: American University in Cairo Press, 2014. Dodson, Aidan. Nefertiti: Queen and Pharaoh of Egypt, Her Life and Afterlife. Cairo: American University in Cairo Press, 2020. Dodson, Aidan. Amarna Sunset: Nefertiti, Tutankhamun, Ay, Horemheb, and the Egyptian Counter-Reformation. 2nd Edition. Cairo: American University in Cairo Press, 2017. Hawass, Zahi, Yehia Z. Gad, Somaia Ismail, Rabab Khairat, Dina Fathalla, Naglaa Hasan, Amal Ahmed, et al. ‘Ancestry and Pathology in King Tutankhamun’s Family’. JAMA 303, no. 7 (17 February 2010): 638–47. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2010.121. Hawass, Zahi, and Sahar N. Saleem. Scanning the Pharaohs: CT Imaging in the New Kingdom Royal Mummies. Cairo: American University in Cairo Press, 2016. Murnane, William J. Texts from the Amarna Period in Egypt. Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1995. Paulshock, Bernadine Z. ‘Tutankhamun’s Mother’. JAMA 249, no. 16 (22 April 1983): 2178–2178. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.1983.03330400030014. Reeves, Nicholas. ‘The Tomb of Tutankhamun (KV62): Supplementary Notes (The Burial of Nefertiti? III).’ Amarna Royal Tombs Project, Valley of the Kings, Occasional Paper No. 5 (2020). Academia Reeves, Nicholas. “The Decorated North Wall in the Tomb of Tutankhamun (KV62) (The Burial of Nefertiti? II).’ Amarna Royal Tombs Project, Valley of the Kings, Occasional Paper No. 3 (2019). Academia Reeves, Nicholas. ‘The Burial of Nefertiti?’ Amarna Royal Tombs Project, Valley of the Kings, Occasional Paper No. 1 (2015). Academia Reeves, Nicholas. ‘The Gold Mask of Ankhkheperure Neferneferuaten’. Journal of Ancient Egyptian Interconnections 7 (2015): 77–79. Reeves, Nicholas. ‘Tutankhamun’s Mask Reconsidered’. Bulletin of the Egyptological Seminar: The Art and Culture of Ancient Egypt: Studies in Honor of Dorothea Arnold 19 (2015): 511–26. Smith, Grafton Elliot. The Royal Mummies. London: Duckworth, 1912. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices