Nefertiti Resurrected

As an amateur Egyptology buff and a romantic given to the belief in miracles, I was fascinated when I first watched this documentary. How astonishing that the body of a woman dead for thousands of years could suddenly be discovered, with a confirmed identity! The evidence, upon first viewing, seems overwhelming. It seems that all the clues given in the documentary point to the mummy in question being Nefertiti, the lost queen.

For some, it's easy to leave it at that. However, on further viewings, it becomes clear that although the case presented is compelling, there is too much left uncertain and too many unfounded conclusions made to truly give this mummy a name. The historical information given, for example, is wobbly at best, rife with unfounded rumors about Akhenaten's rule and Nefertiti's life. Personal beliefs of the main Egyptologist involved, Dr. Joann Fletcher, are presented as fact, such as Nefertiti's origins and her role after the death of Akhenaten. Some suggestions made by Dr. Fletcher have been dismissed by the academic community as little more than conspiracy theories, which definitely gives this documentary an air of the desperate--more like a UFO documentary than a historical one.

Another blow to the documentary's integrity comes from later claims by the people involved in the documentary, such as Zahi Hawass, that the mummy is male or out of the age range necessary for it to be Nefertiti. While this sort of flip-flopping on an issue is very discouraging coming from authorities on the topic in question, it does seem to throw the documentary into an almost fanatical light. The conclusions drawn by Dr. Fletcher, on closer inspection, become more and more far-fetched by the minute, such as claims that the mummy's arm position must mean that it was the body of a pharaoh. She even states that she believes that Nefertiti ruled on as a pharaoh under an assumed name after the death of Akhenaten. While an interesting theory, there is little to no evidence presented to support it.

There are numerous other issues I could draw attention to in the documentary, such as the comparison of the facial reconstruction to the famous Nefertiti bust. The documentary states that the resemblance is 'striking', as though it's enough to make the whole thing fact; however, the reconstruction is only superficially similar to the bust, lending little to no credence to the claim that the mummy is Nefertiti. A point made by another reviewer comes to mind--that the reconstruction is very similar to the actress used to portray Nefertiti, and that it was likely that the reconstruction experts were shown or used photos of the actress during the reconstruction of the face.

As a whole, the documentary, while interesting, is fairly shabby, and not the sort of production one would expect from Discovery. There are even artistic details that point to it being low-budget in general, and definitely not as prime material from a normally high-grade network. The only real value that this documentary has is as an introduction to the topic--the life of Nefertiti and Egyptology in general. Those who enjoyed it should seek other, more reputable sources of information; Egyptian history is fascinating, but not a mere romantic tale as it is presented in this documentary.

All in all, it's a good watch for rainy days, but no one, not even the most uninformed, should take the word of this documentary as gospel.

Everything about this program was shamelessly hyped and staged, I was not at all surprised to find out that the face re-created by the forensic artist strongly resembled the actress playing Nefertiti in the dramatized sections (the clear implication was that the artist might have been shown photos of the actress). Even the Discovery Channel is not above producing a bit of "tabloid TV" when there's a chance of a profit.

Dr Zahi Hawass, secretary general of Egyptian Antiquities strongly advised Dr. Joann Fletcher against risking her reputation by participating in this program. She went ahead anyway. Later DNA testing on the mummy that Fletcher declared to be Nefertiti proved that it was the body of a MALE ! As a result of this and other incidents, she is no longer allowed to work in the Valley of The Kings, and may never recover her professional reputation.

An interesting commentary but far from a conclusion as any Historian or History buff knows, there is no ending to historical research. In this case I see a very promising beginning tainted by many outside what-ifs! Case in point is a comment on this page claiming the mummy was in fact a male because of DNA testing. Now my knowledge of DNA testing is that there are so many inherent problems, as to use DNA on ancient bodies as the last resort and decode the story from the clues around the site (which is also why if ANY item is moved it destroys major parts of the story and alters it because the item is now out of context; and this is another reason to out and out despise grave robbing and other looting of historical artifacts as it takes away from our joint human story), that said the DNA evidence is blotchy at best,plus based on modern statistics so to speak, but in ancient Egypt in the royal family there was a common practice called inbreeding that would significantly alter ANY such gender test-just look at the carvings of Akhenatan for example, we see clearly hermaphroditic traits on him in just about every seen depiction, and considering she was working on what information they could and/or were allowed to gather the conclusions she came to are understandable though not concrete. Plus she was banned from the site because she had 'broken the rules' according tho Dr.Hawass, who had apparently identified that same mummy not only as female but as a much older woman, though scientific research showed it to be a woman younger than 35 and therefor not the woman Dr.Hawass identified the mummy as being...I find it all to conveniently discouraging and in the realms of male 'acedamia' that is also something to consider. How could a team of experts who were on a blind study apparently get nearly everything wrong in a much controversial situation were more established 'scholars' were proved wrong, and one such scholar banned the young doctor investigating the issue? I hope we will get a chance to see more evidence and confirm if this really is the famous queen and discover her story.

I have seen this documentary three times and feel obliged to make a comment. It is not an in depth study of the subject. I think it fails to actually identify the place of Nefertiti in history and the absolute power this woman wielded in a time that women were subservient to men. What it does do is pique our interest, as it did mine, to do more research on a most interesting subject. I can remember as a youth, hearing the name, Nefertiti, not sure if in the context of school/history class, but the historical presentation of this documentary filled in the blank spots of a remarkable time in ancient history that has all but been lost. It is not a documentary on the order of Ken Burns, the number ONE producer/director of documentaries

(THE WEST, MARK TWAIN) in the world but does offer a base line with which to begin additional research.

When it comes to the inquisitive mind - I strongly believe that (for most people) ancient Egyptian history definitely holds a genuine fascination that goes well-beyond the norm.

And speaking about the realm of "fascination" - I'd confidently say that this engrossing "Nefertiti Resurrected" documentary ranks right up there as being a top-of-the-line view for those interested in the Egyptians and their unique culture of the far-off past.

Impressively presented by the Discovery Channel - This well-researched program, literally, resurrects Queen Nefertiti right before our very eyes. And, yes! - She is (indeed) a sight to behold.