Roxana Cooper Wrote:
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> Did I *EVER* say that the light skinned types like
> Nefertiti and Nefertari
> were 'typical'??? All evidence suggests that they
> were not - nor were the very
> dark 'Nubian' types. All I am saying is light
> skinned people existed in Egypt,
> and that the coloration of Nefertiti's bust
> suggests she was one of them, (pinky-
> beige not having any known symbolic value) and so
> tinting the 'Nefertiti'
> reconstruction deep brown and adorning her with
> ethnic African earings never worn
> by any Queen of Egypt was out and out pandering.

Actually pandering to what? I would say that those reconstructions match the other images of Nefertiti that do not look pink and tan, but darker brown. And yes there are images of Egyptian women wearing those hoop earrings you call "ethnic". But that is the issue that makes so many people suspicious of Egyptology, when they act as if they haven't seen any of the overwhelming majority of dark skinned images from all periods of Egyptian art, while seeming so awed with the few portraits that look pink. I have never denied that Egyptian art contains images of people that are quite pale or could be compared to modern pale skinned populations in Africa and elswhere. what irks me is when people who claim to be so knowledgeable about Egyptology act as if they haven't seen this:





or these



Like I said, most images from Egypt in all periods were painted as brown,not pink or tan, and I agree pink and tan are by no means merely symbolic colors in humans, but that doesn't change the fact that neither is brown. So it still boils down to the idea of some people being extremely selective in what they like to claim as "evidence" for the features of the ancient Egyptians, while leaving out the overwhelming majority of images that contradict such a view, as if they don't exist or were somehow a "fringe" style. Therefore, given that so many artworks that have survived of Nefertiti are often contradictory to one another, it is impossible for any person to claim that any one image of Nefertiti is necessarily the "right" one.

And, lets be clear here, the images I posted were the "official" style for portraits of the Amarna period and the overwhelming majority of the depictions of Nefertiti and Akhenaten. They were also substantially damaged by Egyptians of later periods, making what remains a hodgepodge of "official" Amarna portraits and artist "sketches" of different sorts. So if anyone was trying to project a particular style of portrayal for Nefertiti and her family, it was the Egyptians themselves, not African Americans.

Lastly, it is also true that there people all over Egypt who have similar features do these, dark and light, with enough darker ones to do away with the idea that it is somehow foreign to Egyptians.






Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 07/21/2007 02:19PM by Doug M.