One of the reasons I loved the Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology so much was because of the amount of pieces from Amarna (the modern name of Akhenatenโs capital of Egypt) that are in the collection! While Hatshepsut ๐๐ ๐๐น๐๐๐๐ผ๐ช is my favorite pharaoh ๐๐ป, Akhenaten ๐๐๐๐ณ๐ ๐๐ is my second favorite! I seem to like the โuntraditionalโ pharaohs ๐๐ป๐ฆ who didnโt play by the rules!
One of the many charms of the Petrie Museum is that most of the pieces arenโt considered striking or grand when you first look at them. This museum is for those who truly appreciate ancient Egyptian culture as a whole, not just the shiny gold ๐๐๐๐ pieces or jewels.
This piece is a quartzite inlay or either Akhenaten ๐๐๐๐ณ๐ ๐๐ or Nefertiti ๐๐๐๐ณ๐ค๐ค๐ค๐ค๐ค๐๐๐ญ. Quartzite is a very difficult rock ๐๐๐๐ to work with because it is so dense and strong. Quartzite is a metamorphic rock ๐๐๐๐ that is formed when heat and pressure is applied to the rock ๐๐๐๐ sandstone ๐๐ ฑ๐ง๐๐๐. A process called recrystallization occurs due to the heat and pressure, which causes the sand grains in the sandstone ๐๐ ฑ๐ง๐๐๐ to increase in size and become more dense! As a person who knows her geology, always amazes me when the Egyptians ๐๐๐๐๐ช worked with quartzite! Quartzite is usually found in quarries ๐๐๐๐๐ฆ in Aswan ๐ด๐น๐๐๐ฒ๐, as is granite ๐๐๐๐๐ณ๐ฟ!
Egyptologists canโt tell if the inlay was supposed to be Akhenaten ๐๐๐๐ณ๐ ๐๐ or Nefertiti ๐๐๐๐ณ๐ค๐ค๐ค๐ค๐ค๐๐๐ญ because they were usually represented very similarly; the style during Akhenatenโs ๐๐๐๐ณ๐ ๐๐ rule ๐พ was very different than the traditional Egyptian art styles, which makes it so weird and wonderful in its own way! While this piece itself was an inlay, a stone ๐๐๐๐ช was most likely supposed to go in the hole that represents the eye ๐น๐ค! So this is two ๐ป inlays in one ๐บ!