Nefertiti Nfrt-jjtj Nfr.t = “the beautiful/perfect one” (fem.) | jj.tj = “she is come” Nefertiti was the chief wife and queen of Pharaoh Amenhotep IV (r. 1353–1336 BCE), who made the sun god Aten the supreme deity of ancient Egypt and changed his name to Akhenaten. Nefertiti’s full birth name, accordingly, celebrated the sun-disk by adding the name Nefer-nefru-aten (“Perfect/Beautiful is the perfection/beauty of Aten”). The translation of both Nefernefruaten and Nefertiti depends on the meaning of the first element—nfr. Tentatively vocalized as nefer, this word can mean both “beautiful” and “perfect,” hence the two possible meanings. In the name Nefertiti, the adjective nfr is used […]
