Nefertiti's Lost Eye in the Whole

Queen Nefertiti (c. 1370–1330 BCE), whose name is synonymous with the concept of beauty even thousands of years after her death, was the wife of Pharaoh Akhenaten. The bust of the queen, created by the Egyptian artist Thutmose, was discovered in 1912 by German archaeologist Ludwig Borchardt. In Borchardt’s notes, the expression "It cannot be described in writing; it must be seen" draws attention when describing Nefertiti’s face. Another striking aspect of the bust is the absence of the left pupil. Various assumptions have been put forward regarding this. One speculation suggests that she may have suffered from an infection that ended with river blindness. Another theory is that Thutmose, infatuated with Nefertiti, left her eye empty as a symbol of his unrequited love when she rejected him and he couldn’t see the reality of his affection.