On Nov 6, 12:40 am, heremon <kevin.ki...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
> Would somebody like Nefertiti still be given the crossed forearm,
> under the possible cir***stances under which her reign ended? Even if
> she'd held onto power as Smenkhare after Akhenaten's passing, there
> would still have been some question as to her legitamacy.
The problem you have is the right arm, bent or straight, does not
imply the female was a ruler.
The Elder Lady (also buried in KV 35) also has a bent right arm, and
has been thought to be Queen Tiye. Yet, it IS known that royal wives
often held a foral style sceptre in their right hand as part of their
"badge of office" (Stricker 1960). This means that the "Younger Woman"
of KV 35, whom Fletcher is determined to claim as Nefertiti AND as a
ruler (because of the various Samson/Harris/Krauss/Gabolde theories of
a female regent after Akhenaten (though contra, see Allen 1994)),
could simply be a queen of the New Kingdom, even of the Amarna period,
and still NOT be a "ruler."
> If that facial wound were inflicted before death, it is likely that
> her attacker was aligned with those who took power afterwards. They
> might have been inclined to downgrade her status by denying the
> crossed arm.
All evidence points to the facial injury being made post-mortem -
whether political or tomb robber (more likely), it was not the cause
of death.
> One thing that arises when appraising this mummy--the bandages inside
> the exposed mouth. Was the mouth typically filled with a rolled
> bandage, or only in the case of a gaping gash across the cheek?
Bandages were used to "fill out" a face during the New Kingdom
mummifcation techniques. Mummification tends to draw the skin of the
face inward so it appears very gaunt, so embalmers fill in the mouth,
and sometimes the nose, with fabric such as rolled linen to make the
face appear more fleshy. This is also true of embalming today, BTW.
Ramses I's CT scan showed bandages were used throught his torso to
"fill out" his body, wracked by age and ill health.
The most extravagant use of facial filling was in the case of Queen
Hennatawy, wife of Psuennes I (21st Dynasty), where embalmers went to
such lengths to stuff the face with bandages to make her appear
"lifelike" that, upon dessication and contraction of the facial tissue
after interment, her face "exploded" from the pressure of the bandages
within her mouth. For an image of this phenomenon, see
http://www.geocities.com/neseret/Images/Hennatawy.jpg
References:
Allen, J. 1994. Nefertiti and Smenkh-ka-re. G=F6ttinger Miszellen 141:
7-17.
Gabolde, M. 1998. _D'Akhenaton =E0 Tut=E2nkhamon_. Collection de
l'Institut d'Archaeologie et d'Histoire de l'Antiquite 3. Lyon/Paris:
Universite Lumiere-Lyon 2, Institut d'Archaeologie et d'Histoire de
l'Antiquite/Diffusion de Boccard.
Harris, J. R. 1973. Nefertiti rediviva, AcOr, [Copenhagen] 35: 5-13.
_________. 1973. Nefernefruaten. G=F6ttinger Miszellen 4: 15-17.
Krauss, R. 1978. _Das Ende der Amarnazeit. Beitr=E4ge zur Geschichte
und Chronologie des Neuen Reiches_. Hildesheimer =C4gyptologische
Beitr=E4ge 7. A. Eggebrecht. Hildesheim: Gerstenberg Verlag, (Arguing
that Meritaten, not Nefertiti, was the female regent after Akhenaten -
position also held by Gabolde, above)
Samson, J. 1978. _City of Akhenaten and Nefertiti. Nefertiti as
Pharaoh._ Warminster: Aris & Phillips Ltd.
_________. 1985. _Nefertiti and Cleopatra. Queen-Monarchs of Ancient
Egypt_. London: Rubicon Press,
Stricker, B. H. 1960. Graeco-Egyptische private sculptuur. OMRO 41:
18-30.
HTH.
Regards --
Katherine Griffis-Greenberg, M. A. (Lon)
Member, International Association of Egyptologists
ARCE, BANEA, EES, ASOR
Doctoral Program (Egyptology)
Oriental Studies
University of Oxford
Oxford, United Kingdom
http://www.griffis-consulting.com
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