No, Neferтιтi and Nefertari are not the same person; they are two distinct historical figures from ancient Egypt.
Nefertari, also known as Nefertari Meritmut, was an Egyptian queen and the first of the Great Royal Wives (or principal wives) of Ramesses the Great. She is one of the best known Egyptian queens, among such women as Cleopatra, Neferтιтi, and Hatshepsut, and one of the most prominent not known or thought to have reigned in her own right. She was highly educated and able to both read and write hieroglyphs, a very rare skill at the time. She used these skills in her diplomatic work, corresponding with other prominent royals of the time. Her lavishly decorated tomb, QV66, is one of the largest and most spectacular in the Valley of the Queens. Ramesses also constructed a temple for her at Abu Simbel next to his colossal monument there.
Nefertari first appears as the wife of Ramesses II in official scenes during the first year of Ramesses II. In the tomb of Nebwenenef, Nefertari is depicted behind her husband as he elevates Nebwenenef to the position of High Priests of Amun during a visit to Abydos. Nefertari also appears in a scene next to a year 1 stela. She is depicted shaking two sistra before Taweret, Thoth, and Nut.
Nefertari is an important presence in the scenes from Luxor and Karnak. In a scene from Luxor, Nefertari appears leading the royal children. Another scene shows Nefertari at the Festival of the Mast of Amun-Min-Kamephis. The king and the queen are said to worship in the new temple and are shown overseeing the Erection of the Mast before Amen-Re attended by standard bearers. Nefertari’s speech during this ceremony is recorded:
Your beloved son, the Lord of Both Lands, Usermaatre Setepenre, has come to see you in your beautiful manifestation. He has erected for you the mast of the (pavilion)-framework. May you grant him eternity as King, and victory over those rebellious (against) His Majesty, L.P.H.
Nefertari appears as Ramesses II’s consort on many statues in both Luxor and Karnak. In Western Thebes, Nefertari is mentioned on a statuary group from Deir el-Bahari, a stela and blocks from Deir el-Medina.
The greatest honor was bestowed on Nefertari however in Abu Simbel. Nefertari is depicted in statue form at the great temple, but the small temple is dedicated to Nefertari and the goddess Hathor. The building project was started earlier in the reign of Ramesses II, and seems to have been inaugurated by ca year 25 of his reign (but not completed until ten years later).
Nefertari’s prominence at court is further supported by cuneiform tablets from the Hitтιтe city of Hattusas (today Boghazkoy, Turkey), containing Nefertari’s correspondence with the king Hattusili III and his wife Puduhepa. She is mentioned in the letters as Naptera. Nefertari is known to have sent gifts to Puduhepa:
The great Queen Naptera of the land of Egypt speaks thus: Speak to my sister Puduhepa, the Great Queen of the Hatti land. I, your sister, (also) be well!! May your country be well. Now, I have learned that you, my sister, have written to me asking after my health. … You have written to me because of the good friendship and brotherly relationship between your brother, the king of Egypt, The Great and the Storm god will bring about peace, and he will make the brotherly relationship between the Egptian king, the Great King, and his brother, the Hatti King, the Great King, last for ever… See, I have sent you a gift, in order to greet you, my sister… for your neck (a necklace) of pure gold, composed of 12 bands and weighing 88 shekels, coloured linen maklalu-material, for one royal dress for the king… A total of 12 linen garments.
Nefertari is shown at the inaugural festivities at Abu Simbel in year 24. Her daughter Meritamen is depicted taking part in place of her mother in some of the scenes. Nefertari may well have been in failing health at this point. After her death she was buried in tomb QV66 in the Valley of the Queens.
In the 20th century, Neferтιтi was made famous by the discovery and display of her ancient bust, now in Berlin’s Neues Museum. The bust is one of the most copied works of the art of ancient Egypt. It is attributed to the Egyptian sculptor Thutmose, and was excavated from his buried studio complex in the early 20th century.
Almost nothing is known about Neferтιтi’s life before her marriage to Akhenaten. Scenes from the tombs of the nobles in Amarna mention that Neferтιтi had a sister, named Mutbenret. Further, a woman named Tey carried the тιтle of “Nurse of the Great Royal Wife.” In addition, Tey’s husband Ay carried the тιтle “God’s Father.” Some Egyptologists believe that this тιтle was used for a man whose daughter married the pharaoh.Based on these тιтles, it has been proposed that Ay was in fact Neferтιтi’s father. However, neither Ay nor Tey are explicitly referred to as Neferтιтi’s parents in the existing sources. At the same time, no sources exist that directly contradict Ay’s fatherhood which is considered likely due to the great influence he wielded during Neferтιтi’s life and after her death. According to another theory, Neferтιтi was the daughter of Ay and a woman besides Tey, but Ay’s first wife died before Neferтιтi’s rise to the position of queen, whereupon Ay married Tey, making her Neferтιтi’s stepmother. Nevertheless, this entire proposal is based on speculation and conjecture.
It has also been proposed that Neferтιтi was Akhenaten’s full sister, though this is contradicted by her тιтles which do not include the тιтle of “King’s Daughter” or “King’s Sister,” usually used to indicate a relative of a pharaoh. Another theory about her parentage that gained some support identified Neferтιтi with the Mitanni princess Tadukhipa,partially based on Neferтιтi’s name (“The Beautiful Woman has Come”) which has been interpreted by some scholars as signifying a foreign origin. However, Tadukhipa was already married to Akhenaten’s father and there is no evidence for any reason why this woman would need to alter her name in a proposed marriage to Akhenaten, nor any hard evidence of a foreign non-Egyptian background for Neferтιтi.
The exact dates when Neferтιтi married Akhenaten and became the king’s great royal wife are uncertain. They are known to have had at least six daughters together, including Meritaten, Meketaten, Ankhesenpaaten (later called Ankhesenamun when she married Tutankhamun), Neferneferuaten Tasherit, Neferneferure, and Setepenre. She was once considered as a candidate for the mother of Tutankhamun, however a genetic study conducted on discovered mummies suggests that she was not.
Neferтιтi first appears in scenes in Thebes. In the damaged tomb (TT188) of the royal butler Parennefer, the new king AmenH๏τep IV is accompanied by a royal woman, and this lady is thought to be an early depiction of Neferтιтi. The king and queen are shown worshiping the Aten. In the tomb of the vizier Ramose, Neferтιтi is shown standing behind AmenH๏τep IV in the Window of Appearance during the reward ceremony for the vizier.
During the early years in Thebes, Akhenaten (still known as AmenH๏τep IV) had several temples erected at Karnak. One of the structures, the Mansion of the Benben (hwt-ben-ben), was dedicated to Neferтιтi. She is depicted with her daughter Meritaten and in some scenes the princess Meketaten participates as well. In scenes found on the talatat, Neferтιтi appears almost twice as often as her husband. She is shown appearing behind her husband the pharaoh in offering scenes in the role of the queen supporting her husband, but she is also depicted in scenes that would have normally been the prerogative of the king. She is shown smiting the enemy, and captive enemies decorate her throne.
In the fourth year of his reign, AmenH๏τep IV decided to move the capital to Akhetaten (modern Amarna). In his fifth year, AmenH๏τep IV officially changed his name to Akhenaten, and Neferтιтi was henceforth known as Neferneferuaten-Neferтιтi. The name change was a sign of the ever-increasing importance of the cult of the Aten. It changed Egypt’s religion from a polytheistic religion to a religion which may have been better described as a monolatry (the depiction of a single god as an object for worship) or henotheism (one god, who is not the only god).
The boundary stelae of years 4 and 5 mark the boundaries of the new city and suggest that the move to the new city of Akhetaten occurred around that time. The new city contained several large open-air temples dedicated to the Aten. Neferтιтi and her family would have resided in the Great Royal Palace in the centre of the city and possibly at the Northern Palace as well. Neferтιтi and the rest of the royal family feature prominently in the scenes at the palaces and in the tombs of the nobles. Neferтιтi’s steward during this time was an official named Meryre II. He would have been in charge of running her household.
Inscriptions in the tombs of Huya and Meryre II dated to Year 12, 2nd month of Peret, Day 8 show a large foreign tribute. The people of Kharu (the north) and Kush (the south) are shown bringing gifts of gold and precious items to Akhenaten and Neferтιтi. In the tomb of Meryre II, Neferтιтi’s steward, the royal couple is shown seated in a kiosk with their six daughters in attendance.This is one of the last times princess Meketaten is shown alive.
Two representations of Neferтιтi that were excavated by Flinders Petrie appear to show Neferтιтi in the middle to later part of Akhenaten’s reign ‘after the exaggerated style of the early years had relaxed somewhat’. One is a small piece on limestone and is a preliminary sketch of Neferтιтi wearing her distinctive tall crown with carving began around the mouth, chin, ear and tab of the crown. Another is a small inlay head (Petrie Museum Number UC103) modeled from reddish-brown quartzite that was clearly intended to fit into a larger composition.
Meketaten may have died in year 13 or 14. Neferтιтi, Akhenaten, and three princesses are shown mourning her. The last dated inscription naming her and Akhenaten comes from a building inscription in the limestone quarry at Deir Abu Hinnis. It dates to year 16 of the king’s reign and is also the last dated inscription naming the king.
Many scholars believe Neferтιтi had a role elevated from that of great royal wife, and was promoted to co-regent by her husband Pharaoh Akhenaten before his death. She is depicted in many archaeological sites as equal in stature to a King, smiting Egypt’s enemies, riding a chariot, and worshipping the Aten in the manner of a pharaoh. When Neferтιтi’s name disappears from historical records, it is replaced by that of a co-regent named Neferneferuaten, who became a female Pharaoh.It seems likely that Neferтιтi, in a similar fashion to the previous female Pharaoh Hatshepsut, ᴀssumed the kingship under the name Pharaoh Neferneferuaten after her husband’s death. She was then succeeded by Tutankhamun.
It seems less possible that Neferтιтi disguised herself as a male and ᴀssumed the male alter ego of Smenkhkare. According to Van Der Perre, Smenkhkare is thought to be a co-regent of Akhenaten who died before Neferneferuaten ᴀssumed the kingship.
If Neferтιтi did rule Egypt as a Pharaoh, it has been theorized that she would have attempted damage control and may have re-instated the ancient Egyptian religion and the Amun priests. She would have raised Tutankhamun in the worship of the traditional gods.
Archaeologist and Egyptologist Dr. Zahi Hawᴀss theorized that Neferтιтi returned to Thebes from Amarna to rule as a Pharaoh, based on ushabti and other feminine evidence of a female pharaoh found in Tutankhamun’s tomb, as well as evidence of Neferтιтi smiting Egypt’s enemies which was a duty reserved to kings.
