{"id":1059,"date":"2018-09-11T15:08:28","date_gmt":"2018-09-11T19:08:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.swarthmore.edu\/pschmid1\/?page_id=1059"},"modified":"2025-03-03T09:54:17","modified_gmt":"2025-03-03T14:54:17","slug":"a-tour-of-nefertaris-tomb","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/blogs.swarthmore.edu\/pschmid1\/?page_id=1059","title":{"rendered":"A Tour of Nefertari’s Tomb"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ankh, Snail, Blood, and Knot: On Nefertari\u2019s Tomb<\/h1>\n

Introduction<\/h2>\n

Nefertari\u2019s tomb has the best preserved and most eloquent paintings of any Egyptian burial site: it is the Sistine Chapel of Egyptian history, so to speak. The paintings on the tomb walls depict Nefertari’s journey after death to the afterlife, guided by various guardian-spirits and deities, including Isis, Hathor, and Osiris. The tomb was discovered in 1904, and quickly became world famous. You will see the reason why if you take the tour below.<\/p>\n

Nefertari was one of several Queens of Rameses II, 1290-1224BC. [Her name is sometimes spelled Nofretari or with other variations, and she is NOT the same person as the more famous Queen Nefertiti, with whom she is sometimes confused.] Nefertari\u2019s name means \u201cthe most beautiful.\u201d The elaborate tomb for her was built by Rameses II near Thebes, in the royal burial grounds in Egypt.<\/p>\n

What follows is a virtual journey into some of the meanings of objects and decorations in Nefertari\u2019s tomb, her \u201chouse of eternity.\u201d You will be led by a quirky guide with a flashlight to highlight the stunning graphics in the tomb, which hold the Egyptian key to the meaning of the afterlife. This virtual tour\u2014I guarantee you\u2014will be a little different from the others out there on the Web. The \u201creal\u201d tomb is now closed to the general public, due to the damage that viewers\u2019 breath (their humidity) brought to the paintings.<\/p>\n

The tomb may also be toured by a visit to your local library. \u00a0The set of images used in this online tour is just a small selection, \u201cfair use\u201d I hope, of the thousands of images in the tomb that have been reproduced over the years in various media. The best are by the photographer Ekkehart Ritter, of Vienna, which were originally published in a book no longer in print. I’ve also used as a key text Hans Goedicke’s Nofretari: A Documentation of Her Tomb and Decorations<\/em> (Graz, Austria: Akademische Druck, Univ. Verlagsanstalt, 1971.) \u00a0For a full listing of sources used, see the Final Chamber page link below, the “Sources for Further Travel” section.<\/p>\n

The images are not discussed in literal order, but rather are organized by theme and motif: you descend to deeper and deeper meanings. These interpretations are my own, based on my own research and my careful reading of texts on Nefertari’s tomb. \u00a0As you make the descent, watch your spirit-level. \u00a0For the mistakes that no doubt are here (I\u2019m no Egypt expert, only what used to be called an amateur) I apologize; I hope what insights there are may be a counterbalance. \u00a0Readers are welcome to send comments and corrections to me.<\/p>\n

From fresco to codex (book) to e-text: a journey almost as full of surprises and wonders as the journey to the afterlife…. \u00a0 \u00a0Begin:<\/p>\n

Our Nefertari tour\u2019s tomb-table of contents:<\/h1>\n

First Chamber in the Descent<\/a>
\nAl Fresco
\nOsiris
\nOn Skin Color
\nProtection Symbols; Symbols of the Male and Female<\/p>\n

Second Chamber<\/a>
\nOn Osiris\u2019 \u201cGatekeepers\u201d
\nKnot-Glyph
\nUnderground Fashion; or, Topless Goddesses
\nQueen Nefertari Herself
\nHathor\u2019s Touch<\/p>\n

Final Chamber<\/a>
\nBoogie Down
\nIsis and the Breath of Life
\nStars Underground
\nFrom Virtual Tomb to Wrapping Paper
\nSources for Further Travel<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"entrance\"<\/a>

Entrance to the chamber leading to Nefertari’s sarcophagus<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ankh, Snail, Blood, and Knot: On Nefertari\u2019s Tomb Introduction Nefertari\u2019s tomb has the best preserved and most eloquent paintings of any Egyptian burial site: it is the Sistine Chapel of Egyptian history, so to speak. The paintings on the tomb … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"parent":696,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.swarthmore.edu\/pschmid1\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1059"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.swarthmore.edu\/pschmid1\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.swarthmore.edu\/pschmid1\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.swarthmore.edu\/pschmid1\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.swarthmore.edu\/pschmid1\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1059"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.swarthmore.edu\/pschmid1\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1059\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1108,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.swarthmore.edu\/pschmid1\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1059\/revisions\/1108"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.swarthmore.edu\/pschmid1\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/696"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.swarthmore.edu\/pschmid1\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1059"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}