Nefertiti

The fate of Queen Nefertiti after the later years of Akhenaten remains one of the most enduring unresolved problems of Eighteenth Dynasty Egypt. Despite her exceptional prominence, Nefertiti disappears from the historical record without funerary inscriptions, a known burial, or posthumous commemoration. This paper reassesses the disappearance of Nefertiti within the political collapse of the Amarna system, the ambiguous reign of Neferneferuaten, and the rise of Ay amid renewed Hittite-Egyptian tensions. By integrating textual silence, titulary evidence, and international correspondence, this study explores the hypothesis that Nefertiti survived Akhenaten, ruled briefly under a modified royal identity, and was subsequently removed from Egypt through political exile or enforced disappearance. While definitive proof remains elusive, the convergence of evidence challenges the assumption that Nefertiti died and was buried conventionally within Egypt.