Bust of Queen Nefertiti

The Nefertiti Bust is a painted stucco-coated limestone bust of Nefertiti, the Great Royal Wife of Egyptian pharaoh Akhenaten. The work is believed to have been crafted in by Thutmose because it was found in his workshop in Tell-el Amarna, Egypt. It is one of the most-copied works of ancient Egypt. Nefertiti has become one of the most famous women of the ancient world and an icon of feminine beauty. A German archaeological team led by Ludwig Borchardt discovered the bust in 1912 in Thutmose's workshop. Despite provisions that prohibited any items of great archaeological value from leaving Egypt, Borchardt concealed the nature of the bust by covering it in a layer of clay and smuggled it out of the country in 1913. It has been kept at various locations in Germany since its discovery, including the cellar of a bank, a salt-mine in Merkers-Kieselbach, the Dahlem museum, the Egyptian Museum in Charlottenburg and the Altes Museum. It is currently on display at the Neues Museum in Berlin, where it was originally displayed before World War II. The Nefertiti bust has become not only a defining emblem of ancient Egypt, but also a symbol of the grave impact that European colonialism has had on Egypt's history and culture. It has been the subject of an intense argument between Egypt and Germany over Egyptian demands for its repatriation, which began in 1924, once the bust was first displayed to the public, and more generally it fuelled discussions over the role museums play in undoing colonialism. Today, Egypt continues to demand the repatriation of the bust, whereas German officials and the Berlin Museum assert their ownership by citing an official protocol, signed by the German excavators and the French-led Egyptian Antiquities Service of the time.