Since its discovery by the German-Orient Association in the remains of the ancient city of Achet-Aton (Amarna) in 1912, the iconic bust of Queen Nefertiti has been displayed in a variety of locations, and until the dismantling of the Berlin Wall in 1989 it moved between the former East and West Germany. Today, it is the unquestionable star of Berlin's Neues Museum, adorning a collection contained in a beautiful mid-19th century building that was restored and re-opened in October 2009 following its destruction by the bombing of Berlin during World War II. From the entry to the museum's courtyard, this Egyptian gem catches the visitor's eye. A large photograph presenting part of Nefertiti's bust overlooks the garden. To the north, a banner faces the Altes Museum (Old Museum), since 1999 part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the Nefertiti's previous homes. The west façade of the museum carries a Latin inscription in capital letters, ARTEM NON ODIT NISI IGNARUS, meaning “only the ignorant hate art”. Though the bust of Nefertiti is definitely a pivotal element in the museum's collection, the building also houses a large array of ancient Egyptian objects, as well as papyrus and prehistoric exhibits. The Egyptian and Greek courtyards welcome visitors upon entering, and statues, reliefs and monumental pieces of Egyptian architecture document the different periods of ancient Egypt from 4000 BCE up to the Roman period, all enveloped in the building's architecture that entwines history with classical design. It is believed that the bust of Nefertiti was crafted around 1340 BCE by the sculptor Thutmose, probably to serve as a model for other representations of the queen. This would explain its breathtaking artistic perfection, in which the modelling of the face, superbly defined cheekbones, and a long captivating neckline underline the queen's beauty while underscoring the remarkable craft of the sculptor. The Neues Museum also offers a look into Thutmose's workshop. One can understand immediately that the official court sculptor of the Pharaoh Akhenaten led a rather luxurious life in his large compound. A 3D plan of Thutmose's workshop shows small one-storey houses, alleys, workshops, granaries, mud-brick ovens, even a few trees and bushes that add green accents to the sand-yellow compound, all these being parts of the sculptor's kingdom. The 50cm-tall limestone bust of Nefertiti was excavated from the remains of Thutmose's workshop, along with many remarkable masks, tools and pigments. The bust is covered with modelled gypsum, with a crystal serving as an inlaid eye and a black pupil attached with wax. Every year countless numbers of tourists and those interested in ancient Egyptian history flock to the museum to spend a few moments with the Egyptian queen and wander around halls filled with the remains of ancient history. Though visitors are allowed to take photographs in all corners of the Neues Museum, the Nefertiti room is an exception to this rule. Even today, the queen is surrounded by a handful of guards, who make sure that no one tries to take her image with his camera. The museum has placed a bronze replica of the bust for the blind to touch, allowing them to feel the perfection of a queen and a human being captured in art. This bronze replica, accompanied by inscriptions in Braille, does not omit any detail: a broken ear, the tiny wrinkles on the queen's neck, a few scratches on her crown, and a missing piece of quartz representing one iris. The only element that the visually impaired miss is the bust's perfectly preserved colour. While the bust of Nefertiti leaves a firm imprint in the visitor's mind, the Neues Museum also displays 400 objects from the area in which it was found, among them 50 loaned items, these representing only ten per cent of the Amarna artefacts currently located in Berlin. It is worth noting that many of Berlin's Egyptian antiquities were the victims of World War II bombings. Today, the rescued objects serve as a reminder of the history that is also represented in the sarcophagi and the fragments of reliefs, the oldest of which go back to the Fifth Dynasty (2400 BCE) and represent scenes from agricultural life, including plants and domesticated animals. Among the key objects are fragments of statues and architectural elements, including heads made of stucco, well-preserved ceramics, jewellery and inlays. Moving from the ancient Egyptian period to the Graeco-Roman era, a colossal marble statue of the Sun god Helios stands at the entry to a large hall where visitors are invited to explore the first centuries of Graeco-Roman rule. The artistic amalgam of the period, indicated in the Pharaonic and Greek art of the Ptolemaic period, is particularly apparent in the mummy masks from the period and a sarcophagus from Fayoum. As visitors journey further through these halls, whose ceilings are supported by stylised columns, they are transported further into history towards the early Christian tombstones and graves that were excavated from many regions of the Roman Empire. For Egyptian visitors, the museum provides an opportunity to be reminded of the country's rich ancient history. Several halls of the Neues Museum provide a compact historical and artistic review of the thousands of places one may visit in Egypt, from the north coast and Alexandria all the way to Abu Simbel. In the midst of the thoughts that the museum's rich collections provoke, it is the presentation of the objects themselves that leaves an important imprint. The Neues Museum's collection might not be overwhelming in terms of the number of artefacts it contains, but the Museum's halls provide a wonderful setting for the objects. While the 3,500-year-old bust of Nefertiti has caused a rift with Germany, since Germany considers the bust to be a cultural icon that should stay in Berlin while Egypt wishes the queen to return to her homeland, it is undeniable that for the time being she is being well taken care of at the Neues Museum. The preservation and presentation of each object in the museum's collection, whether Nefertiti, a small fragment of bas relief from a temple wall, or a tiny piece of jewellery, does justice to the historical wealth that ancient Egypt represents.
