Nefertiti Resurrected (2003)

LOVED BY A KING. HATED BY AN EMPIRE. ERASED FROM HISTORY. SHE COULD BE THE BIGGEST FIND SINCE KING TUT. Has the famed Egyptian beauty, Queen Nefertiti, been found in a secret chamber deep in the Valley of the Kings? A Discovery Channel Quest expedition, led by Dr. Joann Fletcher and a team of internationally renown scientists from the University of York Mummy research Team, hopes to find out. If they're right, the finding will be one of the greatest archaeological discoveries since Nefertiti's stepson - King Tutankhamen - was discovered in 1922. "Great Royal Wife" of the "renegade" pharaoh Akhenaten, Nefertiti was a mother of six who helped lead a religious revolution that changed Egypt and the world forever. Yet after her death, her enemies destroyed all evidence of Nefertiti's life. Now, drawing on 13 years of research, Fletcher and her team bring Nefertiti's turbulent reign to life as never before using cutting-edge computer animations to recreate ancient Egypt's great temples; x-rays to reveal the telltale signs of foul play on her mummy; and forensic graphics to recreate the mummy's face. Have they found the ancient world's greatest beauty?

Pure Garbage

This whole video is based on twisted facts and outright lies. The author Joanne Fletcher has been banned from entering Egypt. Her career is over because of the absolute abuse of the facts. The mummy she identified as Nefertiti has been proven to be a teenage boy. The Discovery Channel should be ashamed of themselves. January 10, 2008

interesting

I have actually enjoyed it.
interesting.
I guess we all look alike when we die.
All bones.
I wonder where Akhenatens body is?And what have they done with Nefertiti's REAL body.so many mysteries.
eventually it was a male not a female after the dna tests done in cairo.
I would watch it again.
just like watching a movie. January 6, 2007

Back in the Box

I just read that Joann Fletcher got banned from doing Egyptology in Egypt because she didn't follow Zahi "Zowie" Hawass' procedure of letting him announce everything. He does indeed appear in the video, making quite reasonable remarks about how there's no evidence in favor of Fletcher's thesis. Kent Weeks, excavator of KV5, also appears, suggesting that her claim isn't that farfetched, but that it will have to wait for better technology in coming years to rule it in or out. That is also reasonable.

The real reason to watch this video is to laugh and laugh and laugh. Fletcher has an unfounded belief that she has found the mummy of Nefertiti; she refuses to be convinced otherwise; she takes every single disconfirmation (which is every test performed for this video, other than her own subjective views about the mummy's hairstyle and ear piercings) in stride, getting more and more wild-eyed, and making one unsubstantiated claim after another.

Perhaps my favorite is her trip to the unfinished tomb of Akhenaten -- Fletcher stands at the head of what would have been the sarcophagus and claims that Nefertiti stood there and conducted the rites for her dead husband. Fletcher also refers to Akhenaten as "such a terrible politician" and grants Nefertiti entirely imaginary characteristics and abilities.

All existing evidence shows that Nefertiti predeceased Akhenaten. It's possible that her tomb was plundered shortly after her death and the end of the 18th dynasty, as a gold artifact bearing her name was found on the Ulu Burun wreck. There is a modern drive to turn Nefertiti into some kind of feminist anachronism and have her rule as a man. Fletcher appears to subscribe to that view, but gives no attribution for or reference to its originator.

A case can be made that Marianne Luban originated Fletcher's premise (see Luban's website, and the Archaeology magazine review of this video for more); according to Mark Rose, Luban started a lawsuit, but dropped it subsequent to seeing how badly received the broadcast was.

Two stars -- the video is a work of fiction being passed off as fact, but c'mon, you'll get to see the insides of tombs currently (and for the foreseeable) closed to the public, and have a really good laugh at the expense of Joann Fletcher and the Discovery Channel. June 19, 2006

another good forensic analysis for fake historical events!

This movie is another good forensic analysis and very poor historical bases by discovery channel; the first one was "Rameses: a wrath of God or man? and found it a good forensic analysis for a fake story. The movie is based on the discovery of a mummy in the kings valley(a place serves as ancient Egyptians kings/queens tombs in the west side of the Nile River, upper Egypt). Dr. Joann, a professor of archeology did her best to prove that mummy is for Queen Nefertiti. The professor provided very refutable evidences to support support the claim that "Mummy X" is for the Queen Nefertiti. Moreover, the professor refused very clear evidences against her claim.
First, Nefertiti was the sole wife of Akhenaton and had already died, more accurately assassinated, before Akhenaten death. Second, more likely akhenaten married another wife after Nefertiti as some archaeological evidences indicated. Since Akhenaten left Thebes, the religious capital of ancient Egypt, and built his own city in Tal Al-Amerna. Thus, Nefertiti had more likely been buried in the Tel-Amerna NOT in Thebes(given that the sequences of the evidences that I described are correct)! Akhenaten refused the ancient Egyptian gods and forsaken the the ancient Egyptian religious traditions, especially those of after death. Thus, it is not acceptable that he contradicted himself and buried his wife according to rites that he refused! According to the movie, Akhenaten had been passed away first and Nefertiti became the Egyptian ruler after her husband! Also the movie showed that the second wife of Akhenaten during Nefertiti's life and considered that wife the mother of king Tautankh-(amun)_this means king tout was the son of Akhenaten!! what are the proofs for such claims!!!! Finally, the movie showed Nefertiti as a very powerful woman, even stronger than her husband Akhenaten(you can say similar to Queen Ti(the mother of akhenaten and the wife of Amenhope III) or Hatshibsout(the female pharaoh who ruled Egypt)!!!!!!. Again, what are the proofs for such interesting claims!! As Dr. Hawas, the Egyptian director of ancient Egyptian archeology, commented on the discovery of that mummy and said" nobody can affirm that Mummy X is for Nefertiti unless DNA fingerprint affirms such claim", we have to wait for such accurate test to confirm the identity of the mummy X. Also, the stories that the movie showed about the great queen Nefertiti require concrete evidences; Not just imaginations.! The movie mentioned repeatedly that Akhenaten was worshiping the sun disk. This is also very weak understanding of Akhenaten principles of the monotheism; the images on the wall of the ancient Egyptian temples show Akhenaten and his followers supplicating to the sun, this is true. However, the images also show the sun rays ending with hands. As if the images indicating that the sun Guide akhenaten and his followers to the real creator of the universe. you can return the the great hymn(written by Akhenaten himself to make sure that Akhenaten was not worshiping the sun disk itself!) Highly recommended for people interested in forensic medicine, NOT for those interested in real archeological discoveries! June 1, 2006

Egyptology Buffs Beware!

This movie is very insightful, you find yourself learning a lot about the queen, the era and what is current in Egyptology. The movie was very interesting, not at all like many documentaries. My students even really enjoyed it, what more could a teacher want!?! January 18, 2006

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