Selective damage, a mysteriously missing eye, layer of stucco plaster--all of these are reasons that notorious forger Shaun Greenhalgh believes Nefertiti's bust is fake. From: SECRETS: Nefertiti bit.ly/1rrxUYO
I love that this dude was such a good forger that he fooled multiple museums and institutions into buying his fakes, got caught and punished, and is now essentially a consultant of sorts for spotting fakes. He wrote a book about it, he’s selling his redone work online. What a guy.
@Victor Mace are you aware of the latest DNA tests on mummies? Not only in Egypt, but in the Chinese pyramids, there's red haired caucasians. Nefertiti was nubian as far as I know tho, and the ancient depictions show it. The olmecs look quite african too.
I don’t doubt it. I always thought it had this cheap plaster look to it. Like the guy says, it would have been made out of 100% carved stone, not cheap stucco. There was also something that always stuck out about it as being different from the other Egyptian statues I had seen like it didn’t belong.
Last year, I visited Amarna and to say that I was shocked at how little of the city was left is an understatement. Barring a few half walls, he city was pretty much razed to the ground. The only intact artifacts that were found, have been a few small dishes. To think that in this ruin of a city, a large bust could be found intact, seems a bit suspect, tbh.
Ancient Egyptians have same cannites from the middle east . Canaanites are modern day Lebanese Christians . Dna tests on mummies proved that . Light skin not pale white but light .
I work in a museum in Oxford Englad and we have plenty of things from the Amarna period, of course there isn't a lot there in Tel- Amarna now artifacts were looted and sold to museums and collectors, the bust itself is quite small, other busts survive of her daughters, they are fairly common.
The beauty is too striking and made to please the eye of the more modern man. The cheek bones are too high. It is almost sensual and provocative. Something not sought after by these ancients when portraying a noble lady.
yup...some dick bag slapped this together with elmer's glue and some silly puddy...then spear'd on momma's make up...then laughed all the way to the bank lol 😹
The whole story about this bust always seemed too good to be true. Then recently we hear there is a stone carving underneath, covered with plaster or stucco or whatever. Now we hear the right eye is rock crystal so if the left eye went missing naturally, why aren't the eye lids damaged? If it was glued in a forger would have to have created appropriately aged glue. If it was not glued in the eye lids would have acted like a bezel to hold it in place I think.
+Bobby Blunts initial instinctive reaction as well. I remember the first time I learned about this bust I was like what?? Looks far too well preserved, strikingly European..super exciting to see if that room next to Tut's ends up being nefrititi's It would clear some things up
Most of what he said might be missing the point. I don't think this was meant to be a real work but a template image which stone carvers were meant to work from...at least that's the story I've heard put out. The selective damage is a point but wouldn't someone familiar with genuine articles be aware of that? My problem with the bust is twofold. 1. It doesn't look like Armana period depictions of the roysls. All the stuff I've seen from Armana shows a weird, but consistent distortion and elongation in limbs, torso, and face. Secondly, I've never seen anything comprable in execution. Like it sticks out from all the other artifacts I'm familiar with. Idk. It looks like a hot middle eastern model walking around today.
So you think the rough daft was better rendered and preserved than all the other final drafts combined? You want to know why people who are familiar with genuine artifacts wouldn't call this suspicious...IDK, maybe, just maybe because they stood and still stand to gain from the lie being perpetrated. She looks like the whitewashed version of the truth. Nothing new. Been done every chance whites get.
You wouldn't add so much painted detail, with color, to inform stone carvers of what to do. It was clearly an attempt at finishing the job, not a maquette.
They are lot of them that were found in the same room, and they still in Egypt because by that time laws depictions of kings and Queens were prohibited from being taking outside Egypt, the bust of Nefertiti was presented to the Egyptian side which hired an incompetent young French archeologist in partial photo which hided the crown and in document it was refered to as a princess bust.
It IS interesting that the face is not damaged at ALL, esp considering other damage. Also, the noses on so many others are damaged. Also, most drawings of her show her with very thick lips and look nothing like the bust.
You know since I was young I was always amazed at how good of a condition that face was and it's paint job. Wouldn't the sand and dirt that it was found buried in have abrasion away the paint? Yeah this video really made me more convinced it's been forged. Don't get me wrong, I think it's still a beautiful work of art it's just lost to me in my eyes as the real McCoy.
Jeremy Kirkpatrick The source is given in the original comment. As stated it is evident the size is way off just by looking at it. Although it’s just one opinion, an opinion many respected scholars now agree with. Why you so upset by it?
@enlil7billion What's your evidence for it originally being a lion? Lions were rarely or never depicted as large sculptures in ancient Egypt. The Sphinx is situated directly in front of Khafre's Pyramid, it was connected via a causeway to the pyramid and surrounding funeral complex. A statue of Khafre was found metres from it. What possible reason would they have to carve a giant lion in such place? And furthermore what reason would someone have to take off the lion's head a put a pharaoh on instead?
R3DSH1FT As is said it’s the person opinion. Opinions are not facts and therefore I don’t think they need to provide a source in order to state an opinion.
@@letolethe3344 Relax plse. ✌️Not claiming expertise, lol. Merely suggesting in the context of art history & cultural art practices of the period, talking points like form, dimensional space understanding in the context of ancient Egyptian art practices of the time, symbolism & meaning, execution/ process, etc really don’t match up, rending it’s authenticity from an artist’s perspective, as very far fetched. But no I am no capital A expert in that arena of study to make my opinion fact. It just seems highly unlikely. You can rest a little easier, lol. Breathe, it’s not SO serious.
@@samanthasmith61 there have been many fakes and forgeries throughout art history. What makes this any different? Most of you here are only responding emotionally to something that "you" love. Let others have their own opinion.
taduchepa fo no sweetie..yours you will find in caucusas mountain oh caves.white as snow..this Queen is african goddess in African continent.alles klar!
It has been threw forensic testing & ever time deemed to be authentic but the word of a convicted con is more trust worthy oO yeah he doesn't have any reason to lie for gain oO
I'm still so curious about this because I was taught about this bust when I was in school for art and my teacher said the reason one of the eyes was missing was because it was used to teach other art students at the time of its creation. I wish we knew for sure if it was a fake or not.
A stone held by wax is likely to fall out. Early Egyptology was pretty fast and rough in digging up stuff. Almost like a treasure looter.... Of "science" I summit there is no way his difinitive "one way the eye is missing" holds deductive water. It is at best inductive logic, a series of guesses to come to a desired conclusion by circumstantial evidence.
Can your mom explain why the art students of the era used an eye of this? And why destroy an eye of an already done art work purposely to teach? Was that crazy idea to teach the only option by then? Its simply out of place. Your mom's reason is way too weak.
I'm not so sure about this....because looking at the other sculptures of her they look the same. The bust might be a fake, but her features were not altered to look "white" frankly I think she looks quite Nubian or East african.
@@michaelwhittaker5432 The british museum conserves and preserves the art treasure of the world by experts. The public from anywhere can view the exhibits free of charge. This is not the case anywhere else. Be gone with your nonsense.
Its a fake because ancient Egyptians were black Africans, and that piece is clearly not an image of an African. In addition there are plenty of other representations of her in hieroglyphics and there is no resemblance.
Maybe its a fake, but I rather belief the museum than an known liar. People in the comments just believe him. He earned money faking and lying about art, not unlikely he just continuous with that to get paid.
@@deadpoo4707 yeah but I just like how it looks. It’s just the style that I really like and the possible history it’s connected to is just so interesting.
When I saw the bust looks like a white woman, I knew it was a fake. The real Nefertiti shown on the walls does not look like anything close to this fake.😂😂😂
There's has been a serious contantion in the circumstances that this famous bust was founded by German Archaeolgists. If anyone take a serious look at it, without preconceived thoughts and prejudice, will conclude that it's features do not resembles that of an African woman. There are several other busts in Egypt of Queen Nefertiti that do not resembles this one in question.
Can us blacks have everything thats RIGHTFULLY OURS y'all did ENOUGH damages y'all know north and south America was all connected to AFRICA before the earthquake and we still on African grounds we are AFRICAN NATIVES
The latest scans show clearly, an original, limestone inner original, cosistently damaged,. Covered with a more modern stucco surfaçe and polychromy....
I can believi it. They had a white dude put his own head on egyptian statue. Experts peeped the move when it looked nothing like the rest of the family.
The best give away is that it's not the art style of the Amarna period. There are busts of her daughter from the same period and they look nothing alike.
The problem with this guy, that he is not scientist and trying to prove the fakeness by just looking at it. The simple sample analysis in the lab will reveal the real age of this statue and tell the truth.
This is not intelligent dialogue! When phoney7 is involved it is disingenuous dialogue!!! In short misinformation! Stay away from any dialogue with this one!!!!!!!! It will set your academic studies back considerably!!! Ignorance an self promotion is a waste of your intelligence and time...Peace.
What a stupid comment of someone who clearly never left his basement. Listen stupid, nefertiti looks like a mediterranean caucasoid woman since THATS WHAT NORTH AFRICANS ARE you dumbass. North Africans trace their ancestry in the levant TOO SIMILAR AS SOUTHERN EUROPEANS AND THEREFOR EURASIAN IN ORIGIN. GO AND READ SOME F BOOKS
The fact that it was supposedly found face down under the shelf it was on collapsed, and fell two meters into a pile of rubble. And then was buried under a meter and a half of of more debris. Without any damage to the nose, chin, or brow. Makes it highly suspect. Especially when the archaeologist who found it was under great pressure to bring something incredible, back to Germany. Also the fact that Sir Flinders Petri had worked the site where it was found for three years or more, was convinced there was “nothing left to find”. And then they find this barely below the surface where Petri had worked for years. Just doesn’t add up. It’s a forgery, plus the fact that the story of the find, took about 10 years for him to write after the fact and then it changed a few times afterwards.
that's obviously a fakers work, he forgot to break the nose, the forger should have concentrated on damaging the nose, anyway im not an archaelogist, but why do they do the fakes, maybe for profit
I don't think her face is that of an 'Edwardian lady', hell her features are fairly similar to my own, and I'm certainly not of Anglo Saxon descent. The rest,perhaps. But her facial structure not so much.
Kitana, many people are conditioned to be limited in their views on race, orgin and history. The originals wandered the earth and morphed or adapted to new environments. So yes every race has a long list of seemly uncommon traits. I met a very dark skin young woman with vivid blue eyes. Her eye color was real (no contacts) and they were slightly different shades of blues. But, I could clearly see her cornea, veins, etc.
The ancient Egyptians would put a coating of plaster on limestone statues that they intended to paint because limestone being so soft and porous they needed a smooth and seamless surface to hold the paint and allow it to give lifelike detail. This has been known for a while, so I don't know what this guy is talking about. CT scans reveal that the plaster is indeed just an outer coating/sealant over a quite complete and detailed limestone sculpture. Did he think that Nefertiti's nose, lips and ears were formed entirely out of a thick layer of plaster over just an egg-shaped limestone core?
Well, there’s one sure way to find out: Carbon date the paint. Most paint in the ancient world is made from plant based pigments and oils. If you get something more recent and/or out of region you may have a fake there.
Sad that tears will drop from your eyes when the truth is revealed. The very first sets of ancient Egyptians weren't even native of what's known today as Egypt. They migrated there. As the saying goes, the best is saved for last.
I am inclined to believe criminals that have been busted for something like this then become consultants to teach about it. Who better to most likely know for sure? Interesting either way. I believe that guy though.
because he knows how it could be done, he's done it, he's fooled experts. He started off forging stuff and offering it to "experts" at low prices, Those experts were greedy and never told him how much they thought it was worth. They would then sell at a hugely inflated price to collectors. There's a program called "the artful codgers" you should seek out on youtube this bloke knows his stuff, and is actually very talented
Has nothing to gain?! He would become famous if this really broke out. How face would be everywhere. And let's say his guess is correct by some chance. He'd probably be offered his own TV show on the history channel if he's lucky to uncover other historical frauds. He's be interviewed like crazy and receive tons of money. Do you know what world we live in today lol he's got everything to gain from these accusation.
He was never interested in money, even when he had sold 100's of 1,000's of dollars worth of art he still lived in a tiny house with five other people, he has social problems and learning difficulties, he was never a calculating forger, he just knew he could do it
The U.S governrment used a convicted scam artist to teach their F.B.I agents. Read about him or watch the movie catch me if you can. Many law enforcement and fortune 500 corporations used ex convicts to protect their spy ware. If you really want to protect your home would you listen to someone who never broke into a home or someone who made a life of doing it. Really it is no brainer. It is a FAKE!
Most so called ancient artifacts are fake. Stonehenge is fake. Dinosaur skeletons in museums are fake. Carbon dating is fake science. Fakes have been created for centuries, to create fame and wealth for the charlatans responsible, to inflate egos, and to fool the masses with false science and history. Give the people shit and more shit to believe in and you control their minds. Old and new fakes... the moon landing was fake, the ISS is fake.
A four minute video and everyone is like "I always knew" and "It's obvious" haha! Reminds me of people yelling "I knew that was going to happen" after wrecking their car. Yeah? Why did you do it then? You do know it took the best of the best artist to make the switch in art style that was ordered? And even then it took many years to master the new Amarna style? And that we have other similar busts in lesser stage of completion using the same technique? And these were found after this bust? So the forger must have been physic or had a time machine? And the most similar bust also has an undamaged face? That the bust was part of a larger collection all from the same workshop? That sourcing two eyes would not be difficult at all? That plaster was used all the time, not just smaller statues but even for entire royal tombs? That there are infinitely more 'amateurish' commissioned pieces by earlier and later kings and queens? That it might not be commissioned by the royal court at all as many of the art comes from tombs of non-royals? And so on and so one. At the very least he has to explain the other, nearly identical but less finished bust. Same technique. Also a fake? Might sell another book I suppose. Or all the Greek statues with only their arms missing but the faces perfectly intact. All also selective damaged fakes? Look there's always the possibility. But raising doubts is easy. You'd have to explain away a heck of a lot more. Like the father of Akhenaten sending art to another king who found out he had done the same thing with gold instead of plaster. Passing them off as golden items. We have the letters of the king complaining about it.
I understand that even experts find it extremely difficult to tell a fake from a genuine artifact, so much so that it is expected that museums across the world have millions of fakes, but do not realise it. In saying that, this one definitely looks sus to me for many reasons (many that he said, other aspects like the unusual cut-off shoulders not really being a thing in egypt, and many about the history of how it was allegedly found)
steve alexander no European likely had strong hold of Egypt at that time its important to note that the culture does seem more black African due to the structures being found south of there
They were conquered the the aryan Hittites. The way I see it is that middle eastern people are proto European. Look at the Greeks, why are middle eastern looking?
The Nefertiti bust was found in the stonemasons workshop in Amarna Egypt. It is widely considered to be a demonstration piece. To teach students how to place the eyes and so on...hence, the missing eye. The opinion of criminal means nothing to me.
It always appeared to me that it could easily be a movie prop. I wouldnt doubt it when a expert forger explains his own talent for this kind of profiteering. It also distorts history.
