The Amazing Discovery of the Bust of

Nefertiti
By Ben Morales-Correa
http://www.all-about-egypt.com/

Ever since the discovery of the bust of

Nefertiti, this beautiful limestone portrait has
been regarded as one of the greatest art
masterpieces in the world. It was found in the
atelier of the famed ancient Egyptian sculptor
Thutmose at Tel el Amarna, by the German
expedition of 1912. Chief archaeologist Ludwig
Borchard was so awed by its stunning beauty,
that he devised a scheme to smuggle the
piece out of Egypt.

Every archaeological discovery had in those days

to be brought before the Egyptian Antiquities
Authority for inventory and distribution between
Egypt and the archaeological expedition. This
committee supervised the split between the
objects that stayed in Egypt and those that were
allowed to leave the country. Borchard did not
clean the bust and intentionally covered it in
gypsum to make it look of lesser worth when he presented it to the Egyptian
authorities for the partition.

The painted limestone bust was put on exhibit in Berlin's Egyptian Museum in 1923,
eleven years after its discovery. The Egyptian government has since made attempts
to have the bust returned, but Germany has so far refused. Even Hitler felt in love
with the non Arian Egyptian lady, and announced that it would remain in Germany
forever.

Nefertiti has been in Germany for nine decades. Visitors come from all over the
world to admire her eternal beauty. Hopefully, in the near future, she will return to
her homeland and the new Grand Egyptian Museum. Almost a century after the
amazing discovery of the bust of Nefertiti, the meaning of her name still holds the
promise of her return: "The Beautiful One has Come".

Whose culture is it, anyway?

Finders keepers? What do you think?
When you visit museums in the principal cities around the world, you see all sorts of
artifacts from many cultures and epochs. A sizable portion of these objects were
taken out of their original context by legal and not so legal means. Early
archaeology involved looting national treasures as a result of imperial military
expeditions, principally by European powers that today boast these objects as a
matter of national pride.

The time has come for the legitimacy of possession of objects pillaged from their
original countries to be put into question.

Egypt has made a formal request for the return of five objects it considers essential
to its national heritage. The objects in question are the Rosetta Stone, now in the
British Museum in London, the bust of Nefertiti in the Egyptian Museum in Berlin,
the statue of Great Pyramid architect Hemiunnu in the Roemer-Pelizaeus Museum in
Hilesheim, the Dendera Temple Zodiac in the Louvre in Paris, and the bust of
Kephren pyramid builder Ankhaf in the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston.

The question of the return of stolen and looted art to their original countries is not
an easy one. On the one hand, museums in places like London, Paris and New York
are regarded as better equipped to preserve these ancient artifacts. They also
promote scientific research and contribute greatly to the value of these objects by
allowing millions of visitors to see them every year. In fact, economic considerations
weigh heavily against the return of an object of immense touristic attraction like the
Bust of Nefertiti. Another point to consider is that many of these archaeological
treasures belong to extinct civilizations not represented by the people or
government presently occupying that location.

Egypt has made strong advances toward the conservation of its national treasures,
including state-of-the-art technology and modern structural facilities. The country
can raise enormous resources to improve its archaeological site research and
restoration efforts by the boost in tourism these highly cherished treasures will
assuredly signify to the Egyptian economy. A possible compromise is to declare
these cultural artifacts the patrimony of its country of origin, but to keep them on
loan at museums in Europe and the United States.

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