Featured Object

Figurines of Akhenaten, Nefertiti and princess

Museum Number: UC004

This limestone statuette depicts a king, queen and princess in the Amarna style, and is thought to be the bodies of Akhenaten, Nefertiti and their daughter. Akhenaten was frequently represented in art as having effeminate features. In this statuette his physique is almost indistinguishable from Nefertiti’s. Many theories have been put forward about the meaning and origin of Akhenaten’s androgynous appearance. Although Freud discussed Egyptian mythology in connection with theories of hermaphroditism, he associated Akhenaten with rational masculinity.