Relief Fragment of Nefertiti Offering to the Aten

Place of OriginEgypt, from Akhetaten (modern Amarna)

DateNew Kingdom, Dynasty 18, reign of Akhen-aten, 1353-1336 BCE.

Dimensions4 5/8 × 5 5/8 × 1 5/8 in. (11.7 × 14.3 × 4.1 cm)

MediumLimestone with paint

ClassificationSculpture

Credit LineGift of the Egypt Exploration Society

Object number

1925.711

On View

Toledo Museum of Art (2445 Monroe Street), Gallery, 02, Classic

DescriptionCarved in sunken relief, this small limestone fragment shows a figure offering flowers to the Aten. Three solar rays with hands extend from the sun disk above. A neckline across the chest suggests female dress. Traces of red pigment remain on the figure, with faint color on the bouquet. Edges are broken, indicating it was once part of a larger scene.

Label TextDuring Egypt’s 18th Dynasty, Pharaoh Akhenaten revolutionized art and religion by worshipping a single god, the Aten, embodied as the sun disk. This relief fragment, excavated at the ancient capital of Akhetaten (modern Amarna), shows the pharaoh's wife Nefertiti presenting a bouquet to the solar deity. From the sun disk, three curving rays terminate in tiny hands, a hallmark of Atenist iconography. Though initially identified as Akhenaten due to traces of red paint, scholars now favor the identification of Nefertiti based on the visible line of a dress neckline.Published ReferencesLuckner, Kurt T., "The Art of Egypt, Part 2," Toledo Museum of Art Museum News, New Series: Vol. 14, No. 3, Fall 1971, p. 63, repr. Fig. 4.

Peck, William H., Sandra E. Knudsen and Paula Reich, Egypt in Toledo: The Ancient Egyptian Collection at the Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo, Toledo Museum of Art, 2011, p. 56-57, repr. (col.) p. 20, 57.

Fortenberry, Diane ed., Souvenirs and New Ideas: Travel and Collecting in Egypt and the Near East, Oxford, UK, Oxbow Books, 2013, p. 31, repr. fig. 3.10, p. 34.