# The 1913 partage sends the Nefertiti bust to Germany

Date: 1913

## The fact

In 1913 the seasonal find division (partage) following the Amarna excavation allocated the painted bust to the German excavators, after which it left Egypt for Berlin. Egyptian officials later argued the object’s quality was not fully disclosed.

## Context

Partage was the legal frame. Whether Borchardt presented a photograph that hid polychromy is the core of later Egyptian complaint. Britannica records the dispute. Treating 1913 as simple theft upgrades a contested administrative act. Treating it as unproblematic consent erases the power imbalance.

[Nefertiti](/people/nefertiti) is not the sole author of every later object, law, or museum label that uses the name. Shared work with courts, excavators, printers, spouses, officials, and later states does not erase a documented role, and it does not make an ancient person the signer of a twentieth-century statute.

## Evidence and sources

Egyptian monuments authorities state the national claim. Britannica independently narrates the 1913 division controversy. Different voices, same date cluster.

Official or archival record: Egypt Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities — monuments (https://egymonuments.gov.eg/; Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, Egypt).

## Significance

Worsening institutional-heritage path. Medium confidence on hidden-quality allegations, high on the object leaving Egypt.

Later restitution campaigns are separate dated Facts.

## What is established and what is not

Established: the bust left Egypt after the 1913 division and is in Berlin. Not established: a criminal judgment of fraud in 1913, or that Nefertiti authorised export.

What would change the picture: a contradictory original with a different date or name, or a measured series that can be argued, with lag and alternatives, as a consequence of this instrument rather than of later institutions.

The date is the date of this instrument, not a licence to back-date every later harm or benefit.

## People

- Nefertiti: https://factrail.ai/people/nefertiti

## Drivers

- Institutional Corruption: https://factrail.ai/drivers/institutional-corruption

## Sources

- https://egymonuments.gov.eg/
- https://www.britannica.com/biography/Nefertiti

## Methodology

https://factrail.ai/methodology

Canonical: https://factrail.ai/facts/eg-find-division-1913-export