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Akhenaten and Nefertiti ...... The love story does not die 

   

 We are now in 1375 BC .. I mean, since 33 centuries ago .. 

Here, Amenhotep the lll, father of Amenhotep lV,  has left this world for the next one. Amenhotep lll, co-ruled with his father for ten years but now he is he sole ruler in his place.

His mother, Queen Tiye, was secretly worried, for she saw the spiritual viewpoint of her son. She saw that he had the light of god in his eyes and that he was destined for a higher life.

Queen Tiye, herself an Israelite, wanted her son to be in a love-filled marriage for she could see that her son would need all of her support and love in order to continue the work his father had begun, that of changing the status of the Priesthood of Amun.

And thus, the boy and girl who had played together as children, pretending to be husband and wife, truly were. They painted their hair black and wore scarves which spoke of their semi-divine status. They lay on pillows in their papyrus boat, rowed by slaves, and drifted along the waters.

She was a beautiful wife and her twinkled with happiness as she showed the world that she was not ashamed of the love she felt for her husband and for the world.

She cut her hair short, shorter than was fashionable at the time. When she appeared at a formal occasion she would wear a royal blue veil with a red crown, symbolising the protection of life. Its red ribbon trailing out behind her, her status of ownership.

After meals with her family the nurses would come and take care of the children. She loved spending time with them. Her family were precious to her.

At special times they would stand at the Window of Appearance and throw flowers and gold jewellery to their faithful followers in Akhetaten. They showered them with love, their love and the love of the Aten. Many gold tributes were sent to them there in their holy city, presents and gifts from far-flung parts of the empire.

Every morning they awoke to songs of praise, and they each went, hand in hand, to their private bathrooms.

The royal handmaidens would bather her in beautifully scented water, then would apply expensive scented olive oils to her skin. If she was to attend a royal function they would burn sandalwood and the scent of this would permeate the oil on her body, adding its sacred scent to the oils.

Her hands and feet would be smeared with reddish-pink henna and when it was dry she would be dressed in a dress of transparent linen. Her slave placed beautiful sandals on her feet polished brass and carved ivory. Next they applied the black make-up on her eyes, and darkened her own already black eyebrows.  They applied black kohl to her eyes, to protect them from the glare of the sun and dust of the desert. Red was on her lips and then her handmaid put on the jewellery that she was to wear. Rings, necklaces, ear-rings and bracelets. Then she would instruct the  supervisor of the Royal Wardrobe to select the  dress which she herself had chosen to wear.

The beauty of Nefertiti became legendary and the people would gather to get a look of her whenever she accompanied her husband.

After appearing at the Window of Appearances they would go together to the Solar Temple and bring offerings of fruit and flowers. They would pray and bring the light of the Aten, the great Central Sun, into their bodies and then send this energy out to the people and the land so that all would know the Aten and rejoice.

When they were finished they would leave the temple to joyous music and the singing of the priests. Then they would be seen by the people, eat their midday meal and sleep, during the hottest hours of the day.

When they awoke and the shadows on the hills had deepened they would ride out in their carriage together, often accompanied by some of their children. The would ride along the sacred road, the Royal Mile, towards the Queen’s summer palace. This was their regular route and had a sacred significance.

At the summer palace they could rest in the shade of the trees and feel the cool of the waters from the lake. As she trailed her hands in the water she remembered her life as a child  when she had done the same thing with her best friend, Amenhotep, all those years ago.

She was Isis incarnate, the Great Mother of all. As she walked flowers were strewn at her feet and jewel-encrusted flowers were worn on her body, along with richly scented expensive oils and perfumes for her head.

It was their great love for each other, Akhenaten and Nefertiti, which, like a beam of sunlight, exposed the masks of untruths which had been the way for many years.

Akhenaten felt the strength of creations energy, he loved life itself. He saw that all things were the manifestation of Light and Love, and sought to represent this light in everything he created. He wanted art to be real, and true, and so he instructed the artisans to make life-like sculptures of him and his family. Why create what is not true? Was it not better to see things as they truly are?

They had left behind them the old life in Thebes and many dignitaries from other lands would come to Akhetaten to ask for help  and Akhenaten would always offer them hospitality. However, he would naught else. He would not resolve their disputes, would not get involved.

He was not interested in anything but the life he had with Nefertiti and his children, his spiritual creation  and his vision. But dark clouds were looming over bright Akhetaten.

The dark clouds of conspiracies and lies.

But Ann, the beautiful story has a sad ending.

Akhenaten was dead and the once-defeated priests of Amun, freed by his death and filled with rancour and hatred, destroyed and smashed all of his beautiful creations leaving Nefertiti to spin down into a never-ending spiral of loss and despair. The vision lost…never to return.

Until now…

Written by Omar