Tuthmose II + Akhenaten and his wife Nefertiti
THUTMOSE II
Thutmose was born to Thutmose I, his predecessor, by one of his secondary queens, Mutnofret. Thutmose II married his fully royal half-sister, Hatshepsut, at an early age. According to an inscription from Aswān dated year one, a chief from northern Kush, around the Second Nile Cataract, fomented a revolt against Egyptian suzerainty and threatened the garrisons stationed in Nubia. The king dispatched a force with orders to quell the rebels and execute their males. One of the chief’s sons was taken captive to Egypt, probably to be Egyptianized and returned to his country as a client ruler. Some time later, as shown by the biography of one of the soldiers who had accompanied his father, Thutmose II sent forces against some Bedouins in southern Palestine.
Besides these references, little is known of Thutmose II’s reign. At Karnak he erected a festival court in front of the entrance pylon of the temple, and the court was continually adorned with royal monuments until it was demolished during the renovations of Amenhotep III. In western Thebes he built a small funerary temple, which his son later enlarged. No tomb has been positively identified as belonging to Thutmose II, although his mummy was discovered reburied in the royal cache.
By a woman of his harem, Thutmose II left a son who was still very young at his father’s death. As indicated by the king’s chief architect, although the young prince was elevated to the throne, it was his stepmother and regent, Hatshepsut, who governed Egypt.
There is doubt concerning the length of Thutmose II’s reign. Only his first year is positively attested, and while some scholars opt for a short reign of 3 or 4 years, others have proposed a 14- or even 18-year reign.
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| The mummified head of Thutmose II |
AKHENATEN
Akhenaten (r. 1353-1336 BCE) was a pharaoh of Egyptof the 18th Dynasty. He is also known as `Akhenaton’ or `Ikhnaton’ and also `Khuenaten’, all of which are translated to mean `successful for’ or `of great use to’ the god Aten. Akhenaten chose this name for himself after his conversion to the cult of Aten. Prior to this conversion, he was known as Amenhotep IV (or Amenophis IV). He was the son of Amenhotep III(1386-1353 BCE) and his wife Tiye, husband of Queen Nefertiti, and father of both Tutankhamun (by a lesser wife named Lady Kiya) and Tutankhamun’s wife Ankhsenamun (by Nefertiti).
His reign as Amenhotep IV lasted five years during which he followed the policies of his father and the religious traditions of Egypt. However, in the fifth year, he underwent a dramatic religious transformation, changed his devotion from the cult of Amun to that of Aten, and, for the next twelve years, became famous (or infamous) as the `heretic king’ who abolished the traditional religious rites of Egypt and instituted the first known monotheistic state religion in the world and, according to some, monotheism itself.
His reign is known as The Amarna Period because he moved the capital of Egypt from the traditional site at Thebes to the city he founded, Akhetaten, which came to be known as Amarna (also Tell el-Amarna). The Amarna Period is the most controversial era in Egyptian history and has been studied, debated, and written about more than any other.
Akhenaten’s Monotheism
Some historians have praised Akhenaten's reforms as the first instance of monotheism and the benefits of monotheistic belief; but these reforms were not at all beneficial to the people of Egypt at the time. The historian Durant, for example, writes that Akhenaten's reforms were "the first out-standing expression of monotheism - seven hundred years before Isaiah [of the Bible] and an astounding advance upon the old tribal deities" (210). Those `old tribal deities' of Egypt, however, had encouraged peace, harmony, and the development of one of the greatest ancient cultures the world has ever known.
The pharaoh as a servant of the gods, and identified with a certain god (most often Horus), was common practice in ancient Egypt but no one before Akhenaten had proclaimed himself an actual god incarnate. As a god, he seems to have felt that the affairs of state were beneath him and simply stopped attending to his responsibilities One of the many unfortunate results of Akhenaten's religious reforms was a neglect of foreign policy.
From documents and letters of the time it is known that other nations, formerly allies, wrote numerous times asking Egypt for help in various affairs and that most of these requests were ignored by the deified king. Egypt was a wealthy and prosperous nation at the time and had been steadily growing in power since before the reign of Queen Hatshepsut (1479-1458 BCE). Hatshepsut and her successors, such as Tuthmosis III (1458-1425 BCE), employed a balanced approach of diplomacy and military action in dealing with foreign nations; Akhenaten chose simply to largely ignore what happened beyond the borders of Egypt and, it seems, most things outside of his palace at Akhetaten.
Unlike the images from other dynasties of Egyptian history, the art from the Amarna Period depicts the royal family with elongated necks and arms and spindly legs (see below). Scholars have theorized that perhaps the king “suffered from a genetic disorder called Marfan’s syndrome” (Hawass, 36) which would account for these depictions of him and his family as so lean and seemingly oddly-proportioned.
A much more likely reason for this style of art, however, is the king’s religious beliefs. The Aten was seen as the one true god who presided over all and infused all living things. It was envisioned as a sun disk whose rays ended in hands touching and caressing those on earth. Perhaps, then, the elongation of the figures in these images was meant to show human transformation when touched by the power of the Aten.
Here are some examples of art from the Amarna period:
More information about Akhenaten: http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/egyptians/akhenaten_01.shtml
A very interesting and in depth documentary about Akhenaten's life and his religious views: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hPlHwTXi7tk
NEFERTITI
Nefertiti, also called Neferneferuaten-Nefertiti, (flourished 14th century BC), queen of Egypt and wife of King Akhenaton (formerly Amenhotep IV; reigned c. 1353–36 BC), who played a prominent role in the cult of the sun god known as the Aton.
Nefertiti’s parentage is unrecorded, but, as her name translates as “A Beautiful Woman Has Come,” early Egyptologists believed that she must have been a princess from Mitanni (Syria). There is strong circumstantial evidence, however, to suggest that she was the Egyptian-born daughter of the courtier Ay, brother of Akhenaton’s mother, Tiy. Although nothing is known of Nefertiti’s parentage, she did have a younger sister, Mutnodjmet. Nefertiti bore six daughters within 10 years of her marriage, the elder three being born at Thebes, the younger three at Tell el-Amarna. Two of her daughters became queens of Egypt.
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Late image of Nefertiti, sandstone, from Tell el-Amarna, Egypt, c. 1352–36 BCE; in the Brooklyn Museum, New York.
Photograph by Lisa O'Hara. Brooklyn Museum, New York, gift of the Egypt Exploration Society, 35.1999; CC-by-2.0
By the end of Akhenaton’s fifth regnal year, the Aton had become Egypt’s dominant national god. The old state temples were closed and the court transferred to a purpose-built capital city, Akhetaton (Amarna). Here Nefertiti continued to play an important religious role, worshipping alongside her husband and serving as the female element in the divine triad formed by the god Aton, the king Akhenaton, and his queen. Her sexuality, emphasized by her exaggeratedly feminine body shape and her fine linen garments, and her fertility, emphasized by the constant appearance of the six princesses, indicate that she was considered a living fertility goddess. Nefertiti and the royal family appeared on private devotional stelae and on the walls of nonroyal tombs, and images of Nefertiti stood at the four corners of her husband’s sarcophagus.
Some historians, having considered her reliefs and statuary, believe that Nefertiti may have acted as queen regnant—her husband’s coruler rather than his consort. However, the evidence is by no means conclusive, and there is no written evidence to confirm her political status.
Here's a few documentaries about Nefertiti that I found very interesting:
Documentary about Akhenaten and his wife Nefertiti: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yB0C-O_LGls
 Nefertiti was also depicted in a few movies throughout time:   
Nefertiti is such an iconic and well known figure and it has sparked the creativity in many artists. Here's some of my favourite works that I have found:
Nefertiti by LorenAssisi
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Inspired by these artworks, I thought I'd attempt drawing Nefertiti's famous bust.
Made in Paint Tool Sai (digital painting software very similar to Photoshop). I really enjoyed painting this and I plan on using this artwork further along in my project if needed.
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