Queen Nefertari
"Ramses II built a temple carved into the rock, an eternal work for the first queen Nefertari loved by Mut in Nubia forever and ever ... Nefertari for whose sake the Sun itself shines ... "
So is written in the hieroglyphic inscriptions deeply carved in the rock that surround the royal statues adorning the temple of Abu Simbel, in Nubia. And the huge monument, erected by Ramses II , the great pharaoh who ruled the fate of Egypt during the new kingdom for 67 years, from 1292 to 1225 BC, in addition to proclaiming his glory, testifies in an irrefutable and imperishable way great love and immense respect that bound him to Nefertari, the first royal bride, the "mistress" of the beautiful tomb that the recent restorations carried out by the Italian team of Paolo and Laura Mora have allowed to reopen to the public in the Valley of the Queens, in Luxor.
Nefertari was powerfull and beautiful, or at least such was the portrayed by the royal artists: tall, thin with long black hair, like most of the Egyptian royal princesses. To distinguish herself from competitors and to underline her charm, Nefertari showed a character and a determination unusual for the women of her time, accustomed to a certain independence, but kept mostly away from politics and the decisions of court.
Instead, she was the first to take an active part in the long peace negotiation with the Hittites, the eternal enemies who threatened the borders of the vast Empire of the Pharaohs in Asia Minor. And the documents of the time that have come down to us intact undoubtedly say so.
Those were not peaceful times when the nineteenth dynasty to which Ramses II belongs came to power. The echo of the tremendous religious storm wanted by Akhenaten had just died away, which had replaced the worship of the ancient gods with the adoration of a single divine principle. The political effects were still visible.
Amun and the entire traditional Egyptian pantheon had been swept aside, the temples closed, the clergy dispersed, and their possessions destined for the service of Aten. In an effort to impose the new god, Akhenaten , in addition to undermining the solidity of internal power, had neglected to garrison and defend the borders of the Empire. Thus, serious crises had broken out especially among those populations who had always had a hard time with Egyptian rule. The Mitanni had broken away from Egypt, several cities in the land of Canuan and Syria forgot to pay tribute, and the Hittites to the north had raised their heads. Much had done the brave general Horemmheb to restore the country to the ancient power, once Akhenaten disappeared, but a lot still remained to be done.
And it is precisely on this panorama of imminent conflicts and inevitable wars that the Ramessidi dynasty faces, whose origins not by chance sank in the Nile delta, in that land traditionally dedicated to Seth, the god in whom the elements were believed to be personified, indomitable and rebellious of nature.
And indeed Sethos I , the father of Ramses II, and before that Ramses I, had begun to fight to take back the lost lands. But only Ramses II, the King of Kings, managed to complete the enterprise, bringing all the territories east of the Nile back to Asia Minor under the Egyptian influence, and to sign a peace treaty in the twenty-first year of his ascent to the throne with the warlike reign of Hatti. And it is in this regard that Nefertari appears on the political scene by writing an official message with her hand to the Hittite "sister" Puduḫepa , the great queen of Hatti.
«With me all is well, in my country all is well, may all be well with you, my sister» , writes Nefertari, «may the Sun god of Egypt and the god of the Storm of Hatti bring you joy. May the sun god make peace be good brotherhood to the Great King of Hatti » . And Nefertari's hopes for peace lead her to propose to Puduḫepa to send one of her royal princesses to Thebes so that she becomes part of the Pharaoh's harem, thus cementing the union and brotherhood between the two peoples.
The proposal should not surprise. Nefertari, during the twenty-first year of reign of her husband Ramses, was a powerful and quiet lady closer to forty than thirty years of age, who certainly shouldn't have overshadowed the arrival of a new princess to add to the already long list (Ramses had eight legitimate consorts) of royal brides.
She had long since consolidated her power, overshadowing even Tuya, the beloved mother of Ramses II . During the reign of Sethos, Queen Tuya had been his faithful wife and companion, but she certainly had not played a prominent role in public affairs. Instead, she had it with her son Ramses II, who paid her extraordinary honors (among the six huge statues that adorn the temple of Abu Simbel, all dedicated to Ramses and Nefertari, one also represents Tuya, although she is placed in a position of lesser importance).
Indeed, to underline the divine origin of his own royalty, the Pharaoh had a small temple dedicated to Tuya built in Thebes, on whose walls the theory according to which it was the god Amon himself who fertilized Tuya, replacing and incarnating himself in the body is illustrated land of his father Sethos I. In short, Tuya would have been loved by none other than the highest of the Egyptian gods and from their union Ramses would have originated.
And it doesn't take long to realize with such an honor behind her, how great the queen mother's power was at court, especially during the first twenty years of Ramses II's reign. But, despite this Nefertari, the beautiful among the beautiful, as indicated in a writing, had a place of absolute pre-eminence in the heart of the Pharaoh. So much so as to obscure the other royal wife, Istnofret, who also shared Ramses II's bed for a long time and gave him numerous children.
Compared to Nefertari, called to appear in public alongside the Pharaoh on official occasions and in religious ceremonies, the figure of Istnofret appears to us as blurred: no statue portrays her and no temples were built in her honor. Even if from her, the forgotten bride, the heir to the throne of Egypt was born. Nefertari's children, in fact, did not have great luck: from the eldest son Amenhiruonmef, who died at a young age, to her younger brothers, who all died between 20 and 30 years. Thus it was that Prince Merenptah , the thirteenth child born of Istnofret, became the heir of the Pharaoh and succeeded him on the throne, as if by a posthumous revenge of the bride that the great Ramses had forgotten.
But, despite the later developments in Egyptian history, it is impossible to deny Nefertari's clear pre-eminence among the ladies of the palace. She alone accompanied Ramses to Thebes in the first year of his reign and already from the third his image began to appear next to that of the sovereign in the scenes engraved on the rear facade of the new great pylon of the Luxor temple, while a statue of him elegantly carved in the granite, was placed by order of the King in the front courtyard of the temple itself.
Nefertari's name also appears in Karnak , but her greatest honor was bestowed on her in distant Nubia, in that imposing temple of Abu Simbel, which we have already mentioned, where the queen appears as much as her royal consort. Only on the back wall of the internal shrine does Ramses II finally take precedence and is depicted alone in the act of making a sacrifice to the goddess Hathor.
Nefertari, however, had the privilege of having a small temple nearby, completely dedicated to her: a supreme attention and homage, which only the pharaoh Amenophis III had had for her wife Tiyi.
It is around the twenty-fourth year of Ramses' reign that Nefertari takes this very high honor: the two temples of Abu Simbel are finally finished and the time has come to inaugurate them. In all likelihood, during the month of February 1255 BC. the royal fleet sets sail south. The King and Queen are accompanied by Princess Meryet-Amon and the vizier Heqanakt as well as a large following of dignitaries.
It is dawn when the royal fleet is docked and the ceremony begins. The sun slowly rises from the eastern hills and crosses the river, until its powerful rays reach the facade of the temple and for a moment give the illusion of life to the large statues that adorn the facade. According to the conviction of the priests, this is the mystical union with the solar disc: the rays of the star, touching the inert matter, give it for an instant the illusion of existence and make the colors shine with an incredible splendor.
Under the advancing light, the doors of the temple are opened one after the other, until the rays, sinking for 60 meters into the bowels of the rock, reach the bottom of the shrine. And they kiss the statue of Pharaoh and Nefertari.
But the queen, as some writings suggest, cannot attend this extraordinary ceremony. She struck down by the long voyage, she is forced to remain aboard the royal ship under the supervision of the doctors. Indeed, even if the documents do not allow us to formulate this hypothesis with sufficient certainty, it is precisely on his return from the expedition that he underlines and consecrates its importance on the Egyptian political scene that Nefertari falls seriously ill and dies.
Ramses II, overwhelmed by her, accompanies her, with her pomp that befits a queen of her rank and her stature, to her last abode.
That same tomb that today, with reverential respect, tourists can once again admire to bow once again before the beauty and power of the great royal bride. And perhaps their admired homage, according to ancient beliefs, will feed the spirit of Nefertari, her "Ka", so that the greatest of the queens of Egypt can live and reign forever.
