Who Owns the Bust of Nefertiti?

We all recognize the image of Nefertiti, the wife of Pharaoh Akhenaten, who ruled Egypt in the 14th century B.C.E. The limestone and stucco sculpture is 47 centimeters (18.5 inches) tall, with its original colors mostly intact. If the image is accurate, she was a beautiful woman. The visage matches other depictions of Nefertiti from the city that Akhenaten built, Tell el-Amarna.

The bust of Nefertiti resides in the Neues Museum in Berlin, a gift from German art collector James Simon in 1920. Simon did not find the bust, but he financed the German archaeological expedition that did. A team led by Ludwig Borchardt unearthed the bust on December 6, 1912, from a workshop identified as that of the sculptor named Thutmose. Borchardt wrote of the bust, "Description is useless, must be seen." The custom of the time was that Egyptian artifacts would be split between the archaeologists and Egyptian authorities, but there is some doubt as to whether those authorities ever got to fully see Nefertiti.

The ownership of the bust has been a sore spot between Egypt and Germany ever since. Even Hitler got involved, which is why to bust is still in Berlin. Read about the bust of Nefertiti and the hundred-year controversy over where it belongs at Smithsonian.  

(Image credit: Philip Pikart)