Yesterday was Tuesday-museum-date with Deborah This week we went to the Neues Museum. This museum recently reopened just about a year ago after major renovations as the original structure was partially destroyed during World War II. It is quite popular so we had to reserve tickets ahead of time.
The museum has four floors that are packed with artifacts from Egypt and the Middle East. It was easy to get lost in the multiple rooms of sarcophaguses and statues. The museum is most famous for housing the bust of Nefertiti, an almost perfect bust of the queen missing only the left eye glass inlay. Unfortunately, no pictures were allowed in the room she was in. (yes, she has an entire corner room to herself)
I was mostly excited to see her because I’ve been reading the book “Loot” by Sharon Waxman which has a chapter about the controversy regarding the Nefertiti bust. In short, the bust was donated to Berlin in 1920 by a merchant, James Simon. Ever since, the Egyptian government has demanded its return to Egypt but Germany refuses because it legally given away by Egypt.
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