Nefertiti

Fourteenth-century BCE Egypt. Mutnodjmet grows up beside her ambitious elder sister Nefertiti, who is chosen to marry the young pharaoh Amenhotep IV. At Thebes, Nefertiti quickly learns to use beauty, ceremony and family connections to strengthen her position, while Mutnodjmet watches the rivalries among royal wives, priests, generals and courtiers who expect the new reign to preserve Egypt’s established order.

Amenhotep instead renames himself Akhenaten, elevates the Aten above the traditional gods and builds a new capital at Akhetaten. Nefertiti embraces the revolution and seeks authority almost equal to the pharaoh’s, but religious upheaval, uncertain succession and hostility beyond the palace place the dynasty at risk. Mutnodjmet must decide how far loyalty to her sister can govern her own marriage, safety and future.