It has been the subject of an argument between Egypt and Germany over Egyptian demands for its repatriation, which began in 1924, once the bust was first displayed to the public, and more generally it fuelled discussions over the role museums play in undoing colonialism.

Nefertiti (meaning "the beautiful one has come forth") was the 14th-century BC Great Royal Wife (chief consort) of the Egyptian Pharaoh Akhenaten of the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt.

Theories suggest she could have been an Egyptian royal by birth, a foreign princess or the daughter of a high government official named Ay, who became pharaoh after Tutankhamun.

While it was once thought that Nefertiti disappeared in the twelfth year of Akhenaten's reign because of her death or because she took a new name, she was still alive in the sixteenth year of her husband's reign according to a limestone quarry inscription found at Deir Abu Hinnis[8] "on the eastern side of the Nile, about ten kilometres [6 miles] north of Amarna", in today's Al-Minya Governorate[9] Nefertiti may have become a pharaoh in her own right for a short time after her husband's death.

"[16] A 1924 document found in the archives of the German Oriental Company recalls a 20 January 1913 meeting between Borchardt and a senior Egyptian official[who?]

According to the secretary of the German Oriental Company (who was the author of the document and who was present at the meeting), Borchardt "wanted to save the bust for us", referring to Germany.

The German Oriental Society maintains that the finds of the dig were divided fairly, noting that Nefertiti was at the top of the exchange list and that "the inspector could have looked at everything closely at the time".

[23] Gardner's Art Through the Ages suggests that "With this elegant bust, Thutmose may have been alluding to a heavy flower on its slender sleek stalk by exaggerating the weight of the crowned head and the length of the almost serpentine neck.

The result of the examination was published in the book Portrait of Queen Nofretete in 1923:[27] When the bust was first discovered, no quartz to represent the iris of the left eyeball was present as in the other eye, and none was found despite an intensive search and a then significant reward of £1000 being put up for information regarding its whereabouts.

[30] Dietrich Wildung proposed that the bust in Berlin was a model for official portraits and was used by the master sculptor for teaching his pupils how to carve the internal structure of the eye, and thus the left iris was not added.

[23][25] Zahi Hawass, former Egyptian Minister of State for Antiquities Affairs, suggested that Thutmose created the left eye, but that it was later destroyed.

A CT scan confirmed Wildung's findings; Thutmose had added gypsum under the cheeks and eyes in an attempt to perfect his sculpture.

[31] The CT scan in 2006, led by Alexander Huppertz, director of the Imaging Science Institute in Berlin, revealed a wrinkled face of Nefertiti carved in the inner core of the bust.

"[38][31][39] "Showing a woman with a long neck, elegantly arched brows, high cheekbones, a slender nose and an enigmatic smile played about red lips, the bust has established Nefertiti as one of the most beautiful faces of antiquity.

[19][42] The bust created a sensation, swiftly becoming a world-renowned icon of feminine beauty and one of the most universally recognised artifacts to survive from Ancient Egypt.

[15] Initially stored in the cellar of the Prussian Governmental Bank, the bust was moved in the autumn of 1941 to the tower of a flak bunker in Berlin.

It was moved to the Reichsbank in Frankfurt and shipped in August to the U.S. Central Collecting Point in Wiesbaden, where it was put on public display beginning in 1946.

Although Germany had previously strongly opposed repatriation, in 1933 Hermann Göring considered returning the bust to King Fuad I of Egypt as a political gesture.

Hawass wanted Germany to lend the bust to Egypt in 2012 for the opening of the new Grand Egyptian Museum near the Great Pyramids of Giza.

Several German art experts have attempted to refute all the claims made by Hawass, pointing to the 1924 document discussing the pact between Borchardt and French authorities in Egypt.

[53] The chemical analysis on the dyes and pigments was initially done by Friedrich Rathgen, presented in Borchardt's book “Portrait of Queen Nofretete” (1923).

He stated they were a publicity stunt, adding that radiological tests, detailed CT computer tomography and material analysis support its authenticity.

[32] In 2003, the Egyptian Museum in Berlin allowed the Hungarian artist duo Little Warsaw, András Gálik and Bálint Havas, to place the bust atop a nearly nude female bronze for a video installation to be shown at the Venice Biennale modern art festival.

"[54] Egyptian cultural officials proclaimed it to be a disgrace to "one of the great symbols of their country's history" and banned Wildung and his wife from further exploration in Egypt.

[37][54][55] The Egyptian Minister for Culture, Farouk Hosny, declared that Nefertiti was "not in safe hands" and although Egypt had not renewed their claims for restitution "due to the good relations with Germany," this "recent behaviour" was unacceptable.

[57] In 2023, images circulating on social media showed the ceiling of King Ramses IV tomb as resembling the back of the bust of Nefertiti statue.

As the "'most precious ... stone in the setting of the diadem' from the art treasures of 'Prussia Germany'", Nefertiti would re-establish the imperial German national identity after 1918.

[60] In 1999, the bust appeared on an election poster for the green political party Bündnis 90/Die Grünen as a promise for a cosmopolitan and multi-cultural environment with the slogan "Strong Women for Berlin!

"[41] According to Claudia Breger, another reason that the bust became associated with German national identity was its place as a rival to Tutankhamun, found by the British who then effectively controlled Egypt.

[41] The bust became an influence on popular culture, with Jack Pierce's make-up work on Elsa Lanchester's hairstyle in the film Bride of Frankenstein being inspired by it.