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