Were Nefertiti's (one of the Queens of Akhenaten) eyes a symbol of royalty in Egypt? The Archaeology Magazine has an interesting article about this particular queen and her eyes. In the Valley of the Kings, a chamber was discovered and in this chamber quite a few ceramic jars and several wooden coffins were found. At first, people thought they might find some of the female queens like Nefertiti and Ankhesenamun, but these hopes were soon proved wrong when they found that all seven coffins were devoid of mummies. Most of these coffins were nearly totally destroyed by termites. Apparently the termites preferred the uncured wood of the main part of the coffin. Everything except the faces of all the coffins were almost totally destroyed, due to the faces being made separately with some sort of covering (like a thin plaster or gesso). Three of the faces which were yellow depicted Nefertiti's strange eye shape. Another of the coffins had an normal eye shape unlike the three with yellow faces. Nefertiti's famous bust also has this eye shape. One stela which shows Nefertiti, her two daughters and Akhenaten. This stela shows Nefertiti with her distinguishing eye shape and Akhenaten appears with a normal eye shape. Was this caused by a genetic syndrome? It very well could be. Tutankhamun, who could possibly be Nefertiti's son, is shown in a one of his depictions with the same eye shape. Another relief shows Nefertiti kissing one of her daughters. Her daughter is also depicted with the very same eye shape. Other people have been shown with this eye shape, but did not necessarily have it. To the people who saw Nefertiti, her eyes must have presented something more to her beauty. Adding more to her name, which means "the beautiful one has come".
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