The ruins of Amarna, Egypt 1912
I am Abdul Mehez, reporter from Times in Cairo.
- For a long time? - I've made many reports about Luxor digs.
I've just hosted an old friend who's in charge of these digs.
- Archibald Donovan. - I know him very well.
- You're lying.
There's no Archibald Donovan.
What do you want Mr Mehez?
I've come to talk about Nefertiti.
I'm listening.
She's here, I know.
Let's search together. - How can I know you're not a tomb looter?
Nefertiti's bust is exactly...
there.
- How do you know? - I know.
My talisman will help us.
Come on.
More left, left!
Careful, careful!
We're near our goal.
No one ever saw such beauty.
An eye is missing from this statue.
There has never been any left eye on this statue.
I've been searching for it forever.
Look at her face carefully.
She came from a faraway land.
Tadukhepa, wait!
My father wants me to marry the pharaoh of Egypt.
That old man!
It's my destiny.
Oracles have predicted it at my birth.
I'll be the queen of a vast empire.
Love can rebuild the world too.
Stay with me, refuse this marriage.
You belong to me.
I belong to nobody.
Yame,
I love you since childhood.
But no one can erase what stars have written.
As a child I learned how to carve to fix your beauty.
My first statue, it's you.
I'll follow you wherever you go.
We'll meet again some day. Perhaps.
- Where do you come from, stranger? - From a faraway land, Mitanni.
And what are you doing here, on the land of the Pharaohs?
I'm looking for the woman I love.
Egypt is vast.
I'll know how to find her.
Where do you live?
I sleep under the trees, near the river.
Sometimes fishermen give me shelter.
I've been told that the boat of the new royal spouse
has passed down the river.
There.
She'd come from a faraway land, like you.
You can sleep in the little garden around my modest house tonight.
Let the golden rays of the sun guide you to the one you're looking for!
O, master of the throne
of Upper and Lower Egypt, divine King,
may this blood water your wisdom, long life to your new spouse!
This sacrifice is given in honor of your new spouse.
The oracle is favourable,
and predicts happiness and fertility.
I'm not looking for happiness anymore.
I just want a son, worthy to succeed to me.
Born from the most...
beautiful woman.
Egypt will know sun and blood.
Long life to Nefertiti!
Welcome on the land of the Nile,
spouse whom gods have given me.
Never ...
the gods' will ...
has been so sweet ...
to me.
Long life to Nefertiti!
Akhenaton!
Akhenaton, my friend!
Shemenkare!
Nefertiti!
My people has a name for you : Nefertiti.
I want...
a son
from you
and who will succeed to me.
I offer you my empire...
and my people.
I don't ask you...
to love me.
You will have the... power.
And the abundance.
The whole world
will respect the wife of Amenophis...
the third.
Nefertiti!
What does Nefertiti mean?
The beauty has come.
The little stranger must hurry, I have to take care of her.
Do you mean my new spouse?
Nefertiti, you may follow me, if you want.
Ay,
time passes, Tiyi is still the same.
To rule the Empire is not enough for her.
I know what you're thinking.
My son...
has the same age as Nefertiti.
And he will succeed to me soon.
The dream that the gods have sent to me is here.
Alas, you haven't come to Egypt for me.
I love you.
I'm waiting for you.
Refuse yourself to him.
Arakat!
Pharaoh's wives must be courtesans,
informed in the art of love but...
faithful.
I'll choose a slave for you.
I want her.
Stand up.
Here's your new mistress. You know what you risk if you disobey her.
You have the right to life and death upon her.
You'll get dressed according to your husband's tastes.
Perfect. Get her out now.
Dry her body and hips carefully.
Voluptuous resin, from musk.
And between her ravishing toes some rose from nubis.
- Hori! - Yes, princess.
Between all the women of the harem you're the most beautiful.
Who is the pharaoh's favourite?
Samghaline doesn't displease to the master's generous heart.
But her gifts remain mysterious.
Some talents I don't have?
She might be more perverse.
What do you know about it? And about perversity?
To know when to act innocent, when to arouse...
but staying mysterious.
To be demanding,
but hiding one's pleasure.
... predicts happiness and fertility.
Drink, damned doctor!
You thought I was dead already, I'm living again!
I feel like throwing you to the leopards.
But today
I choose clemency.
You'll be present
as always.
I regard you as my tender spouse.
You'll be very happy here.
Like the fresh water from the source of the oasis
you'll satisfy my desires.
I have carried the power of Egypt,
from Nile...
to Euphrates.
And the one who'll take my place
must be a worthy successor
of so much glory.
You think Akhenaton wouldn't play his role?
I have loved him very much.
But for some years
his reason has been misled.
He forgot
that the power of Egypt remains in the eternity
of its values,
of its traditions.
I'll give you a child,
strong and brave.
Now.
Tonight.
Who did make this statue?
I did.
I saw the princess in the boat that took her to Thebes.
Her beauty moved me.
I kept her image in my memory.
You're very gifted.
What are you doing in Thebes?
I'm looking for a job.
You just found one.
Settle in here. You'll help me.
Do you know why Akhenaton is kept apart from the court?
Amenophis III is ashamed of his son. Priests and courtiers fear him.
They think he's an heretic who secretly worships a new god: Aton.
He pretends that egyptian gods are sunk in dens,
and men sunk in fear, that they are cruel.
He turned his face to the sun who rises every day,
giving life and light to every thing.
Two years ago he got lost in the desert.
Everyone thought he was dead.
But he came back after many days, his face totally burnt by the sun.
He assured he had talked with the Sun-god.
It's been told he's neglecting women and would rather study.
He's being accused of being a poet, mystic and mad.
Slaves say he's good and lonely.
I don't like this drawing.
It seems inspired by a statue, not by a person.
Statues have to be eternal.
- No, mistress, it's forbidden here. - Forbidden to the Queen of Egypt?
Go.
I hate you.
You took the beauty who came from faraway.
Dreams can't be stolen.
You're sweet.
Warm.
Is your heart beating?
You live.
Don't fear anything.
Why are you hiding?
We all wear a mask.
In my nights without sleep
I've always looked for
the one who'd take my heart.
I never found her.
You dare!
You got yourself seduced by Akhenaton's dreams.
Look!
My child!
Nefertiti!
In two years our young queen
learned how to win the people's heart.
But she's still without a son.
We must act,
remove Akhenaton from the throne,
the impious son.
Amon's oracles
have predicted
that, from Nefertiti,
I won't have any child.
Meaning,
there's only you, my only heir,
you, with this ridiculous mask.
And your perpetual insanities.
These are not insanities.
It's Aton's will,
the only god, who prepares his appearance
onto the whole land of Egypt.
Ridiculous!
Blasted idiot!
I'm talking to you about the survival of our dynasty.
Keeping the priests as allies,
we'll keep
the absolute power.
My god is love,
and not power. My god
is the father of all creatures.
And all of them are modelled on him.
He doesn't need lie.
If your words spread out of here,
it's the Empire they will destroy at once.
And everything you see around you has been built
because men have not been created equal.
Power,
strength,
the nobility of my blood
and the priests have made me the living god of Egypt,
and soon you will throne.
You!
And I,
from this same throne,
I will announce the beginning of a new world,
where Aton
is the unique and real god,
the god of the sun.
You idiot!
He's your son, your blood, don't harm him!
Another destiny is calling him.
Then he'd better give up this mission before I kill him!
I'm not afraid of you.
I'll be soon on that throne
which will be mine.
In the name of Osiris, Horus and Toth,
I, Amenophis the Third,
may the heaven and its gods strike your heart
and may your name fall in eternal oblivion!
May you be damned,
cursed,
for the whole afterlife!
Stay with me.
Today.
I'm already...
dead.
Please, be clement with Akhenaton.
Forgive him.
He's just a child.
If you love him,
as you did love me,
you must forgive him.
Death
opens
heaven.
It's an unfinished love.
Here's something to drink from your spouse's hand
to spend a happy day in the house of Eternity.
Death is in front of you today, as a stroll
after the suffering, as a rest under a sail
in gale day.
You are the Pharaoh now,
the master of Egypt.
You are our living god.
Be careful, the high priest is listening.
He orders
that a sacrifice should be done, says that during a period of mourning,
you have to do it.
Menkutura,
let give a sacrifice
to help my father's journey through Osiris' kingdom.
From now on, she'll always be by my side.
What are you saying?
- I choose Nefertiti as a wife. - You are my son, and you must..
I am the pharaoh. I beg you, mother, to withdraw.
And leave me alone with my spouse.
Did you tell the truth to your mother?
Do you want to marry me?
I love you from the very first moment.
Eternal shadow eater,
Osiris,
God of death and darkness,
welcome the pharaoh of Egypt,
take this sacred bull,
and give our king
eternal life!
Bow before your pharaoh,
your god,
master of Lower and Upper Egypt,
Amenophis IV!
My friends, stand up.
Admire the sun.
This is Aton,
god of life,
of love
and justice.
Free this animal.
My friends,
let's unite to build a happy society.
A happy society.
Let the pharaoh
be brother with the fisherman,
with the countryman,
with every man living on this earth.
Let's unite
to build a new world.
Be responsible for each other
as the pharaoh is for you.
Here's Nefertiti,
your queen,
the beloved child of the sun.
Destroy these now useless statues, free yourself from your obsessions
and dispel your despair.
To destroy your father's effigy would jeopardize his second life.
Nonsense!
Nefertiti is right.
Let these puppets be destroyed!
Impious!
You're contradicting your master.
May the golden eye devour your insolent love,
and drown it in blood!
You're so beautiful.
And I...
I love you beyond your face.
Look at me.
Throw your mask. Forget your doubts.
You are Akhenaton.
And I love you.
But you...
Ugliness is sleeping beauty.
Aton makes everything beautiful.
Priests are greedy for power and gold.
Their religion serves to enslave the people.
They say Aton brings dissension and rebellion.
The empire of the death is not enough for them.
They need the empire of the living too.
O Aton,
you've created Earth alone according to your heart,
you let us free to decide on our life.
Each of us chooses his faith.
Mankind will get out of darkness.
We will leave Thebes,
sail down the Nile,
and will create a happy city under the only protection of the Sun-god.
Aton,
the City of the Horizon.
We will live in harmony with the people.
Our children will be free to play with every children.
Our love will grow up.
It will shine.
It will give an example
of happiness.
Priests will oppose our projects.
I'll banish them from the new City.
Samkali confirms to me your devotion to the eternal gods.
A drop!
A single drop,
so that the army of Amon
pierces the infidel's liver.
Cheerful children of the palace.
You don't have to steal my look.
I haven't forgotten you.
Yame,
I still love you.
But I owe everything to Akhenaton.
He learned me love, beauty,
poetry.
Do you love him?
I do.
A wise man revealed me this secret.
If you keep the eye of a statue, and if it's replaced centuries later,
love can give life to it again.
Do you really believe this?
Yes, I do.
I just finished reading your last poem.
Did you like it?
I'm not your equal.
In poetry.
I'm not talking about poetry anymore.
You're associated to the rituals of Aton.
You attend to the Empire council.
Little by little, you took my mother's responsibilities.
- What do you want more? - A power equal to yours.
Are you suffering?
No.
It's nothing.
Nefertiti,
I name you sovereign of the clergy.
Raise the taxes that are necessary.
The great spouse will have authority on the finances of the Empire.
Let hand the insignias of the royal power over to her.
In principle a woman loves her husband as she loves all of her children.
Is she able to love another man with the same feeling?
There's a lot of room in one heart.
Sadly the time is missing.
I love you with an absolute love.
Could I love another woman like this, I don't think so.
This melancholy comes from the bottom of your eyes.
You, Aton,
you're graceful,
and great.
You shine above countries.
Your rays reach the lands which are beyond your own creation
When you disappear on the horizon,
the country is in the darkness like dead.
At dawn, you dispel night.
Give our city your warmth
for ever.
You have led us here to choose this place.
It will be your city
in which the joyful bursts of children's laughter will resonate.
Everybody's city.
If the city is surrounded with so many gardens,
if Aton showers it with flowers and birds,
he'll have to protect it too.
Because no soldier could do so without walls.
Young warrior,
you're forgetting that Aton preserves from wars,
hunger
and even scorpions.
Yes, the talent gives beauty to the shapes.
Here's Yame.
He alone knew how to recreate Nefertiti's beauty.
2 years go
Dad!
Dad, a little sister is born!
Forgive her, other children will come.
Little by little my hopes are vanishing.
Will he come on day that long desired boy?
Tadukhepa, what's wrong?
You can't hide the truth to me.
Akhenaton is sick for two years.
The worries of the Empire?
No, Yame.
He's withdrawing from all, even from me.
After so many years, we're like brother and sister.
For a long while I've thought
that the strangeness of my fate lied in the oracles' prediction :
you'll be queen of Egypt.
The real strangeness of my fate lies in my love for three men.
Akhenaton,
Amenophis. - And me since childhood.
There's nothing stronger than this love.
O Aton, source of all life.
The clergy will offer to Aton half of its lands, of its slaves,
and of its livestock.
Of its slaves, of its livestock.
The raising of taxes will no longer be carried out by the clergy
but by the Pharaoh's emissaries.
The shares will be calculated according to everyone's estate.
You have ruined the people.
We are his only support. Why wipe us out?
You're the obstacle to his happiness. - We are his security.
And the people needs order to be happy.
Your order is laughing at the people and protecting your interests.
Be careful.
A day will come,
Akhenaton will vanish.
His city will be under the sands.
And the people of the Nile will forget his name, Aton's name.
The governor's reports from the provinces are alarming.
Countrymen are ruined.
The city of Aton must be finished.
Famine is threatening.
People are whispering against Aton
and the sacrifices he asks them.
The priests are stirring up discontentment among them.
Aton will break them.
You're frightening me.
You're running to the precipice.
Aton will free the people. The building of the city is the most important thing.
Horemheb, the chief of the armies of the Empire is back from Canaan.
Let Aton protect my sovereigns! Vassals refuse to pay their tribute.
Anarchy is spreading like wild fire. Byblos is calling for help.
We must act! Let's send the army to the borders.
Give me ten thousand men. And I'll put these dogs on their knees within a month.
I hate violence.
What gives us the right to take lives whom Aton has created?
The sword won't solve conflicts,
but love will.
Not the soldiers,
but the priests and the poets.
Courage, my son.
My mind is getting confused.
It hurts.
Doctors have tried everything.
They don't know how to cure the strange pain he's suffering from.
Shemenkare!
Let's push people into rising up.
The time of revenge has come. May the Empire be only ashes!
A whole splendid past is vanishing into the river.
You're renouncing the thousand-year-old Egypt,
renouncing your rights, your gods.
Akhenaton has destroyed our temples.
He's building a city with the money Nefertiti is stealing from us.
Are you waiting for this schemer to slaughter you?
Let's kill them both before they kill us.
Menkutura, you're losing your mind. The pharaoh is a living god.
Can one kill a god?
The time has come for fire and sword.
Maat, the goddess of secret truth,
is calling Toth, the god of all magics.
I see a poison
destroying his liver and his brain.
A poison without antidote.
I beg you.
Find the poisoners.
I will kill them.
Menkutura is just the agent of the gods' wrath which hounds Akhenaton.
Give Egypt its honour back. Akhenaton has ruined our country.
He has mocked our priests.
The general Horemheb has joined up to us.
Listen to him.
After Nubia, Mitanni, Assyria,
we have lost now Canaan.
Invaders are standing at our borders.
Will we let them devastate Egypt as Akhenaton and Nefertiti did.
Death to Nefertiti, death to this foreigner!
You're crazy, you're risking your life. - People are rising up.
People set fire, murder. The army is beaten in Assyria and swings.
Priests call to murder the pharaoh.
You must flee tonight. They'll kill you if you don't. - Akhenaton is dying.
I can't abandon him.
Tadukhepa, guards are still holding the city. It's still time, let's flee.
Flee and let me.
I'm staying near you.
It's too late.
The evil side has triumphed.
One day the whole world will discover that there's a unique god,
father of all men.
Tadukhepa,
I love you.
After looking for her in vain in the palace,
Yame waited for Nefertiti days and nights.
But he never saw her again.
One says she returned to Mitanni,
or sailed the Nile with her daughters to the sea.
They would have lived in a forgotten country.
They say too she stayed alone,
in the only house that stood after the destruction of the City of the Horizon.
They say and will say so much.
The child possesses the key of dreams.
In this story, who has dreamt?
He?
I, Abdul Mehez?
Yame?
Egypt has changed, changes and will change as the whole world.
Today cruises sail upon the Nile,
that wonderful river.
One visits the Valley of the Kings, armed with cameras,
from Aswan to Luxor.
Temples and palaces are now ruins.
And everything will go on changing.
But that name - Nefertiti,
has remained and will remain
tied with Akhenaton's name :
the dreaming Pharaoh.