Editing Nefertiti (section)

==Family and early life==
{{see also|Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt family tree}}Almost nothing is known about Nefertiti's life before her marriage to [[Akhenaten]]. Scenes from the [[Tombs of the Nobles (Amarna)|tombs of the nobles]] in [[Amarna]] mention that Nefertiti had a sister, named [[Mutbenret]].<ref name="amarnaI&II">[[N. de Garis Davies|Norman De Garis Davies]], The rock tombs of el-Amarna, Parts I and II: Part 1 The tomb of Meryra & Part 2 The tombs of Panehesy and Meyra II, Egypt Exploration Society (2004)</ref><ref name="amarnaV&VI">Norman De Garis Davies, The rock tombs of el-Amarna, Parts V and VI: Part 5 Smaller tombs and boundary stelae & Part 6 Tombs of Parennefer, Tutu and Ay, Egypt Exploration Society (2004)</ref><ref name="PM">{{cite book |last1=Dodson |first1=Aidan |last2=Hilton |first2=Dyan |title=The Complete Royal Families of Ancient Egypt |publisher=Thames & Hudson |year=2004 |isbn=0-500-05128-3}}</ref> Further, a woman named [[Tey]] carried the title of "Nurse of the Great Royal Wife."<ref name="Dijk 1996 31">{{cite journal |first=Jacobus |last=van Dijk |url=http://www.jacobusvandijk.nl/docs/BACE_7.pdf |title=Horemheb and the Struggle for the Throne of Tutankhamun |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304092253/http://www.jacobusvandijk.nl/docs/BACE_7.pdf |archive-date=2016-03-04 |journal=Bulletin of the Australian Centre for Egyptology |volume=7 |year=1996 |page=32}}</ref> In addition, Tey's husband [[Ay (pharaoh)|Ay]] carried the title "God's Father." Some Egyptologists believe that this title was used for a man whose daughter married the [[pharaoh]].<ref name="Dijk 1996 31-32">{{cite journal|last1=van Dijk|first1=J.|date=1996|title=Horemheb and the Struggle for the Throne of Tutankhamun|url=http://www.jacobusvandijk.nl/docs/BACE_7.pdf|journal=Bulletin of the Australian Centre for Egyptology|pages=31–32|access-date=15 September 2019}}</ref> Based on these titles, it has been proposed that [[Ay (pharaoh)|Ay]] was in fact Nefertiti's father.{{sfnp|Dodson|2016|p=87}} However, neither Ay nor Tey are explicitly referred to as Nefertiti's parents in the existing sources. At the same time, no sources exist that directly contradict Ay's fatherhood which is considered likely due to the great influence he wielded during Nefertiti's life and after her death.{{sfnp|Dodson|2016|p=87}} According to another theory, Nefertiti was the daughter of Ay and a woman besides Tey, but Ay's first wife died before Nefertiti's rise to the position of queen, whereupon Ay married Tey, making her Nefertiti's stepmother. Nevertheless, this entire proposal is based on speculation and conjecture.{{sfnp|Dodson|2016|p=87–88}}

It has also been proposed that Nefertiti was Akhenaten's full sister, though this is contradicted by her titles which do not include the title of "King's Daughter" or "King's Sister," usually used to indicate a relative of a pharaoh.{{sfnp|Dodson|2016|p=87}} Another theory about her parentage that gained some support identified Nefertiti with the [[Mitanni]] princess [[Tadukhipa]],<ref name="Tyldesley">{{cite book |last=Tyldesley |first=Joyce |title=Nefertiti: Egypt's Sun Queen |publisher=Penguin |year=1998 |isbn=0-670-86998-8}}</ref> partially based on Nefertiti's name ("The Beautiful Woman has Come") which has been interpreted by some scholars as signifying a foreign origin.{{sfnp|Dodson|2016|p=87}} However, Tadukhipa was already married to Akhenaten's father and there is no evidence for any reason why this woman would need to alter her name in a proposed marriage to Akhenaten, nor any hard evidence of a foreign non-Egyptian background for Nefertiti.

The exact dates when Nefertiti married Akhenaten and became the king's great royal wife are uncertain. They are known to have had at least six daughters together, including [[Meritaten]], [[Meketaten]], [[Ankhesenamun|Ankhesenpaaten]] (later called Ankhesenamun when she married Tutankhamun), [[Neferneferuaten Tasherit]], [[Neferneferure]], and [[Setepenre (princess)|Setepenre]].<ref name="PM" /><ref name="Tyldesley" /> She was once considered as a candidate for the mother of Tutankhamun, however a genetic study conducted on discovered mummies suggests that she was not.<ref name=":0" />