The sculptural portrait featured in this post, displayed at the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore, US, is thought to represent either Akhenaten’s daughter or his wife. This statue portrays a woman of extraordinary beauty, considered one of the most beautiful women in history, with an almost ‘superhuman’ aesthetic perfection. However, she also has an unusually large skull.
Her father or husband, the enigmatic pharaoh Akhenaten, shared these unusual traits. Akhenaten, the first known monotheist who rejected Egypt’s traditional gods, had an elongated skull, abnormally long fingers, and androgynous features. Professor Bob Brier, a leading Egyptologist, remarked that Akhenaten seemed like “a creature from another planet catapulted into the Egyptian desert.”
Various theories have been proposed to explain these features. Some suggest genetic diseases, but such conditions usually affect more individuals within a lineage and recur. Additionally, Akhenaten and his wife were not blood relatives, making shared anomalies unlikely. Others propose that these characteristics were artistic choices, yet it seems odd that this style was reserved for only a few individuals in the royal court.
After Akhenaten’s death, his memory was systematically erased. Tombs were smashed, statues destroyed, and writings obliterated, aiming to erase Akhenaten from history. His and his family’s mysterious physical traits continue to intrigue and puzzle historians and archaeologists.
