The Osiris Nefertari: A Case Study of Decorum, Gender, and Regeneration Author(s): Heather Lee McCarthy and Heather McCarthy Reviewed work(s): Source: Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt, Vol. 39 (2002), pp. 173-195 Published by: American Research Center in Egypt Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/40001154 . Accessed: 10/10/2012 13:09 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp
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The Osiris Nefertari: A Case Study of Decorum, Gender, and Regeneration1 Heather Lee McCarthy The funeraryart and literature of the ancient Egyptiansclearly demonstrate that they envisioned an afterlife existence that emulated two parallel,but interpenetrating,mythic paradigms-the "solar" and "Osirian"modes of regeneration. These two modes have temporal aspects that correspondwith, respectively,nhh (cyclical,repetitive) eternity and^ (linear, static) eternity.2 Like the solar deity, the deceased was cyclicallyreborn and renewed- a process that the Egyptians equated with the sun'scelestialjourney through the daytimesky and the darknessof the netherworld. The climax of this process was the re-emergence of the sun and the souls of the deceased from the netherworldinto the world of the living every morning.3 The cyclicaljourney that characterizedthe solar mode of regeneration also had a parallel sexual component wherein the sun god was reborn via intercourse with a goddess who had a tripartite,multigenerationalaspect.4This goddess was the solar deity'sdaughter.5She also acted as his consort and was impregnated by him in the west at sunset. The goddess then became his mother when she gave birth to the renewed and regeneratedversion of the same solar deity in the east at dawn.6This notion was expressed pictoriallyand textually in both anthropomorphicand topographical terms- the sun disk enters, gestates and leaves the body of the sky goddess or enters the western horizon and re-emergesfrom the eastern horizon7 (the cosmographiccorrelate of the goddess's vagina). The deceased was also associated with Osiris, the god of the Duat (the netherworld). Like Osiris, one aspect of the deceased- the physicalbody- dwelled in the Duat (correlatedto the burial chamber
1 This articleis an expandedversion of a paper presented at the 2001 AnnualMeetingof the AmericanResearchCenterin Egypt, held in Providence,Rhode Island. I would like to thank David O'Connor,Ann MacyRoth, and an anonymousreader for their comments. I would also like to thank Stephen Harveyfor acting as my proxy at the conference and readingthe original version of this paper in my absence. 1 EdwardF. Wente, "FuneraryBeliefs of the Ancient Egyptians,"Expedition24 (Winter 1982), 17-26, especiallypp. 22-24; ErikHornung, "ZumagyptischenEwigkeitsbegriff ,"Fuf 39 (1965), 334-36; ErikHornung,trans,byJohn Baines, Conceptions of Godin AncientEgypt:TheOneand theMany(Ithaca,1990), 93-96, 183;Jan Assman,Zeitund Ewigkeitim altenAgypten(Heidelberg, 1975), 35-48. 5 Hornung, Conceptions of Godin AncientEgypt,181. 4 Lana Troy,Patternsof Queenshipin AncientEgyptianMythand History(Uppsala,1986), 25-30. 5 23-24. Troy,Patternsof Queenship, 6 27; Gay Robins, Womenin AncientEgypt(Cambridgeand London, 1993), 17, 41. Robins notes Troy,Patternsof Queenship, that Kamutef,the aspect of the king as the "bullof his mother,"is a manifestationof this mythicparadigm. 7 The anthropomorphicaspect of this notion is expressedby illustrationsfrom the Bookof theDayand the Bookof theNight, which appearon ceilings of Ramessideroyal tombs and depict the sun travelingthroughand emerging from the body of the sky-goddess.The best-knownexample of this theme is on the painted sarcophaguschamberceiling of RamessesVI. See Erik Hornung,trans,by DavidWarburton,Valleyof theKings:Horizonof Eternity(New York,1990), 89, pls. 54, 55, 68, 70. A vignette depicting one pair of feminine arms (with a pair of attachedbreasts)holding the sun disk illustratesthe combinationof anthropomorphicand topographicalaspects of the westernhorizon, 59, 90; see also AlexanderPiankoff,"TheSkyGoddessNut and the NightJourney of the Sun,"JEA 20 (1934), 57-61.
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of the tomb8) and awaited nightly rebirth and renewal effected by a syncretic union with the solar deity.9The union between Osiris and the sun god was a temporarybut very important occurrence during which, in James Allen's words, "from Osiris the sun received the power of new life, and through the sun Osiriswas enabled to live again."10In New Kingdomfunerarytexts, this event, which occurs in the midst of the netherworld,was a criticalmoment in this process- an event that recharged the battery of the regenerativemechanism. The PyramidTexts provide unequivocal written evidence that, at least as far back as the Fifth Dynasty, deceased pharaohs were automaticallyequated with both the sun god11and Osiris12by virtue of their kingly status and were believed to experience the correspondingmodes of regeneration and renewal.13The PyramidTextsof Neith14and Wedjebten,15wives of PepyII, verify that deceased royal women were also associated with the solar deity and Osiris and had the epithet "Osiris"prefixed to their names from as far back as the late Sixth Dynasty.16 David O'Connor's17analysesof the programsof two late Old Kingdomelite tombs andJanice Kamrin's18study of a Middle Kingdom elite tomb persuasivelydemonstrate that the afterlife existence of non-royalmale Egyptianswas determined by the same mythic paradigmsthat structure the afterlife existence of kings. Non-royal men and non-royal women are explicitly associated with Osiris and given the epithet "Osiris"from the Heracleopolitan Period onward.19In addition, female family members (mothers, wives, and daughters) depicted in the tomb programs of elite men could be envisioned playing the same sexual, multigenerational role for the deceased male Egyptian that the tripartitegoddess played for the solar deity.20 Less straightforward,however, is the process by which women (either royal or elite) were regenerated. Although deceased women were explicitly associatedwith Osiris and the solar deity from the Old Kingdom onwards,21it has never been entirely clear whether the afterlife existence of women 8 in Hommages aJeanLeclant.BdE 106 (Paris,1994),5-28, especiallypp. 24-25 and fig. 5. JamesP.Allen, "Readinga Pyramid," y Hornung, Conceptions of Godin AncientEgypt,155-56. iU to theLanguageand Cultureof Hieroglyphs James P.Allen, MiddleEgyptian:An Introduction (Cambridge,2000), 95. 11See RaymondO. Faulkner,TheAncientEgyptianPyramidTexts(Oxford, 1969), 76, 133, 158-59, and 225 for Spells 267, 407, 469, and 570, respectively;ErikHornung, TheAncientEgyptianBooksof theAfterlife(Ithaca,1999), 6. 1 EspeciallyPyramidTextsspell 219. Faulkner,PyramidTexts,46-48; Hornung,AncientEgyptianBooksof theAfterlife,6. 6 There was also a third mode of afterlifeexistence in which the deceased king unites with the northern circumpolarstars. This mode coexists with Osirianand solar modes of regenerationin the PyramidTexts.However,the change from the northsouth orientationof Djoser'smortuarycomplex to the east-westorientationof the pyramidsfrom the beginning of the Fourth Dynastyonwards,suggests that the associationwith the northern circumpolarstarsbecomes subordinateto the solar mode. See AlanJ. Spencer,Deathin AncientEgypt(London, 1982), 82-83, 140. ^ Gustave desReinesNeit et Apouit(Cairo, 1933), 14-28, pls. 7-32. Jeqmer,LesPyramides lb Gustave (Cairo, 1928), 5-8, pls. 3, 6-12. Jequier,La PyramideD'Oudjebten 10 Period.Second Edition (New York,2000), 17. Henry G. Fischer,EgyptianWomenof theOldKingdomandHeracleopolitan u David O'Connor discusses the Sixth Dynastyelite tomb of Pepyankhat Meir in, "Sexuality,Statuaryand the Afterlife; Scenes in the Tomb-chapelof Pepyankh(Heny the Black),"in PeterDer Manuelian(ed.) and Rita Freed (supervisor),Studiesin Honorof WilliamKellySimpson.Volume2 (Boston, 1996), 621-33; Pepyankhis discussedagainin idem, "Societyand Individual in EarlyEgypt,"in Janet Richardsand MaryVanBuren (eds.), Order,Legitimacy, and Wealthin AncientStates(Cambridge,2000), 21-35, especiallyp. 3; Mereruka'sSixth Dynastytomb at Saqqarais discussedin idem, "Erosin Egypt,"in Archaeology Odyssey (September/October2001), 42-51, especiallypp. 49-50. 18 Janice Kamrinpresents a cosmologicalanalysisof the MiddleKingdomprovincialelite tomb of KhnumhotepII at Beni Hasan in, TheCosmosof Khnumhotep (London, 1999), especiallypp. 10, 88, 139-40, 142, 147-52, 154-56, 167-68. iy Henry G. Fischer, "AStela of the Heracleopolitan Period at Saqqara:the Osiris Tti,"ZAS90 (1963), 35-41, especially pp. 36ff. and pl. 6; idem, EgyptianWomen,17. zu 11 (1988), 61-72, especiallypp. 61-65. GayRobins, Ancient EgyptianSexuality, in Discussionsin Egyptology Z1 Except for a few later burials where the deceased woman is identified with Hathor instead. See Ann Macy Roth, "FatherEarth, Mother Sky:Ancient EgyptianBeliefs about Conception and Fertility,"in Alison E. Rautman(ed.), Reading the Body: Representationsand Remains in the ArchaeologicalRecord (Philadelphia,2000), 187-201 and especially,p. 199; For examples of Hathor-identifiedwomen, see Sue D'Auria,Peter Lacovara,CatherineRoehrig (eds.), Mummiesand Magic: TheFuneraryArtsof AncientEgypt(Boston, 1987), 76-77, 98-99, 118-19, 156, 162-65, 169-70, 173-75, 187-89.
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involved a sexual mode of regeneration, and, if so, how this process was enacted. A deceased woman could be identified with Osiris and the solar deity, and while she might be represented in her husband'sor her father's tomb playing the role of the tripartite goddess for her deceased male relatives, it is not clear whether she needed a tripartite goddess figure to make her rebirth and regeneration possible. If a deceased woman needed such assistance, who played the role of the tripartite goddess? A phenomenon recently discussed by Ann MacyRoth22may provide a clue to understandingthis process. Roth has observed that, with some exceptions,23the tomb chapels owned by royal24and non-royalwomen- or the cult places reserved for women in jointly owned tombs- omitted the figure (and sometimes the name25)of the husband. In her examination of this pattern, Roth refers, at one point, to the conspicuous absence of Ramesses II from the tomb of Nefertari26(in fact, the Ramesside royalwomen's tombs in the Valleyof the Queens, as a rule, completely omit the names or images of their royal male kin,27eventhough queens, like kings, could be depicted in the tombs of royal sons28). While Roth does not suggest an explanation for this particularomission, she makes a keen observation, namely,that in starkcontrast to the exclusion of RamessesII from his wife's tomb, New Kingdom pharaohs are frequently depicted in the tombs of their sons.29 She argues that the "absent husband"phenomenon in this case was not directed by a proscriptionagainst depicting higher status individuals within the tombs of lower-statusdeceased family members.30The logical inference of Roth's statement is that relative status alone did not determine whether a king was portrayedin the tombs of his relatives.For if status alone were the determinant,then one would not expect to see representations of the king (or queens, for that matter) in the princes' tombs, either. The purpose of the present article is to offer a possible solution to the question of how royal women were regeneratedby using the Theban tomb (QV 66) of Nefertari,the most prominent of the 22Ann MacyRoth, "TheAbsent Spouse:Patternsand Taboosin EgyptianTombDecoration,"JARCE36 (1999), 37-53. 23In the late Third or early Fourth Dynastytomb of Atet at Meydum, the figure of her husband, Nefermaat, is shown trappingbirds. The figure of Nebhepetre Mentuhotep appearsin the late Eleventh Dynastytombs of Queen Neferu and in the chapels of the six royal women buried in Mentuhotep'smortuarytemple at Deir el-Bahari.See Roth, "AbsentSpouse," 45, 48-49. 24 Royalwomen of the Old through MiddleKingdomstend to be buried in close proximityto (or within) the pyramidenclosure of the king, even when they have separatetombs and pyramids.It is not until the beginning of the Nineteenth Dynasty that royal women have both a separatenecropolis- the Valleyof the Queens in western Thebes- and large, very elaborately decorated tombs of their own. This practice seems to be exclusive to the RamessidePeriod. Hatshepsutand Tawosret,royal women of the Eighteenth and late Nineteenth Dynasty,respectively,should be regarded as special cases because they each assumedthe role and titles of a pharaohand were given kings'burialsin the Valleyof the Kings. 25Roth, "Absent Spouse,"47. A section of the earlySixthDynastytomb of the vizierMererukaat Saqqarais devoted entirely to his wife, Watetkhethor,a king'sdaughter,and neither Mereruka'sname nor his image appearsthere. The name, but not the image, of Pepi II appearsin the tombs of his wives. ZbRoth, "Absent and Ty-tiand TheirTombs (London, 1909), Spouse,"49; see also Colin Campbell,TwoThebanQueens: Nefert-ari 7, 12. Campbellnotes the absence of RamessesII (in both text and image) from Nefertari's tomb, but he offers no analysis. 27 Hornung acknowledgesthis patternin Valleyof theKings,p. 187. The single exception to this rule is found in the twentieth Dynastytomb of Queen Isis (QV 51). Isis'sson, RamessesVI, completed his mother'stomb and inscribedhis cartoucheson thejambs of the doorwayleading from the antechamberto the sarcophaguschamber. 28See ChristianLeblanc,TaSet de Thebes-Ouest et SonHistoire(Cairo,1989), pl. 85, for a scene showing Neferou:line Necropole a royalwoman offeringto Osirisin the TwentiethDynastytomb of Prince Pareherwenemef(QV 42). ^ Roth, "Absent Spouse,"49. The examplesRoth cites are the TwentiethDynastytombs of the sons of RamessesIII in the Valley of the Queens. Her observationis still applicable to the period discussed here, because images and cartouches of RamessesII are prominentlydisplayedin the decorativeprogramof KV5, the "familymausoleum"which served as the burial place for a number of this king'ssons. In many scenes, the king mediates between his sons and the gods just as RamessesIII does in the tombs of his sons. See Edwin C. Brock, "WallDecoration,"in Kent Weeks,ed., KV5: A PreliminaryReporton the Excavationof theTombof theSonsofRamesesII in the Valleyof theKings(Cairo,2000), 55-94, especiallyfigs. 45-49, 56, 60, 61a-c, 62, 69b. 30Roth, "Absent Spouse,"49.
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great royal wives of Ramesses II, as a case study. I will address Roth's observation, which usefully acknowledges the complexity of the "absentspouse" pattern, but will also take this idea further and define the multiple factors- including hierarchicaldecorum31-that seem to have shaped the notion of how Nefertari embarkedupon her afterlife existence and how this phenomenon was expressed in visual terms. The main thesis of this study is that Nefertari'spostmortem regeneration required her to attain a temporarystate of gender fluidity in which she becomes both male and female.32The attainment of this state necessitated the absence of Ramesses II from her tomb. Once the queen adopted a masculine aspect and achieved a state of gender fluidity,she could then assimilatewith both Osiris and the solar deity. This would allow her to assume the chthonic fertilityof Osiris and to be reborn via what is essentially a sexual mode of regeneration (like the solar deity)- possibly interacting with her own feminine aspect in the process. Furthermore,this article will demonstrate how the mechanism of the queen's rebirth and regeneration-effected through her assumptionof masculine regenerativepotential and her assimilationwith both Osiris and the solar deity- is conveyed by the art in her tomb. An attempt will be made to show how Egyptiannotions of male and female fertility,hierarchicaldecorum, and the ideological role of royal women within the conceptual frameworkof kingship33propelled specific choices made in the design and content of the decorative program, among which is the aforementioned omission of Ramesses II. To this end, the decorative program of the Small Temple at Abu Simbel,34where Nefertari and a local, Nubian form of the goddess Hathor were the foci of cult, will be studied and used as a comparandum.The decorativeprogramof the SmallTempleprovidesan instructivedemonstrationof the rules of hierarchicaldecorum that govern depictions of the royalcouple's dyadicrelationship.The rationale for comparing this temple with Nefertari'stomb is that both of these monuments have exceptionally well-preservedprograms and are dedicated to the same royal woman. They thus provide an unusuallyrich source of data about modes of representationdeemed appropriatefor the portrayalof a queen in both temple/cultic and funerary/cultic contexts. Moreover,the rules of subordinationand super ordinationemployed in the representationsof the royalcouple in the SmallTemplehelp explain both the omission of Ramesses II from the tomb of Nefertari and the larger process of the queen's regeneration. Among the works cited in this discussion are Roth's two recent, thought-provokingarticles, "The Absent Spouse: Patterns and Taboos in Ancient Egyptian Tomb Decoration,"and "FatherEarth, The former deals with the Mother Sky:Ancient Egyptian Beliefs about Conception and Fertility."35 latter examines the Egypin and the tomb "absent mentioned decoration, spouse"pattern previously tian conception of fertilityand the role of ancient Egyptianwomen in death and rebirth. LanaTroy's book Patternsof Queenshipin AncientEgyptianMythand History,is an important work demonstrating that ancient Egyptianqueenship can be envisioned as the feminine half of the androgynous totality 31For a discussionof the notion of gender-relatedcompositionaldominanceand it canonicalemploymentin Egyptianart see Gay Robins, "SomePrinciplesof CompositionalDominanceand Gender Hierarchyin EgyptianArt,"inJARCE31 (1994), 33-40. 32Roth first proposed the hypothesisthat deceased women assumed a masculinepostmortemidentity in addition to their feminine identity,developed an associationwith Osiris,and re-engenderedthemselveswith the help of their own tomb images in "FatherEarth,MotherSky,"199-200. 33 The ideologicalroles of royalwomen vis-a-viskingshipand within the overarchingcosmologiTroy,Patternsof Queenship. cal frame of reference are two importantconcepts examined in this innovativeand original study of royalwomen in ancient Egypt. 34A comprehensivepublicationof the decorativeprogramand architectureof this temple is providedby ChristineDesroches-Noblecourtand CharlesKuentz,Le Petit Templed'AbouSimbel,volumes 1,2 (Cairo, 1968). 35Roth, "FatherEarth,Mother Sky,"187-201.
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of kingship. Another work cited here, Gay Robins' 1994JARCEarticle, "Some Principles of Compositional Dominance and Gender Hierarchyin EgyptianArt,"explores the relationship of gender to patterns of hierarchicaldecorum in two and three-dimensionalart. The first part of this article will describe the tomb of Nefertari and discuss its program, its functions, and its cosmographicsignificance.The second section will examine the decorativeprogram of the SmallTempleof Abu Simbel in order to demonstratehow the rules governing the representations of Ramesses II and Nefertari in this temple help explain the absence of the king from Nefertari's tomb. The final section will discuss how the art in QV 66 provides important clues to understanding the mechanism of the queen's regeneration. The Tombof Nefertari36 An examination of the cosmography of the architectureand decorative program of QV 66 illustrates the tomb's two primarypurposes: 1) to enable the deceased queen to enter the netherworld and 2) to revitalizeher and thus allow her to emerge from the tomb and return to the world of the living on a dailybasis.37These two functions, which are analogous to the two phases of the sun'sjourney through the netherworld and the daytime sky, are conveyed by the architectureand decoration of the tomb. Moreover, the tomb consists of two distinct components.38The first is an upper level that, in the cosmographyof the tomb, is conceptuallyequivalentto the Akhetand its immediate environs, a liminal zone that the deceased and the solar deity traversedin order to enter and exit the netherworld.39The second part is a lower-lyingburial chamber that is the cosmographic equivalent of the Dual (the netherworldrealm of Osiris and the dead). A descending corridor, acting as a conceptual and physicallink between the two realms, connects both sections of the tomb. Located on the northern flank of the Y-shaped"Valleyof the Queens"in western Thebes, the tomb of Nefertari(figs. 1,2) lies on an approximatenorth-southaxis with its entrance in the south. Fromthe doorway,a descending staircaseleads to the square first room- ChamberC.40On the eastern side of ChamberC, a doorwayleads to a complex comprised of two shallowrecesses (D and E on this plan), a short passageway(F), and a rectangularchamber(G). A doorwayin the north (rear)wall of Chamber C, gives access to a steeply downward-slopingcorridor, which lies on a diagonal, east-leaning,axis,41 and descends to the burial chamber (K). Four piers support the burial chamber, and a rectangular depression (oriented east-west)in the center of the room intended for the placement of the queen's 36Published
by Hans Goedicke and Gertrud Thausing in Nofretari:Documentation of Her Tomband Its Decoration(Graz, 1971). 37ChristianLeblanc,"Architectureet Evolution Chronologiquedes Tombesde la Valleedes Reines,"BIFAO89 (1989), 22747, especiallypp. 245-47. 38Heike C. Schmidt,"Die Transfigurationder Nefertari:Ein Leben im Glanzder Sonne,"in Heike C. SchmidtandJ. Willeitner (eds.), Nefertari:GemahlinRamses'II. (Mainz,1994), 104-44; idem, "Szenariumder Transfiguration-Kulissedes Mythos: Das Grabder Nefertari,"SAK22 (1995), 237-70. Schmidtoffers an interpretivediscussionof Nefertari'stomb that suggeststhe juxtapositionof solar and chthonic modes of regeneration.She envisions the areason the (relative)north-southaxis that run in a relativelystraightline from ChamberC, throughthe corridor,and into the burialchamber,as a thematicallychthonicarea, whereasthe east-westaxis (referredto as D-Gin the present article)is more solar in its orientation.Her interpretationdiffers from mine, because I envision a greaterconceptualintegrationbetween the spacesratherthan drawinga sharpdistinctionbetween the "solarcomplex"of the east-west axis and the more chthonic, "Osirian"axis of the north-south spaces. In addition, I envision ChamberC as an area that evokes the Akhet,and she does not; Goedickenotes only that there is a thematicdistinction between the more "earth-connected" upper chambersand the "strictlysepulchralsphere"of the sarcophaguschamber (with the descending corridoracting as the midpoint)in, Nofretari,36 39For Allen'sdefinition of the Akhetsee, Readinga Pyramid,26. 40All letter designationsused in this article to distinguishspatial units in QV 66 follow those employed in John K. McDonald, House of Eternity: The Tombof Nefertari (Los Angeles, 1996).
Hornungbelieves that the slightlybent axis of QV 66's corridoris a "diminished"version of the bent-axisroyaltomb plan revivedby RamessesII for his own tomb. See Valleyof theKings,187.
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sarcophaguslies between these piers. Three small annexes (M, O, and Q) open up from the lateral and rear walls of the burial chamber. ChamberC is the conceptual and temporal correlate of the Akhetin this phase of the deceased queen'sjourney- a cosmographicallyappropriatedesignation for a chamber that communicates with the entrance doorway and the world of the living. The most powerful evidence supporting this interpretation is the decoration on the soffit of the entrance doorway (fig. 3), which depicts the sun, flanked by Isis and Nephthys in kite form, rising (or setting) in the midst of the mountains of the horizon as though it were emerging from (or entering) the tomb.42 In addition to graphically depicting the process of the sun's (and by association,the deceased's) emergence from the netherworld, it literally spells out the word "Akhet" Moreover, the position of this scene on the tomb's entrance doorway identifies Chamber C as the area hidden (from humans) behind the "mountain"or physical horizon, the hidden space that is the Akhet. Furthermore,the west wall of Chamber C is decorated with the text of Bookof theDeadchap-ter 17 and accompanying vignettes, which depict Nefertari undergoing transformations that will allow her to emerge from her tomb "as a living soul"43and thus re-enter the terrestrialzone outside of the tomb.44A representation of Nefertari as a human-headedba-hird(fig. 4) perched atop the tomb (one in westof the transformationsdescribed in the text) graphically tomb 1. Plan 66) (QV of Nefertari's Fig. ern Thebes(drawing © theJ. Paul Getty Trust, highlights this notion. The &a-spirit,as described in New [1990]) Kingdom funerary texts, is the mobile aspect of the deceased that can leave the tomb during the day and mingle with the living or travelwith the solar deity.45This tableau places the action within the Akhet(and its placement on this wall further reinforces the equation of ChamberC with the Akhet).It graphically highlights the idea that Nefertari is experiencing the mysteries of regeneration within the Akhet behind the mountains of the horizon as the sun god does. The east wall of Chamber C is decorated with representations of Osiris-Wenneneferand Anubis standing in shrines and facing south, toward the tomb entrance, where Nefertari, standing adjacent 42The notion that this tableaurepresentsboth the rising and setting of the sun and the inwardand outwardmovement of the deceased is supportedby Leblanc,"Architectureet Evolution,"245 and 246, fig. 7; Goedicke interpretsthis scene as a depiction of the setting sun in Nofretari,38, as does McDonaldin Houseof Eternity,57. 43See the translationof Chapter17 (especiallythe beginning, which is particularlyrelevantto the physicaltransformation of Nefertari)in R.O. Faulkner,TheAncientEgyptianBookof theDead(London, 1989), 44. 44Leblanc endorses the notion that the upper chamber is an area of entry, transfiguration,and re-emergencein Architecture et Evolution,"244 and 246, fig. 7. Another point of view is held by Goedicke, who envisions the decorative program in the first chamber as a one-wayentry of the deceased into the realm of Osiris. Goedicke discusses the "inaugural" characterof the outer chamberin Nofretari,35, but does not address the notion of the "re-emergence"or exit of the transformed deceased. 45See John H. Taylor,Deathand theAfterlifein AncientEgypt(Chicagoand London, 2001), 20-23.
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Fig. 2. Axonometric drawings of QV 66 showing the west half of the tomb (top) and east half (bottom) (after Schmidt, "Die Transfiguration der Nefertari," 108, Abb. 150 a,b)
Fig. 3. The representationof the Akhet on the soffit of the entrance doorway (photograph© theJ. Paul Getty Trust,[1986])
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to the doorway,offers to Osiris and the four sons of Horus.46The form of Osiris shown is that of the revived and resurrectedgod who embodies the regenerativepotential that Nefertari will assume. The complex (Recesses D, E, Corridor F, and Chamber G) that opens up from the east wall of ChamberC (fig. 5) has a decorativeprogram that relates thematicallyto the intersection of the solar and Osirian modes of regeneration and stresses Nefertari'sinteraction with these two modes. Moreover, the program of this complex suggests that this series of spaces is the cosmographiccorrelate of a zone in the netherworld that lies somewhere between the Akhetand the Duat. Its placement in the upper level of the tomb spatiallylinks it to the Akhet-evokingarea of ChamberC. Like the topography of the netherworld,the architectureof the tomb and, by association,the route taken by the deceased (in both directions) is not a straightline.47In essence, the eastern complex can be envisioned as the cosmographic representationof a transitionalarea between the two realms,but one that seems more closely linked to the Akhetthan to the depths of the Duat. The scenes and inscriptions of the eastern complex also suggest a movement toward the Duat and away from the Akhetas one moves further into the complex from ChamberC. The programof Recess D, for example, reinforces the cosmographicequivalenceof the upper level of the tomb with the Akhet-the place where Nefertari will emerge like the sun from the Duat. It depicts Selket on the north wall and Neith on the south wall, flanking the passage from Chamber C to the eastern complex. The associated texts indicate that each goddess welcomes Nefertari and have accorded her a place in the sacred land so that she may appear each day like Re- a reference to the solar mode of regeneration and to Nefertari'semergence from the Akhet. The programof Recess E (directlybehind- and to the east- of D) highlights the interpenetrationof the solar and Osirian modes of regeneration. This is accomplished by depicting Isis (on the north wall) and Horus, Son-of-Isis(on the south wall), representativesof the Osirian mythos, leading Nefertari into the presence of Khepri and Re-Horakhty(the latter seated with Hathor of Thebes), two aspects of the solar deity who rise in the east and emerge from the netherworld. The pilasters of Recess E (flankingthe doorway)are decorated with representationsof Osiris as a djed-pi\\a.vfurther suggesting the interconnection between Osiris and the sun god. The lateral walls of Corridor F (the narrow passage between Recess E and Chamber G) are each decorated with standing, west-facing figures of Ma'at, who welcomes Nefertari and assures her a place within Iu-geret.48This recess can be equated with the judgment of the deceased in chapter 125 of the Bookof the Dead;49an analogy that suggests this corridor represents a further point in the journey between the Akhetand the Duat.50 Indeed, there appears to be a conceptual transition between spaces (E and G) where the synthesis of the solar and Osirian modes is expressed in increasinglyunequivocal terms, as Chamber G explicitly depicts the intertwining of the solar and Osirian modes of regeneration that Nefertari 46Schmidtbelieves that this vignette is the illustrationof Bookof theDeadchapter173 in "DasGrabder Nefertari,"241-42. 47For a discussion of the non-linear topographyof the netherworldand its expression in Old Kingdom PyramidarchiStudies3 tecture, see Allen, "Readinga Pyramid,"24-28; idem, "The Cosmology of the PyramidTexts,"in YaleEgyptological (New Haven, 1989), 1-28, especiallyhis discussionof the location of the Field of Reeds, Field of Offerings,and the Akhet on pp. 6, 17-18. 48Goedickeand Thausing,Nofretari,42-43. 49McDonald,House of Eternity,75; Schmidt,"DasGrabder Nefertari,"245; see Leblanc,TaSetNeferou,pl. 147 (B) for a representaionof the "negativeconfessions"portionof chapter125 in the antechamberof the tomb (QV60) of Nebettawy,Ramesses II'sdaughterby Nefertarior Isisnofret. Leblancenvisionsthe easterncomplex as the place where the "triumphof the deceased"occurs during thejourney from the Duat to the Akhet(although not the other way around) in "Architectureet Evolution Chronologiquedes Tombes de la Vallee des Reines,"246, fig. 7 and 247. While this supports the notion that the recess is a zone of transition,I would suggest that the eastern complex might have been significantfor the deceased'sinwardand outwardmovement through the tomb.
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Fig. 4. Nefertari playing draughts and depicted as human-headedba-bird on the west half of the south wall of ChamberC (photograph© the]. Paul Getty Trust,[1992])
Fig. 5. Complexof spaces that open upfrom the easternwall of ChamberC (photograph© the]. Paul Getty Trust,[1992])
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would hope to undergo in her personal postmortem transformation.The program of ChamberG also includes scenes and texts from the Bookof the Dead that have a direct bearing on Nefertari's physicaljourney through the afterlife. The west wall of ChamberG (on the south side of the door) is perhaps the most telling example of the intensification of the program's message. The vignette here depicts the syncretistic, mummiform figure of Re-Osirisflanked by Isis and Nephthys (fig. 6)an illustrationof chapter 180 from the Bookof the Dead51in which the interaction of Re and Osiris "recharges"the process of regeneration and empowers the deceased to move both into and out of the realm of the dead.52 Versions of the Re-Osirisscene are included in the tombs of two other Ramessidequeens: Nebettawy (QV 60), a daughter of Ramesses II, and 53 Duatentipet (QV 74). In both of these tombs, this scene appears in a space that architecturally corresponds to QV 66's Chamber G (i.e., in an eastern lateral chamber that opens up from the east wall of each tomb's antechamber,but in each case without QV 66's associated recesses). The scenes on the south wall of the chamberillustrate chapter 148, a spell that provides both nourishment for the deceased and the magical steeringoars thatwill guide her on herjourney and her from her enemies. The north wall deFig. 6. Syncreticform of Re-Osirisfrom the south half of the protect east wall of ChamberG (photograph © theJ. Paul Getty picts chapter 94, in which the deceased requests Trust,[1992]) writingequipmentfrom Thoth that will endow her with the scribal proficiency she needs to successfully complete herjourney. The adjacentscene on the north half of the west wall (on the north side of the door) depicts the queen offeringbolts linen to Ptahwhile he, in turn, providesher with protection, life, and stability. The rear (east) wall shows two back-to-backscenes of the deceased offering to Osiris-Wennenefer, the resurrectedOsiris, and to Atum, the solar/creatordeity of Heliopolis (fig. 7). The pairing of the gods, like the representation of Re-Osirison the west wall, is a graphic visual statement of the coexistence and interaction of the two complementarymodes of regeneration. Furthermore,in the asso-
51 Hornung, The Ancient Egyptian Books of the Afterlife, 140. bZFaulkner, Book the Dead, 177. of
56In Nebettawy'stomb (QV60) this scene is located on the north half of the west wall of the east lateralchamber,and the scene is on the east wall of the east lateralchamberof Duatentipet'stomb (QV 74). Leblanc, TaSetNeferou,pls. 149 (A), 195 (B); Bertha Porter and Rosalind L. B. Moss, TopographicalBibliographyof Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphic Texts,Reliefs, and Paintings: I. The ThebanNecropolis,Part 2. Royal Tombsand Smaller Cemeteries(Oxford, 1964), 761 (10), 768 (6).
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ciated texts, Osiris and Atum explicitly endow Nefertari with the ability to access both regenerative modes.54 The descending corridor not only serves as a point of departure that separates the mostly Akhet-evokingupper chambersfrom the explicitly Duat-evokingburial chamber but also serves as a transitional zone in which one realm abuts and then dissolves into the next.55 While the upper half of the corridor is decorated with scenes that are not explicitly funerary (and at times even evoke the terrestrialrealm), the lower half of the corridor evokes the Duat through the funerary content of its texts and decoration and through the spatial arrangement of its architecture. The lower half of the corridor, unlike the upper half, lies beneath the floor level of the upper chambers. The "underground"location of the lower half of the corridorthus intensifies the decorative of the lower half of the corriFig. 7. Osiris-Wenneneferand Atum from the east wall of program'sequation dor with theDm^.56 ChamberG (photograph© the]. Paul GettyTrust,[1992]) The thicknessesof the upper doorwayare decorated with the queen's cartouchesand symbolsof Upper and Lower Egypt57-direct evocations of the terrestrial(i.e., Egyptian)realm. The side walls of the upper part of the corridor are decorated with two pendant offering scenes in which Nefertariconsecratesnemset-jars, produce, and bread to two enthroned goddesses- Hathor and Selket on the east and Isis and Nephthys on the west (a figure of Ma'at kneels behind the second goddess in each group). Two recesses that separate the upper and lower zones of the corridor are decorated with anthropomorphizedDjed-pillarsthat appear to support the ceiling. Both lateralwalls of the lower section of the corridor are decorated with scenes that more directly evoke the netherworldthan do the scenes on the upper part. On each side, the Anubis-jackalsits on a shrine, with a winged cobra protecting the cartouche of Nefertari above, while Isis (on the west side) and Nephthys (on the east side) kneel on a hieroglyphic sign for gold, and hold a shen sign.58 The associatedinscriptions,though not chaptersfrom the Bookof theDead,relate to the queen's afterlife existence. They express the wish that Nefertari have a place in the "sacredland" [7? dsr],appear in heaven like Re, and rest on the throne of Osiris59-once again reflecting the interpenetration of Osirian and solar modes of regeneration. Even the queen's epithets, inscribed on the two doorwaysof the corridor,suggest Nefertari'sphysical movement to (and from) the netherworld and her transformationthrough this transitionalzone 54 Goedicke, Nofretari, 39. pl. 55Goedicke and Thausing,Nofretari,45. Goedicke envisions the corridor'sprogramas showing "twoaspects and stages in the funerarydevelopment." 56Goedicke, Nofretari,36; McDonald,TombofNefertari,87. 57Goedickeand Thausinar, Nofretari,45, pls. 42-45. 58Schmidt 247; idem, "Die equates the vignettes (but not the text) with Bookof theDead 151 in, "DasGrab der Nefertari," Transfigurationder Nefertari,"121, Abb. 169 and 122. 59Goedickeand Thausing,Nofretari,45-48.
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Fig. 8. Top of descending corridorviewedfrom ChamberC (note the queen's epithets on the doorjambs) (photograph© the]. Paul Getty Trust,[1992])
in a way that echoes the message provided (pictorially)by scenes in the corridor and (architecturally) by the corridor's steep slope. The jambs of the doorway at the top of the corridor (fig. 8) list the queen's titles and give primacyof place to those that relate to her earthly roles. In fact, the title "^^"(conventionally translated "hereditarynoblewoman")is listed first, at the top of each vertical column of text.60Thejambs at the bottom of the corridorleading to the burial chamber(fig. 9), howtitle does not appear at all.61 ever, record her title "Osiris"first, and the "rt-p(t" 60Goedickeand Thausing,Nofretari,pl. 23. 51Goedickeand Thausing,Nofretari,pls. 8, 68.
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Fig. 9. View of descendingcorridorand doorwayto burial chamber(note the queen's epithetson the doorjambs) (photograph© the]. Paul Getty Trust,[1992])
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Fig. 10. View of burial chamberlooking north (photograph© theJ. Paul Getty Trust,[1992])
The decorativeprogramof the burialchamber(fig. 10) defines this space as the architecturalcorrelate of the netherworld.The west half of the chamberis decoratedwith images and texts that illustrate Bookof theDeadchapter 144, in which the deceased (shown on the south wall of the burialchamber,to the west of the doorway)addressesfive gates of the underworld(here condensed from the seven gates described in the chapter).62A group of three supernaturalbeings- a doorkeeper, a guardian,and an announcer- guardseach gate (the fifth gate tableauat the northwestcorner is abbreviatedand has only one associated figure, the doorkeeper). In addition, a canopic niche is carved into the (approximate) middle of the west wall and is decorated with figures of the winged Nut and mummiform funerary deities. All of the figures and hieroglyphsin the niche are painted to resemble gold.63 62Goedicke and ThausingNofretari,49-50. 53See Goedicke and Thausing,Nofretari,pls. 88, 89; Cathleen Keller discusses the golden figures in this niche as an example of the transferof the so-called"monochrome"tomb style from privatetombs to royal tombs in, "RoyalPainters:Deir El-Medinain DynastyXIX,"in EdwardBleiberg and Rita Freed (eds.), Fragmentsof a ShatteredVisage:Proceedings of theInternationalSymposium on RamessestheGreat(Memphis, 1991), 50-86, especiallypp. 62-63; as illustratedin Leblanc, TaSetNeferou,pl. 72, a painting of Nut similarto that found in Nefertari'scanopic niche is on the sarcophaguschamberceiling of the tomb (QV 38) of Sat-Re,the wife of RamessesI and mother of Seti I; for examples of paintings of "golden"statues of gods in the tomb of Sety II, see Hornung, Valleyof theKings, 180-81, pls. 133-38; and for the definition of the "monochrome" tomb painting style see BernardBruyere, Tombes thebainesde Deir el-Medineh a decorationmonochrome (Cairo, 1952), 7 fif.
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The east half of the sarcophagus chamber is decorated with images and texts that illustrate Chapter 146 from the Book of the Dead in which the deceased recites spells for entering the House of Osirisin the Field of Reeds64(on the south and east walls). On the east half of the north (rear) wall, Nefertari offers to three funerary deitiesOsiris, Hathor of the West, and Anubis. The rear and lateral chambers also evoke the netherworld-with references to sacred places in real geographicallocations.65The western lateral chamber (M) depicts a mummiform Nefertari (fig. 11), the tomb of Osiris at Abydos, and funerary deities.66One of the gods gives Nefertari "the kingship of Atum."67The eastern lateral chamber68(O) is decorated with a large figure of Ma'at (on the east wall), Nefertari adoring the Hathor cow as she emerges from the west69(north wall), and the queen adoring Isis and Anubis (south wall).70A figure of Ma'atstates that Nefertarihas a place in the temple of Amun at Karnak.71The decoration of the rearchamber(Q) is fragmentary and consists of a figure of Isis, a goddess protecting Nefertari'scartouche, and a figure of Selket.72 C. Leblanc identifies the burial chamber as the room in which the deceased Nefertari would lie inert like Osiris in the Duat before her rebirth and re-emergence.73One might take this notion a 11. southeast corner Fig. Mummiform Nefertari from of step further and suggest that the central area of ChamberM (photograph© the]. Paul GettyTrust,[1992]) the burial chamber- the depression in which the sarcophaguswas placed- can be envisioned as the heart of the where Osiris netherworld, (and, by association, Nefertari in her sarcophagus)is very revitalized.74The identification of the deceased queen with Osiris is suggested by the decoration of 64Faulkner,Book theDead,133-37. of 65Schmidt envisions the lateral chambersas evocations of "mythical"locations, the west lateral chamber represents the tomb of Osirisin Abydos,in "DasGrabder Nefertari,"254-56. 66Goedicke and Thausing,Nofretari,53-54. 67Goedicke and Thausing,Nofretari,53. 68Schmidt identifies this lateral chamber as the "mythic"Chemmis in, "Der Grab das Nefertari,"256-59. The Theban references in this chamber,however, make this identification seem less definite. 69 Hornung interpretsthis as an adaptationof the Bookof theCelestialCowfor a queen'stomb, in Valleyof theKings,186. Goedickeand Thausing,Nofretari,54. 71Goedickeand Thausing,Nofretari,54. This may refer to a statue of the queen in Karnaktemple. 72Goedickeand Thausing,Nofretari,55; Schmidtenvisionsthis room as a conceptualextension of the "houseof gold"(i.e., the sarcophaguschamberin, "DieTransfigurationder Nefertari,"131-32. 73See Leblanc,"Architectureet Evolution Chronologiquedes Tombesde la Vallee des Reines,"254 and 246, fig. 7; Allen, "Readinga Pyramid,"25. 7 Hornung, Valleyof theKings,116;Allen, "Readinga Pyramid,"24-25.
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JARCE XXXIX (2002) the faces of the four piers surrounding the sara proteccophagus depression with djed-pi\\ars,75 tive Osirian symbol. The presence of the queen's cartouches and titles along the top and sides of each djed-pi\\a.rsuggest that these djed-pi\\ars are
iconic, Osirian representations of Nefertari herself.76The equation of Nefertari and Osiris is further strengthened by the decoration of the inner sides of the piers along the central (i.e., northsouth) axis with images of Osiris-Wennenefer standing and facing outward (toward the tomb entrance). The Small Temple The decorativeprogramof the SmallTemple of Abu Simbel exhibits significant differences from that of the tomb- differences that highlight why Fig. 12. Drawing of a scenefrom the Small Templeat Abu the decorative program of Nefertari's tomb has Simbel showing Ramesses II and Nefertari offering to form that it does. An examinationof the Small the and Kuentz, Le Petit Taweret(after Desroches-Noblecourt Abu of Simbel reveals two conceptsTemple Temple, vol. 2., pl. 109) embedded in the rules of decorum governing the the that of the necessity of omitting the king from the decorative help explain royal coupleportrayal are: the tomb. These rules of the (1) ideology of kingship clearlydefines an unambiguously program feminine role for Nefertariwhen she is paired with the king; and (2) the rules of social hierarchyconsistently place the queen in a subordinateposition in relationshipto the king. In her book on queenship, Troydiscusses and defines the role of royalwomen within the ideological frameworkof kingship. Troy argues that kingship can be envisioned as a male-femalecomposite on earth that corresponds to the androgynousform of the creatorin the divine realm.77Further,she demonstrates that kingship necessarily provides the conceptual frame of reference for queenship, and queenship is thus the feminine half of the androgynoustotality of kingship.78 Troy'snotion can be applied to the interpretationof the Small Temple'sprogram. Here, Nefertari is shown as an unambiguouslyfeminine counterpartto the king- one whose place on the hierarchical scale is lower than that of the king- but who is, nevertheless, envisioned as his ideologically crucial feminine complement. The separate coronation scenes79for Ramesses II and Nefertari attest to the complementaryrelationshipof the masculine and feminine elements of kingship. 75 Hornung, Valleyof theKings,187. Hornung interpretsthe djedpillar images adoring columns in the burial chamberof decoratRamessesII's tomb as iconic representationsof the deceased assimilatedwith Osiris,and he believes that rf/^d-pillars ing the piers in Nefertari'sburialchamberserve the queen in the same way.See also idem, "ZumDekorationsprogrammdes Nefertari-Grabes," in I. Brancoli, et al. (eds.), Llmperio Ramesside. ConvegnoInternazionale in Onore di Sergio Donadoni (Rome,
1997), 87-93, especiallyp. 93. in the east lateralannex of Goedickeand Thausing,Nofretari,54, pl. 120. Goedickeidentifiesa similarlylabeleddjed-pi\\ar the sarcophaguschamberas an image of Nefertariin the form of a djed-pi\\ar. Comparepl. 120 with pls. 96, 100, 102, 106. 77 Troy, Patterns of Queenship, 2ff. 78 Troy, Patterns of Queenship, 2ff.
/y Horus and Seth crown the king on the south wall of the first chamber.See Desroches-Noblecourtand Kuentz,Le Petit Isis and Hathor crownNefertarion the south half of the east wall of the vestibulein pls. 98-99 and vol. 41-42. 2, Temple, pls. color plate C.
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Fig. 13. Drawing of doorway lintel from the Small Temple illustrating the rule of super ordination and subordination. The horizontal register with the king's cartouche is above the register upon which the queen's cartouche is inscribed and Kuentz, Le Petit Temple, (after Desroches-Noblecourt vol. 2, pl. 94)
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Fig. 14. Drawing of doorway lintel from the Small Temple with Nefertari's cartouche(after Desroches-Noblecourt and Kuentz, Le Petit Temple, vol. 2, pl. 116)
An analysisof the Small Temple'sdecorative program reveals that, in total, there are fifty-onepictorial scenes from the entrance corridor to the sanctuary.In all of these scenes, rigid rules of super ordination and subordination govern the relationship of the king and queen. To wit, whenever the king is shown in a scene with Nefertari, the king is alwaysdepicted in front of the queen (fig. 12). This rule also applies to the arrangementof the names and epithets of Ramesses II and Nefertari. When the king's cartouche appears along with that of Nefertari, his name appearsin the dominant first (or uppermost) position.80An example of this comes from the lintel of one of the doorwaysleading from the columned hall into the vestibule (fig. 13). Here, the horizontal register inscribed with the cartouche of RamessesII is placed above that containing the cartouche of Nefertari.81 There are, however, parts of the temple that are reserved for Nefertari alone. In these instances, the issues of super ordination and subordinationdo not come into play.82For example, some of the temple doorway lintels omit the king's name and are inscribed with only Nefertari'scartouche (fig. 14)83-just as some of the SCenesdepict Nefertari without her husband- but these are the only occasions in which Nefertari'sname is not in a subordinateposition.
8(1See Robins, "CompositionalDominance,"33, 36-37 for her discussionof the superiorfirst position of the male in twodimensionalart- her "secondrule"of compositionalhierarchy. 81Desroches-Noblecourtand Kuentz,Le Petit Temple,vol. 2, pls. 93-96. 82Robins, "CompositionalDominance,"36-38. 8-9> See Desroches-Noblecourtand Kuentz,Le PetitTemple,vol. 2, pls. 115-118.
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Fig. 15. Facade of the Small Templeof Nefertari and Hathor of Ibshekat Abu Simbel (photo by author)
In some cases, the pattern of compositional dominance in this temple's program dictates that the king's cartouchesare not only in a superior position to those of Nefertari, but also outnumber them. This occurs on the architravesand soffits of the ceiling of the columned hall, in which the king's cartouches outnumber the queen's by a 3 to 1 ratio.84The arrangement of colossal statues on the facade (fig. 15) is a three-dimensionalcorrelate of this pattern. Although the king and queen are of equal size, there are twice as many figures of the king, i.e., a 2 to 1 ratio. FuneraryContext: Rebirth and Regeneration In sharp contrast to her role in the Small Temple, Nefertari is represented in her tomb as a being with a capacityfor masculine regenerativepotential. A woman's postmortem assumption of masculine sexual potential would have been deemed importantfor two key reasons:(1) The assimilationof the deceased with both Osiris and the solar deity was necessary for regeneration, and the ability to adopt a masculine identity may have been considered conducive to this process. (2) As Roth points out, the Egyptiansappear to have believed that men, not women, were responsible for creating new life.85She convincinglyargues that, in the Egyptianunderstandingof the process of conception, the role of women was to stimulate male sexual arousal and then to receive the child (already fully formed in the semen) into her body.86 In the tomb of Nefertari, the queen's identificationwith Osiris, her associationwith the solar deity, and her gender fluidity are expressed directly and explicitly in the texts. Throughout the tomb, the inscriptions emphasize the queen's Osirian aspect by employing special epithets and phrases such as "OsirisNefertari,"87or "Justifiedwith Osiris."88The equation of Nefertari with Re is made through 84Desroches-Noblecourtand Kuentz,he Petit Temple,vol. 2, pls. 59-64. 85Roth, "FatherEarth,Mother Sky,"189 ff. 86Roth, "FatherEarth,Mother Sky,"189. 87For examplesof the former, see Goedickeand Thausing,Nofretari,pls. 53, 59. 88This term tends to followthe cartouche, in contrast to the appellation "Osiris"which directlyprecedesthe queen's name or titles. The term "justifiedwith Osiris"(m?(hrwhr Wsir)can occur without the "appellation"Osiris preceding Nefertari's name or titles. For examples, see Goedicke and Thausing,Nofretari,pls. 28, 30, 32, 34, 37, 69, 72. It can also occur in a sentence in which "Osiris"precedes the queen's name and titles (e.g., Wsirhmtnswtwrtnbt tlwy Nfrt iry mV hrwhr Wsir).See pls. 35, 36, 38, 41.
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the speech of various gods and goddesses, who give Nefertari, "the appearance of Re."89They also express the wish that she "appearin the sky like Re"90and enjoy "allprotection, all guarding, like Re." In the transitional corridor, Anubis states the wish that Nefertari "appearin heaven like Re,"91and that "Iu-geret be illuminated"92 with her rays. The grammatical gender of Nefertari's titles and pronouns suggest her fluid sexual state. When, for example, she is called "true-of-voice," this epithet is always rendered with masculine grammaticalgender (mi'hrw) instead of feminine grammaticalgender (i.e., mVthrw).This stands in contrastto the consistent employment of the feminine grammaticalgender in the titles that Nefertari assumed in life such as "hmtnswtwrt""rtp(t" and "nbt tlwy."92Furthermore, Book of the Dead
chapter 17, which deals unequivocally with the notion that Nefertari is deceased and undergoing 16. and Anubis the burial chamber Nefertari Fig. from of transformation,refers to the queen with mascu66 © Paul Trust, [1992]) QV (photograph the]. Getty line pronouns.94In other inscriptions,when gods and goddesses addressNefertari directly,they use or omit the pronoun altogether.95Thus, she is a male feminine, second-person singular pronouns in "Osiris" death, while the titles and epithets that she held in life reflect the female aspect of her identity. The pictorial representations of the queen further reinforce the notion of her gender fluidity. Throughout the tomb, the canonical Egyptiancolor encodement for male and female figures is employed. Everymale deity is shown with deep orange-brownor red-brownskin (with the exception of the golden canopic niche deities and the chthonic deities Osiris and Ptah, who are depicted with green skin). Everygoddess, whether fully anthropomorphicor animal-headed,is depicted with yellow skin significantlylighter than that of the male deities. Nefertari'sskin tone, however, ranges from a creamy pink-brown(with painterly flourishes such as shading on cheeks and nose) to a deep (and monochromatic) orange-brownor red-browncolor, the same shades employed for male deities (fig. 16). Except for one scene, she is neverrepresented with the yellow skin color used for the figures of 89Goedicke and Thausing,Nofretari, 52. yuGoedicke and Thausing,Nofretari, 41-42, 44, 46-48. 91Goedicke and Thausing,Nofretari,47. 92Goedicke and Thausing,Nofretari,47. 9JGoedickeand Thausing,Nofretari,pls. 19-23, 27-28, 30, 32,34, 35-39, 41, 46, 48, 50, 52-69, 72-76, 78, 80, 85, 94-96, 98, 100-104, 106, 108-9, 112-16, 119-21, 123. 94Goedickenotes that the assimilationwith Osirisis responsiblefor the male grammaticalgender. See Goedicke,Nofretari, 39, n. 50. A less plausibleexplanationis offeredby McDonald,who viewsthe use of masculinepronouns referringto the queen as the result of a circumstancein which "the copyist lost his concentrationfrom time to time. . . . "; see McDonald,Houseof Eternity, 59, n. 2.
95See
example of the use of feminine second-person singular pronoun (gods and goddesses speaking to Nefertari and bestowingblessings upon her) see Goedicke and Thausing,Nofretari,pls. 53, 57, 59. For examples of the consistent omission of pronouns, see pls. 31, 39.
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goddesses. In all other tomb scenes, Nefertari's skin color is usually significantly darker-and alwaysdifferent- from that of the female deities. The one exception to this rule (fig. 17) occurs near the south corner of the west wall of the burial chamber, where the queen is shown in the of the first gate in chaprole of the "announcer"96 ter 144 of the Bookof theDead.In this vignette, she is shown with yellow skin. This particularrepresentation of Nefertari is made visually distinct from all of her other depictions by costume as well as skin color. Nefertari as the "announcer" wears a tight sheath dress- the "archaic"female costume worn by every goddess- instead of the loose-fitting white gown worn by women of the period, which she wears elsewhere in the tomb. This aspect of the queen, along with the doorkeeper and guardian, confronts a typical darkerskinned representation of herself on the south wall of the burial chamber.The "announcer"Nefertariserves as a graphicguaranteeof the efficacy of the process of the queen's rebirthand regeneration, because she has successfullycompleted her transformation(the period of gender fluidity being a temporaryphase in the cyclicalregenerative process)- and having done so has regainedher unambiguouslyfeminine aspect. In other words, the divine, yellow-skinnedNefertari is the ideal form that the queen will become at the conclusion of the process.97 The evidence that artisanswere not completely restricted from using yellow to represent Nefertari in the tomb suggests that there was a special 17. The "announcer" the west wall Nefertarifrom of reason to refrain from employing yellow in all of Fig. the burial chamber (photographby Harry Burton © The the other representations. Thus, the anomalous MetropolitianMuseum of Art) yellow-skinned representation of the queen appears to be an exception that clearlyunderscores the intentionalityof the "masculine"color encodement in the many orange-brownand red-brownrepresentationsof Nefertari.98The yellow-skinnedNefertari also provides a clear contrast with the more ambiguousrepresentationswith pink-brownskin (which might be envisioned as a "gender-fluid"color 96Goedicke and Thausing,Nofretari,49. Goedicke does not recognize the "announcer"as Nefertari. He describes the "announcer"figure of the first gate as a "womanwithout any special features."For the opinion that this image represents Nefertari-and is the tomb'sonly yellow-skinnedrepresentationof the queen, see Hornung, Valleyof theKings,195, pl. 151. 9 A comparableuse of visualart to ensure a desired resultis discussedby GayRobins, TheArtofAncientEgypt(Cambridge, 1997), 190. Robins suggests that a group of Deir el-Medinaostraca,decorated with images of women nursing their babies, show the dangerousprocess of childbirthas a successfulfait accompliand were thus used to produce the desired outcome. 98 Althoughthe tomb clearlyemploystraditional,canonical,gendered color encodement, at Abu Simbelthe SmallTemple's programrepresentsall of the figures- gods and goddesses and the king and queen- with bright golden skin regardlessof gen-
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because they employ neither the "masculine"color encodement nor the specifically "feminine"yellow, either). Until the TwentiethDynasty,when Tyti (QV 52) and Isis (QV 51) were depicted throughout their tombs with pink-brown skin (without shading), Nefertari was the only queen known to be representedwith this ambiguous skin color. All other survivingpaintingsfrom Nineteenth Dynasty queens' tombs show the royal women with the orange-brownor red-brown"masculine"skin color that contrasts with images of yellow-skinnedgoddesses in those same tombs." The variation in Nefertari's skin-color further Fig. 18. Illustration from the Book of the Dead chapter supports the notion that, while death transforms 164 (BM 10253) showing the ithyphallicform of the god- the queen into the male Osiris and solar god, she dess Mut-Pakhet(photograph© the British Museum) also preserves the feminine identity that defined her living aspect- a state that perhaps finds a conceptual correlate in the ithyphallic form of the 10° Mut-Pakhet that illustrates Book goddess (fig. 18) of theDead chapter 164. Another, very graphic, demonstration of female gender fluidity in funerary art comes from the tomb (QV 52) of Tyti, a TwentiethDynastyroyal woman, who is shown in one scene wearing the typical dress and regalia of a Ramesside queen, but is shown as the male Tyti/Iunmutef101(fig. 19) in an adjacent scene. Roth suggests that the images of a female tomb owner retain an aspect of visible feminine identity in order to stimulateher male fertility and help her self-regeneration.102 It is possible then, to apply this idea to Nefertari'stomb, and to envision her own feminine form stimulatingher male aspect and re-conceivingherself. I would, however, like to suggest another possibility- namely that she (in her deceased, male, Osirian/solaraspect) can be envisioned as being stimulatedand regeneratedthrough interaction with the goddesses represented on the walls of her tomb (of whom Isis and Hathor, the consorts of Osiris and Re, respectively,are those most frequentlydepicted). Conclusion RamessesIFs conspicuous absence from the tomb of Nefertariappearsto be an intentional and important part of the process of Nefertari'sregeneration. This absence can be understood when one
der. The golden color is comparableto that used for the figuresand hieroglyphsin the canopic niche of QV 66. As in the canopic niche, the intent seems to be to representfigures that have golden flesh. 99A scene from the tomb of Merytamun(QV 68), a daughter of Nefertari and Ramesses II, employs the same color encodement scheme. A scene on the north half of the west wall of Merytamun'santechambershows the queen standing between Isis and Horus, Son-of-Isis.While Isis is depicted with light yellow skin, both Merytamunand Horus have dark orange-brownskin. See Leblanc, TaSetNeferou,pl. 175. Other examples are from the sarcophaguschamberof the tomb (QV 73) of Henuttawy,pl. 188, and the Antechamberof the tomb (QV 40) of an anonymousqueen, pls. 74, 75 (A); see Christian Leblanc and Alberto Siliotti, Nefertarie la VoiledelleRegina(Florence, 1993), 65-67 for vivid color photos of the decorative program of the anonymous queen in QV 40, which shows that the queen appears to have dark-orangebrown skin throughout the tomb, while goddesses are clearly shown with light yellow skin. 00Faulkner,Book theDead,160, 163. This of chapterprescribesthe use of an ithyphallic,three-headedfigure of Mut-Pakhet while reciting wishes for the well being of the deceased in the afterlife.The chapter,however, is dedicated to ritualperformance and does not explain the significanceof the goddess'sphallicform. 101Leblanc,TaSet Neferou,pl. 122; PMI, part 2, 758 (20)-(21). wz Roth, "FatherEarth,Mother Sky,"199.
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considers three key issues: the king's relationship to both Osiris and Re; hierarchicaldecorum and the ideology of queenship; and the necessity of the queen's assumptionof masculineregenerative capacity (and her identification with Osiris and Re) in order to be reborn after death. Osiris, in his role as the deceased king of the netherworld, provides a model for the static and unchanging aspect of every Egyptian king in death- just as the solar deity serves as a parallel paradigmatic model for the cyclical renewal of the living and the deceased king. Both paradigms are "builtin" to the ideology of masculine kingship. For this reason, the association of Ramesses II with Osiris and the solar deity is more appropriatethan that of a royalwoman with Osiris. Tomb inscriptions that frame Nefertari's power in terms of kingship (i.e., allowing Nefertari to sit on the throne of Osiris and endowing her with the rulership of Atum) bear this notion out by suggesting that Nefertari'srole in the funerarycontext must be equated with that of masculine rulership in order to facilitate her afterlife existence.103 Nefertari is equated frequently and directly with both Re and Osiris in QV 66's texts; and her sexual fluidity is strongly suggested by the emFig. 19. Queen Tyti (QV 52) as a woman (left) and as the ployment of masculine grammaticalgender in the male Tytillunmutef(right) (photo by author) inscriptions and by canonical masculine color encodement in the pictorial images. If, however, the in were the as the male ruler tomb, he, (and as a higher-rankingroyal than the queen), depicted king would be a more appropriate"Osiris"and "Re"for three important reasons: 1) The king, as the masculine aspect of kingship, has a considerablycloser ideological relationship with both Osiris and Re than does the queen, who, as the feminine half of kingship, is associated with the goddess Hathor.104 2) The king's relationshipto the queen within the context of kingship "fixes"Nefertari'sunambiguously female role, and if she is conceptually "lockedin" to a feminine role, she cannot attain the fluidity of gender identity that would assist her association with Osiris and Re or her assumption of the masculine regenerative potential that would allow her to experience rebirth and renewal. 103 Hornungsuggeststhat Nefertari'stomb directlyborrowsimageryfrom king'stombs, and these featuresset it apartfrom the tombs of officialsand princes in Valleyof theKings,186-87 and idem, "ZumDekorationsprogrammdes Nefertari-Grabes," 88-93. 104por j-j^asSociationof royalwomen with Hathor,and Hathor'srole as the divine manifestationof the feminine prototype that royalwomen embody see Troy,Patternsof Queenship, 3, 53-72.
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3) In a related way,the fact that the king was of a higher status also has an impact upon Nefertari's ability to regenerate. The king's presence would force her, as a royal woman, into the specific subordinate position that reinforces her ideological role as the king's complementary (and female) opposite- a role that impedes her ability to assume both "kingly"status and gender fluidity. As the decorative program of the Small Temple illustrates, Nefertari is shown in a position of compositional (and conceptual) super ordination only when the name or image of RamessesII is omitted. As mentioned previously,New Kingdom pharaohsare depicted in the tombs of their (lower status) sons, while Ramesses was omitted from Nefertari'stomb-just as all royal males were omitted from every archaeologically-knowntomb of a Ramesside queen. This can be explained by the ideological construct of kingship itself. To wit, royal women (including mother, consort, and daughter) can be envisioned as the multigenerationalfeminine half of kingship,while the royal sons can be envisioned as part of the masculine half of kingship. Thus, the king's presence in his son's tomb does not compromise the son's masculine regenerative capacity or his ability to become an Osiris, because the prince can be envisioned as one facet of the multigenerationalmasculine model of kingship105(as exemplified by the mythic paradigm of Osiris and Horus or Amun and Khonsu). The queen, in contrast,is drawnin complementaryopposition to the king. Thus the mechanism of regeneration that allows Nefertari to exist after death is contingent upon the queen's gender fluidity,her ability to assume both masculine regenerativecapacityand Osirian/ solar identification, and a conceptual (perhaps "kingly")primacy of place- all of which would be impossible if the king were present. Furthermore,the expression of these ideas in the pictorial art of the tomb is directly related to the tomb's function as a vehicle for the queen's regeneration.Just as the conceptual balance of representationsof the king and queen in the Small Temple'sprogram are appropriate(and perhapsnecessary)for the cultic function of the temple, so the manner in which the queen is representedin her tomb- without her husband and with a fluid sexual identity- is, at its core, an assuranceof the proper function of the tomb and the guarantee of Nefertari'safterlife existence. 105YOTa discussionof the "father-son" opposition as an applicationof the dualisticmasculinegenerationalstructuresee 27-28. Troycites the juxtapositionof Atum and Re-Horakhtyas gods with well defined spheres of Troy,Patternsof Queenship, reference in whichAtum is associatedwith creation and Re-Horakhtyis associatedwith rebirth.
