OK, so I watched the Discovery Channel special on Nefertiti the other night. Most interesting, but it raised a few questions. I plan to get a few books and do a little google-ing, but I thought surely a Doper might also have some answers. So:
Who is Joann Fletcher, exactly? She’s described as a “freelance” Egyptologist. I’m assuming that means she’s not associated with a University.(?) So how is she considered by others in the profession? A crackpot or a respected Egyptologist or somewhere in-between?
I’m not necessarily inclined to disagree that she may have found Nefertiti, but some of the things that were mentioned, I wondered about. For example, what about this theory that Nefertiti became Smenkhare? Is this considered one of a numer of theories, a real possibility or something out of left field? A quick Google seems to indicate that this is not a new theory, but I couldn’t tell how much credence it has.
And what about her looks? I understand that the literature of the time all indicated that she was a great beauty - but some of thos carvings do NOT show an attractive woman. The program kept talking about the famous bust in the Berlin museum and whether the facial reconstruction of the mummy would match that bust. But how do they know the bust is the more realistic portrait? As I mentioned, some of the carvings show a woman who does NOT seem to resemble the woman in the bust at all.
Oh, and one more thing. In the program, Fletcher talks of many “discoveries” she’s made which she believes add credence to her Nefertitit-as-Smenkhare theory. One is the tomb of her husband Akhenaten - according to Fletcher the figures on each corner of the actual coffin are Nefertitit herself, in a protective pose. According to Fletcher, this shows that Nefertitit was still alive when Akhenaten died. Huh? Why?
Enough questions for one morning. I obviously need to read some books.