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This delightful detail from an Amarna stela features a doting mother—Queen Nefertiti—enjoying some quality time with two of her young princesses. It's a great example of the relaxed family scenes that the non-conforming pharaoh, Akhenaten, commissioned during his reign.
Here young Meketaten sits on Nefertiti's knees, looking up at her mother, and Ankhesenpaaten (the future wife of Tutankhamun) playfully fiddles with a uraeus pendant on Nefertiti’s crown.
Intimate portraits like this provide an insight into palace life never before seen—of course, all under the life-giving rays of the Aten.
Photo courtesy of Serhiy Dzybua.