Nefertari (1292-1225 BC) was the Great Wife of Rameses II (Rameses the Great). She carried the title of God's Wife of Amun, which conferred on her great independent wealth and power. She was deeply loved by her husband, the most powerful evidence of which is her tomb, arguably the most spectacular in the Valley of the Queens. Rameses referred to his beloved wife as, "The one for whom the sun shines."

Nefertari’s Tomb was discovered by Ernesto Schiaparelli, the director of the Egyptian Museum in Turin, in 1904 in Ta-Set-Neferu, meaning –‘the place of the Children of the Pharaoh’ because along with the Queens of the 18th, 19th and 20th dynasties many princes and princesses were also buried with various members of the nobility, today this site is known as the Valley of the Queens. The Valley of the Queens is located at the southern end of the necropolis at ancient Thebes, so far over a hundred tombs have been found in the area, although most were hidden again by Egyptian authorities soon after being discovered.

The tomb was closed to the public in 1950 because of various problems that threatened the spectacular paintings, which are considered to be the best preserved and most eloquent paintings of any Egyptian burial site, found on almost every available surface in the tomb, including stars painted thousands of times on the ceiling of the burial chamber on a blue background to represent the sky.

In 1986 an operation to restore all the paintings within the tomb was embarked upon by the Egyptian Antiquities Organisation and the Getty Conservation Institute, however work did not begin on the actual restoration until 1988 which was completed in April 1992. Unfortunately upon completion of the restoration work Egyptian authorities decided to close the tomb to the public forever in order to preserve the delicate paintings found within.

The tomb itself is primarily focused on two things, the first being the Queen’s life and the second being her death.

Nefertari was often referred to as Nefertari Meri-en-Mut, meaning ‘the Lovely One, Beloved of Mut’, Mut being the goddess married to Amun. It is believed that she was married to Ramesses the Great before he ascended the throne, when he was only fifteen and remained the most important of his eight wives in Upper Egypt, although Istnofret, whose tomb remains uncovered appears to have been the most important of Ramesses’ wives in Lower Egypt. Nefertari also had at least three sons and two daughters, Prince Amun-her-khepseshef, Prince Prehirwonmef, Prince Amonhirwonmef, Princess Mertatum and Princess Merytamon although none of these children succeeded the throne, Ramesses’ heir was Prince Merneptah, a son of Istnofret.

Ramesses’ obvious affection for his wife, as written on her tombs walls shows clearly that Egyptian queens were not simply marriages of convenience or marriages designed to accumulate greater power and alliances, but, in some cases at least, were actually based around some kind of emotional attachment. Also poetry written by Ramesses about his dead wife is featured on some of the walls of her burial chamber. ("My love is unique - no one can rival her, for she is the most beautiful woman alive. Just by passing, she has stolen away my heart.") Nefertari’s origins are unknown except that is thought that she was a member of the nobility, although while she was queen her brother, Amenmose held the position of Mayor of Thebes.

Nefertari’s status is confirmed by the fact that she is always depicted as part of her husband’s entourage, even during important voyages like a trip to Nubia in order to commission a new temple built at Abu Simbel in honour of the goddess Hathor and Nefertari herself. Also on paintings at both her tomb and temple at Abu Simbel Nefertari is depicted as being equal in size to Ramesses, a rarity because most wives were depicted as being somewhere in the region of the height of their pharaoh’s knee, indicating her importance to the Pharaoh.

The real value of the paintings found within the tomb is that they are the best preserved and most detailed source of the ancient Egyptian’s journey towards the afterlife. The tomb features several extracts from the Book of the Dead from chapters 148, 94, 146, 17 and 144 and tells of all the ceremonies and tests taking place from the death of Nefertari up until the end of her journey, depicted on the door of her burial chamber, in which Nefertari is reborn and emerges from the eastern horizon as a sun disc, forever immortalised in victory over the world of darkness..

The details of the ceremonies concerning the afterlife also tell us much about the duties and roles of many major and minor gods during the reign of the 19th Dynasty in the New Kingdom. Gods mentioned on the tomb walls include: Isis, Osiris, Anubis, Hathor, Neith, Selkis, Ma’at, Wadjet, Nekhbet, Imentet, Ra and Nephthys.

Unfortunately by the time that Schiaparelli found Nefertari’s tomb it had already been found by tomb raiders, who had stolen all the treasure buried with the Queen including her sarcophagus and mummy. Some pieces of the mummy were found in the burial chamber, and were taken to the Egyptian Museum in Turin by Schiaparelli, where they still reside today.

External links

• Nefertari, Antique Beauty & Royality

References

Siliotti, A. (2002), Egypt: Splendours of an Ancient Civilisation. Italy: Thames & Hudson.

Bradley, P. (1999), Ancient Egypt: Reconstructing the Past. United Kingdom: Cambridge.

Leblanc, C. (2001). Osiris.net [internet]. [place of publication unknown]. [publisher unknown]. Available from: <http://www.osirisnet.net/tombes/pharaons/nefertari/e_nefertari.htm>[27/02/2005].