WHAT SIGNIFICANCE DID NEFERTITI HAVE IN THE ARMANA PERIOD?? how did she share power with akhenaten??

Question

what significance did nefertiti have in the armana period??

Answer 1

"He was succeeded by his son Amenophis IV, who changed his name to Akhenaten. He moved the capital to a new city he built and called it Akhetaten. (The site of Akhetaten is often referred to as Armana from a nearby modern village.) Here with his new wife Nefertiti, he concentrated on building his new religion and ignored the world outside of Egypt."

"History of ancient Egypt : Eighteenth Dynasty" : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_ancient_Egypt#Eighteenth_Dynasty

"Nefertiti (the beauty that has come) was the Great Royal Wife (or chief consort/wife) of the Egyptian Pharaoh Amenhotep IV (later Akhenaten). She was the mother-in-law and probable stepmother of the Pharaoh Tutankhamun. One of her daughters married Tutankhamen. Nefertiti may have also ruled in her own right under the name Neferneferuaten-Nefertiti (meaning, the Aten is radiant of radiance because the Beautiful has arrived) briefly after her husband's death and before the accession of Tutankhamun, although this identification is doubted by the latest research."

"In Year 4 of his reign (1346 BC) Amenhotep IV started his worship of Aten. The king led a religious revolution, in which Nefertiti played a prominent role. This year is also believed to mark the beginning of his construction of a new capital, Akhetaten, at what is known today as Amarna. In his Year 5, Amenhotep IV officially changed his name to Akhenaten as evidence of his new worship. The date given for the event has been estimated to fall around January 2 of that year. In Year 7 of his reign (1343 BC) the capital was officially moved from Thebes to Amarna, though construction of the city seems to have continued for two more years (till 1341 BC). The new city was dedicated to the royal couple's new religion. Nefertiti's famous bust is also thought to have been created around this time."

"During Akhenaten's reign (and perhaps after) Nefertiti enjoyed unprecedented power, and was perhaps the most powerful woman on earth. Some time during the reign she was made co-regent: the pharaoh's equal. She was depicted on temple walls the same size as the king, signifying her importance, and shown worshiping the Aten alone. Perhaps most impressively, Nefertiti is shown on a relief from the temple at Amarna which is now in the MFA in Boston, smiting a foreign enemy with a mace before the Aten. Such depictions are reserved for the pharaoh alone, and yet Nefertiti was depicted as such."

"In keeping with the theory above, Nefertiti is perhaps responsible for abandoning the Aten religion, and moving the capital back to Thebes. This would have been the only way to please both the people and the powerful priests of Amun. Nefertiti would have prepared for her death and for the succession of her daughter, now named Ankhasunamun, and her stepson, Tutankhamun. They would have been educated in the traditional way, worshiping the old gods. Nefernefruaten dies after two years of kingship."

"She was succeeded by Tutankhamen, who is thought to have been a son of either Amenhotep III or Akhenaten. He married Nefertiti's daughter Ankhesenpaaten. The royal couple were young and inexperienced, by any estimation of their age, and Ankhesenpaaten bore two still born (and pre-mature) daughters whose mummies were found by Howard Carter in Tutankhamen's tomb. Some theories believe that Nefertiti was still alive and had an influence on them. If this is the case that influence and presumably her own life would have ended by year 3 of Tutankhaten's reign (1331 BC). In that year, Tutankhaten changed his name to Tutankhamun, as evidence of his worship of Amun, and abandoned Amarna to return the capital to Thebes."

"As can be seen by the suggested identifications between Tadukhipa, Nefertiti, Smenkhkare and Kiya, the records of their time and their lives are largely incomplete, and the findings of both archaelogists and historians may develop new theories vis-à-vis Nefertiti and her precipitous exit from the public stage."

"Nefertiti" : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nefertiti

Answer 2

Oh boy- you're gonna get a lot of looney answers on this one. The real answer is that it's unclear. Most of the theories are just based on artistic portrayals and people reading WAY too much into it.