#17: Dr. Joyce Tyldesley - Beauty Is Eternal

Ancient Egyptian Queen Nefertiti with Dr. Joyce Tyldesley: Beauty, Fame, Power & a Death Shrouded in Mystery

The last dynasty of Ancient Egypt may have died out over two thousand years ago, but the legacy and mystery of the circa three-thousand year period lives on in the hearts and imaginations of those enchanted by it, as well as in the fascinating pyramids, beguiling sphinx and immortalized bust of Queen Nefertiti. No one knows where she came from or when or how she died, but everyone knows her bust.

The basic anatomy and physiology of human beings has changed little since Queen Nefertiti’s life. They say that history repeats itself, so if modern humans are physically similar to those in Ancient Egypt, it makes sense to investigate what we can learn from them.

Queen Nefertiti lived from an estimated 1370-1335 BC. She was the wife of the Pharaoh Amenhotep IV during one of the wealthiest periods of Ancient Egypt in which they moved the capital from Thebes to Amarna. Although enemies of her husband tried to erase him from history, ironically, she instead became one of the most famous women to emerge from Ancient Egypt. Nefertiti’s bust is currently in the Neues Museum of Berlin. Talk about Eternal Beauty!

Joyce Tyldesley is a British archeologist and Egyptologist, academic and the author of over 20 books about Ancient Egypt including the female Pharaohs Hapchepsut, Cleopatra and Nefertiti. Joyce teaches at the University of Manchester, specializing in Egyptian historiography and the role of women in Ancient Egypt. She teaches online degrees in Egyptology – so if you are listening, you can actually study under her!

She is the author of the books, “Nefertiti: Egypt’s Sun Queen” and the more recent book “Nefertiti’s Face” which focusses on the Berlin bust of Nefertiti. We are talking to Joyce today, one of the world’s leading experts on Nefertiti, to un-earth and unbury information about Egypt’s elusive queen from the mouth of one of the world’s leading experts on her.

Joyce studied archaeology of the Eastern Mediterranean at Liverpool University, before getting her doctorate in prehistoric archaeology at Oxford University focussing on handaxes used by Neanderthals. She holds an honorary doctorate from the University of Bolton and is a Research Associate of the Manchester Museum. Prior to joining the University of Manchester she taught prehistory and Egyptology at Liverpool University.

You can read more about Joyce and contact her on her website http://joycetyldesley.co.uk.

Study Egyptology with Joyce
Nefertiti: Egypt’s Sun Queen
Nefertiti’s Face: The Creation of an Icon