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Nefertiti ( literally " the beautiful one has come ") was the 14th-century BC Great Royal Wife ( chief consort ) of the Egyptian Pharaoh Akhenaten of the Eighteenth dynasty of Egypt.

Akhenaten initiated a new monotheistic form of worship called Atenism dedicated to the Sun disc Aten.

Little is known about Nefertiti.

Theories suggest she could have been an Egyptian royal by birth, a foreign princess or the daughter of a high government official named Ay, who became pharaoh after Tutankhamun.

She may have been the co-regent of Egypt with Akhenaten, who ruled from 1352 BC to 1336 BC.

Nefertiti bore six daughters to Akhenaten, one of whom, Ankhesenpaaten ( renamed Ankhesenamun after the suppression of the Aten cult ), married Tutankhamun, Nefertiti's stepson.

Nefertiti disappears from history in the twelfth year of Akhenaten's reign, though whether this is due to her death or because she took a new name is not known.

She may also have later become a pharaoh in her own right, ruling alone for a short time after her husband's death.