Nefertari - For Whom the Sun Shines: Queenship in Ramesside Egypt

Exploring the changing role of Queenship in Ramesside Egypt, this day school will focus on the development of the Valley of the Queens (The Place of Beauty). It is here, from the 19th Dynasty, royal women were buried, in architecturally complex and decorated tombs, created for them individually. This was an innovation, as previously royal women had been buried in undecorated tombs in the Valley of the Kings or associated wadis, or in side-chambers of their male relatives’ tombs. This revolution in the funerary realm was accompanied by changes in the civil and religious sphere, with the reinstatement of the titles of God’s Wife and the designation of wrt ḫnr (leader of a musical and cultic troop).

Lecture 1: The Place of Beauty (Valley of the Queens)

We will consider the development of the necropolis and how architectural and decorative programmes functioned to ensure the afterlife of the queens. We will examine how the Book of the Dead was used for the regenerative programme, in which the king is omitted. We will review how the queens must identify with both Osiris and Ra to ensure their rebirth, so assuming a male gender identity, for the transformative process. We will consider the changing nature of Ramesside society alongside these funerary innovations in an attempt to understand the belief system underpinning these radical changes. While 18th Dynasty queens have long been viewed as more powerful than their 19th and 20th Dynasty counterparts, in terms of independent funerary remains, the later were more lavishly endowed.

Lecture 2: Nefertari: For whom the sun shines

We will use the Great Royal wife of Ramesses II as a case study, examining both her tomb in the Valley of the Queens and the temple dedicated to her at Abu Simbel. In addition, statues, stelae, tomb and temple scenes will be examined in order to consider the divine associations of the queen and the roles she played in religious and civil ceremonies. Nefertari, ‘Great of Praises’, ‘Sweet of Love’, was clearly the first lady of the king, a position often held by the Mother of the King. However, Nefertari, was preeminent in the reign of Ramesses II.

Articles and links will be spent out after the lecture as appropriate.

Event Venue

Online