science

Head of Nefertem

Head of Nefertem is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Head of Nefertem rather than just read about it. In short: The Head of Nefertem (also known as the Head from the Lotus Bloom or Tutankhamun as the Sun God) was found in the tomb of Tutankhamun (KV62) in the Valley of the Kings in West Thebes. It depicts the King (Pharaoh) as a child and dates from the 18th Dynasty (New Kingdom).

Key takeaways

Head of Nefertem belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Head of Nefertem to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Head of Nefertem from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The Head of Nefertem (also known as the Head from the Lotus Bloom or Tutankhamun as the Sun God) was found in the tomb of Tutankhamun (KV62) in the Valley of the Kings in West Thebes. It depicts the King (Pharaoh) as a child and dates from the 18th Dynasty (New Kingdom). The object received the find number of 8 and today is displayed with the inventory number JE 60723 in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo.

Discovery

The discovery of the Head of Nefertem is controversial, since Howard Carter did not document the piece in his excavation journal. The Head was found in 1924 by Pierre Lacau and Rex Engelbach in KV4 (the tomb of Ramses XI), which was used as a storehouse for the excavation efforts, among the bottles in a box of red wine. At this time, Carter was not in Egypt on account of the strike and closure of Tutankhamun's tomb and the withdrawal or cancellation of the excavation license of Lord Carnarvon's widow Almina, Lady Carnarvon. When later questioned, Carter stated that he had found the head among the rubble in the entry corridor of KV62. In his first season of excavations, the head was not mentioned; at the time Carter only noted partially broken and full-standing alabaster vessels and vases of painted clay in the entrance-way. There is not even photographic documentation of the head in the excavation journal as there is for other pieces found in the tomb. These facts not only led to further disputes in the study of Egyptian antiquities, but also aroused the suspicion in some quarters to this day that Carter had attempted to steal the head.

Description

The partially damaged head of Nefertem is carved out of wood and is 30 centimetres (12 in) high. The stucco coating is painted red, though large sections have been damaged; Carter attributed this to its seizure by Egyptian authorities in 1924. The eyebrows, the typically Egyptian kohl eye liner, and the pupils of the bust were painted in dark blue. The head of the king is completely shaved, but shaven stubble in the form of black paint is visible. The head has Tutankhamun's facial features and depicts him as a child. As on his golden deathmask, Tutankhamun's ears are pierced. Of all the artefacts found to date, this head is the only depiction of him as a child.

Significance The sculpture depicts the Pharaoh in the guise of Nefertem, the god of the dawning sun. The child-god Nefertem springs from a blue lotus, which was associated with the revival of the Sun in the morning because its buds close at night and reopen at dawn. The blue base of the bust symbolises the primordial waters from which the sun rose at the beginning of creation. The Pharaoh was closely associated with the Sun, but the depiction of him in the guise of this particular solar deity was meant to magically guarantee that the Pharaoh would be reborn once more, just as the Sun is reborn at dawn.

In Egyptian art Like the depictions of the daughters of Akhenaten and Nefertiti found at Tell el-Amarna, the head of Nefertem has the elongated head and neck wrinkles typical of Amarna art. This suggests that the creation of the head occurred during the Amarna period. The depiction of the king as a child is among the most beautiful of all Egyptian art from the end of the 18th Dynasty. The head of Nefertem has been exhibited in travelling exhibitions of selected original finds from the tomb of Tutankhamun, including, among others, the Treasures of Tutankhamun (1972–1981).

References

Bibliography Zahi Hawass. The Head of Nefertem. (= King Tutankhamun. The Treasures Of The Tomb.) Thames & Hudson, London 2007, ISBN 978-0-500-05151-1, p. 16. Thomas Hoving. Tutankhamun: The Untold Story. 1980. Rowman & Littlefield (reprint, 2002). ISBN 9780815411864. T. G. H. James. Tutankhamun. White Star, 2000, ISBN 9788880954514. Metro Books, 2002, ISBN 9781586637422. Peter Munro. "Tutanchamun als Sonnengott." In the exhibition catalogue Tutanchamun in Köln. von Zabern, Mainz 1980, ISBN 3-8053-0438-2, pp. 140–141. M. V. Seton-Williams: Tutanchamun. Der Pharao. Das Grab. Der Goldschatz. Ebeling, Luxembourg 1980, ISBN 3-8105-1706-2, p. 120.

External links The Griffith Institute, Oxford: Tutankhamun: Anatomy of an Excavation. The Howard Carter Archives. "Head of the King", Carter No. 008

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Head of Nefertem

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Head of Nefertem claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Head of Nefertem before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Head of Nefertem ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Head of Nefertem

In research: Head of Nefertem appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Head of Nefertem in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Head of Nefertem is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 14th-century BC works, Archaeological artifacts, Archaeological discoveries in Egypt, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Head of Nefertem outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Head of Nefertem in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Head of Nefertem means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Head of Nefertem out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Head of Nefertem in simple terms?

Why does Head of Nefertem matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Head of Nefertem?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Head of Nefertem.