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Queen Nefertiti

The "Colorful Queen"

"There is no image from ancient Egypt more popular than her countenance. It was only when Nefertiti emerged from the shadows of obscurity one hundred years ago that Egyptian art - once merely considered an element of archaeology - became a part of world culture. This portrait of a woman possessing an incomparable and alluring beauty has since shaped the human ideal of elegance and dignity.(...)"

(ibid., p. 36)

Queen Nefertiti, New Kingdom, 18th Dynasty, Amarna period, circa 1340 B.C., Limestone, plaster, Height: 50 cm, Tell el-Amarna: grid square 47.2/ area 19, Gift of 1920 - Egyptian Museum, Inv.-Nr. 21300; ibid., Fig. p. 37
Queen Nefertiti, New Kingdom, 18th Dynasty, Amarna period, circa 1340 B.C., Limestone, plaster, Height: 50 cm, Tell el-Amarna: grid square 47.2/ area 19, Gift of 1920 - Egyptian Museum, Inv.-Nr. 21300; ibid., Fig. p. 37

Tell el-Amarna

"The German Egyptologist Ludwig Borchardt had worked since 1898 as scientific attaché at the imperial general consulate in Cairo. In 1901 he convinced Simon of the necessity of German archaeologists in Egypt. Simon financed the private share of the excavations to a large degree himself, as the other members of the Orient Society were far less generous in questions of monetary concern. Parts of an Old Kingdom temple were among the first finds sent to Berlin. In 1906 Borchardt was able to reserve the excavation licence for Tell el-Amarna, the new city erected by Amenophis IV (Akhenaten) 300 kilometers south of Cairo, for Germany. But it was only in 1911, after Simon declared himself willing to undertake the excavations in his own name and at personal cost, that the historcal adventure began which would cumulate in the discovery of the Nefertiti bust.

The excavation protocol dated December 6, 1912 noted: "Describing it is useless, one must see it!" This observation applied to the entire range of obscure but realistic art of the Akhenaten period; the world discovered an unknown epoch of art history closely tied to the modern in a mysterious way.

Presntation of the nefertiti bust on site: excavation leader Professor Hermann Ranke (left), a foreman (right) and two visitors from Saxony (in the background), December 6, 1912;  ibid., Fig. p. 17
Presntation of the nefertiti bust on site: excavation leader Professor Hermann Ranke (left), a foreman (right) and two visitors from Saxony (in the background), December 6, 1912; ibid., Fig. p. 17

Top ranks of Egyptology

The Tell el- Amarna finds were exhibited in Berlin in 1913. James Simon bequeathed the Nefertiti and other objects to the museum in 1920, triggering a wave of enthusiasm for Egypt that has not yet subsided. Berlin was catapulted to the top ranks of Egyptology, and it was also Egyptology which fostered the relationship between patron and Emperor Wilhelm II. This placed Simon among the group of "Emperor Jews", a small circle of Jewish bourgeoisie with close contact to the monarch.
Emperor  Wilhelm II in parade uniform, photograph with the personal dedication "In appreciation for the valuable and unremitting services of the Orient Society", 1903; ibid., Fig. p. 16
Emperor Wilhelm II in parade uniform, photograph with the personal dedication "In appreciation for the valuable and unremitting services of the Orient Society", 1903; ibid., Fig. p. 16

Promoter and Financier of the German Orient Society

Simon was introduced to the emperor during the Kiel Regatta in 1901 as promoter and financier of the German Orient Society. Wilhelm's motives in associating with the "Emperor Jews" were always guided by interests of a practical and egotistical nature. In Simon's case, however, there also appears to have been a level of respect for the patron's comprehensive education. The emperor always visited Simon when the newest additions to the collection were ready for viewing. In 1913 he was among the first to see the bust of Nefertiti and was so impressed that Simon presented him with the first of now innumerable copies. Wilhelm supported Simon's activities through patronage and donations, and Simon expressed his gratitude with Hohenzollern memorabilia he gave to the emperor on his birthdays. A type of friendship actually seems to have developed, in spite of the distance between the two men's intellectual and political worlds. Simon's attempts, for example, to elicit a demonstrative gesture from the emperor against the growing anti-Semitism of 1914 were politely ignored. (...)"

(ibid., p. 17-18)