Nefertiti bust unearthed - December 6, 1912

On this day in 1912, the now-iconic bust of Nefertiti was unearthed in Egypt. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
This Day in History Class. It's a production of I
Heart Radio. Hi everyone, I'm Eve's Welcome to This Day
in History Class, a podcast for folks who can never
have enough history knowledge. Today is December sixteen. The day

(00:24):
was December six, nineteen twelve. A team led by German
archaeologist Ludwig Borchard unearthed a limestone bust of ancient Egyptian
queen Nefertidi. The bust has since become an iconic and
often copied representation of Nefertidi. Nefer Tdi reigned as queen
of Egypt in the fourteenth century BC, and she was

(00:47):
the wife of the feral Akatin of the eighteenth dynasty
of Egypt. Borchard and a team of archaeologists from the
German Oriental Society were excavating at Amarna, a site in Egypt,
when they a bust of Nefertidi in the workshop of
a sculptor named foot Mosa. Borchart described the bus in
his diary, but then wrote that there was no use

(01:09):
in describing the art and that you have to see it.
The bus is about nineteen inches or forty eight centimeters tall.
It's made of limestone and coated with layers of painted stucco.
Nefertidi is wearing a tall, flat topped blue crown with
the golden Dietem band wrapped around it and a broken
ureus or cobra in the front. She is also wearing

(01:31):
a patterned collar, and the pupil of her right eye
is made of quartz, thus painted black. Her left eye
does not have the same crystal inlay. In January of nine,
the excavation finds from Amarna were divided into two lists.
Gustav Lefevo, inspector of the Egyptian Antiquity Service, did not
take the list that had Nefertidis bust on it. Nefertidi,

(01:53):
as well as other bus were awarded to Berlin. The
artifacts came under the possession of philanthropists James Simon, co
founder and treasurer of the German Oriental Society and founder
of the Amarna excavations. Simon donated the works he had
from Amarana to the new Museum in Berlin. An ownership
of the artifacts was transferred to the State of Prussia.

(02:15):
Though many finds from the Amarna excavation were put on display,
the nefer Td bust was not shown to the public
until an exhibition in Berlin in nineteen twenty four. During
World War Two, the Nazis moved the bust for safekeeping,
but after the war the bus was displayed in West Berlin.
In nineteen fifty seven, a decade after the State of

(02:36):
Prussia dissolved, the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation became the legal
owner of the neffer TV bust. Today, the sculpture is
part of the Egyptian Museum of Berlin collection and it's
on display at the new museum, but Egypt has been
calling for the return of the bus since nineteen four.
Pierre Leco, director of the Egyptian Antiquity Service, requested it's

(02:59):
re patriation that year. Dr Zahi Hawas, former Secretary General
of the Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities, believes the bus
was taken from Egypt illegally and has called for the
return of antiquities taken out of Egypt during the colonial era.
Despite Egyptian authorities persistent attempts to reclaim Nefertids Bust and

(03:21):
some German recognition of concern surrounding ethics and appropriation, the
Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation still claims ownership of the bust.
Swiss art historian on Re steer Land and historian Air
Devar and Air Juan have both claimed that the bus
is a fake, but those claims have been dismissed as
publicity stunts since scientific analysis has verified its authenticity. I'm

(03:47):
Eves Jeff Coote and hopefully you know a little more
about history today than you did yesterday. You can find
us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram at t d i
h C podcast. We also accept electronic letters at this
day at I heart media dot com. Thanks again for

(04:08):
listening and have a fantastic twenty four hours until we
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