The move to a new capital, Akhenaten/Amarna, brought essential changes in the depictions of royal women. It was in their female imagery, above all, that the artists of Amarna departed from the traditional iconic representations to emphasize the individual, the natural, in a way unprecedented in Egyptian art.

During a brief seventeen-year reign (ca. 1353-1336 B.C.) the pharaoh Amenhotep IV/Akhenaten, founder of the world's first known monotheistic religion, devoted his life and the resources of his kingdom to the worship of the Aten (a deity symbolized by the sun disk) and thus profoundly affected history and the history of art. The move to a new capital, Akhenaten/Amarna, brought essential changes in the depictions of royal women. It was in their female imagery, above all, that the artists of Amarna departed from the traditional iconic representations to emphasize the individual, the natural, in a way unprecedented in Egyptian art. A picture of exceptional intimacy emerges from the sculptures and reliefs of the Amarna Period. Akhenaten, his wife Nefertiti, and their six daughters are seen in emotional interdependence even as they participate in cult rituals. The female principle is emphasized in astonishing images: the aging Queen Mother Tiye, the mysterious Kiya, and Nefertiti, whose painted limestone bust in Berlin is the best-known work from ancient Egypt - perhaps from all antiquity. The workshop of the sculptor Thutmose - one of the few artists of the period whose name is known to us - revealed a treasure trove when it was excavated in 1912. An entire creative process is traced through an examination of the work of Thutmose and his assistants, who lived in a highly structured environment. All was left behind when Amarna was abandoned after the death of Akhenaten and the return to religious orthodoxy.

The Amarna Period, named after the site of an innovative capital city that was the center of the new religion, included the reigns of heretic Pharaoh Akhenaten and his presumed son, the boy king Tutankhamun.

A fascinating look at the artistically productive reign of Hatshepsut, a female pharaoh in ancient Egypt

Little is known about Nefertiti, the Egyptian queen whose name means “a beautiful woman has come.” She was the wife of Akhenaten, the pharaoh who ushered in the dramatic Amarna Age, and she bore him at least six children. She played a prominent role in political and religious affairs, but after Akhenaten’s death she apparently vanished and was soon forgotten. Yet Nefertiti remains one of the most famous and enigmatic women who ever lived. Her instantly recognizable face adorns a variety of modern artifacts, from expensive jewelry to cheap postcards, t-shirts, and bags, all over the world. She has appeared on page, stage, screen, and opera. In Britain, one woman has spent hundreds of thousands of pounds on plastic surgery in hope of resembling the long-dead royal. This enduring obsession is the result of just one object: the lovely and mysterious Nefertiti bust, created by the sculptor Thutmose and housed in Berlin’s Neues Museum since before World War II. In Nefertiti’s Face, Egyptologist Joyce Tyldesley tells the story of the bust, from its origins in a busy workshop of the late Bronze Age to its rediscovery and controversial removal to Europe in 1912 and its present status as one of the world’s most treasured artifacts. This wide-ranging history takes us from the temples and tombs of ancient Egypt to wartime Berlin and engages the latest in Pharaonic scholarship. Tyldesley sheds light on both Nefertiti’s life and her improbable afterlife, in which she became famous simply for being famous.

She knows she's going to kill the man she loves. She just doesn't know why yet. Ankhesenamun needs to produce an heir to the throne -- quickly. Pharaoh Tutankhamun is young and weak. His chief advisors are planning his quiet removal and Ankhesenamun hopes to hold them off by producing an heir who can become a stronger Pharaoh. When Pharaoh's advisors move the court from the desert city of Akhetaten back to ancient Memphis, Ankhesenamun is thrown into a new world of danger, secrets, and old gods. Her dreams warn her of a blond-haired man who she will fall desperately in love with -- and who will die by her own hand. When the man from her dreams suddenly enters her life, she realises just how hard it's going to be to stay away from him. Forgetting the warnings, she throws herself into an affair with him. After all, she's supposed to be producing an heir. As his secrets start to be revealed, she searches for a way to save him. But saving his life might lead him to a fate worse than death. Queen of Egypt is the first book in a new series set in 18th Dynasty Egypt in a world where the old gods have been worshipped for thousands of years and magic is a matter of belief. For readers of historical fantasy who enjoy magical realism and an ancient world setting. This series features a famous Egyptian queen and a fantasy quest.