Nefertari - Beloved of Mut

Ramses the Great had a total of eight Royal Wives, but no doubt Nefertari was her most beloved. Nefer means beautiful in ancient Egyptian, and she is thus portrayed in all statues and painted reliefs. Crowned by Isis and Hathor, an equal in the company of the great deities of Egypt, she is presented to us as a beautiful deified mortal, her delicate body draped in the finest sheer linen, rich jewelry, wide gold collar and bracelets, wearing the two long feathers over the vulture headdress of gold, her soft pale facial features accentuated by makeup and framed by her abundant dark hair.

No other royal wife had a temple dedicated to her or had been represented in equal stature to a pharaoh. As the Great Temple of Abu Simbel is dedicated to Ramses II and the god Re-Herakhty, the small temple is dedicated to Nefertari and the goddess Hathor. The temple facade has six statues, each 33 feet high, four of them representing the king and two belonging to the queen. The fact that a man so self-centered as Ramses would have allow Nefertari to be depicted as being equal in size to him clearly indicates his love if not veneration for her.

Nefertari married Ramses II, then fifteen years old, at age thirteen. None of her sons became pharaoh, due to the extreme length of her husband's reign. She's is not mentioned in connection with the King's First Jubilee in the year 30 of his reign and it seems likely that she was already dead by the 25th year. Isetnofret became the pharaoh's principal wife and mother of Ramses's successor, Merenptah, his 13th son.

If Ramses the Second had many royal epithets, so did his Great Wife - "Lady of the Two Lands", "Great of Praise", "Sweet of Love" "Lady of Charm" and Nefertari Merit-en-Mut, meaning "The Lovely One, Beloved of Mut."

The tomb of Nefertari, QV66, is the largest and most spectacular in the Valley of the Queens.

Poor quality limestone prevented the workmen from carving directly into the rock walls. Instead, a thick layer of plaster was applied, carved and then painted. The paintings depict Nefertari's journey after death to the afterlife, guided by various spirits and deities, including Isis, Re, Hathor, Anubis and Osiris. There is a pleasant scene of Nefertari playing the game of Senet. No space is left blank in this vividly colored tomb and yet, the whole scheme is so perfectly balanced, the scale so well proportioned, that we feel comfortably at peace in this wondrously beautiful place.

The tomb was discovered in 1904 by italian archaeologist Ernesto Schiaparelli. It had suffered so much deterioration due to salt deposits under the plaster surface that a major effort was needed to repair it. In 1986, the Ministry of Culture, the Egyptian Antiquities Organization and the Getty Conservation Institute set to the task of saving the Tomb of Nefertari, using the most advanced scientific and artistic restoration practices. The work consisted, in summary, of reinforcing the plaster surface to its limestone base by the removal of salt deposits and the application of acrylic adhesive. Fallen pieces were carefully put together and reattached to the wall. Finally, the missing areas were repainted using very thin vertical lines of watercolor pigment that would blend at the normal viewing distance, but indicate to future restorers the work that has been previously done.

The tomb of Nefertari was was finally opened to the public in 1995. It has since been closed periodically for observation and maintenance. Consider yourself lucky if you ever get to visit this site.