Often called the Sistine Chapel of Ancient Egypt, the Tomb of Nefertari was created around 1255 BCE. Nefertari, whose name
means “beautiful companion,” was the favored wife of Pharaoh Ramesses II. His devotion to her was unmistakable—he referred to her as “the one for
whom the sun shines” and commissioned the Temple of Hathor to honor her as a goddess. He also ordered the creation of elaborate wall paintings to
immortalize her legacy. Located in the Valley of the Queens, the tomb offers rich insight into ancient Egyptian beliefs about the afterlife. The
detailed scenes reveal ceremonial practices and highlight the roles of numerous deities during the 19th Dynasty of the New Kingdom. Gods depicted
on the tomb walls include Isis, Osiris, Anubis, Hathor, Neith, Serket, Ma’at, Wadjet, Nekhbet, Amunet, Ra, Nephthys, Khepri, Amun, and Horus—each
playing a part in guiding Nefertari’s soul through the underworld and into eternity.
After the tomb was discovered in 1904, scientists noted significant deterioration in many of its paintings. The damage was caused by water
infiltration, bacterial growth, salt crystallization, and more recently, the humidity from visitors’ breath. Two major factors accelerated the
decay: capillary absorption of trapped floodwaters into the tomb’s walls and the direct entry of floodwaters. In 1986, the Egyptian Antiquities
Organization, in partnership with the Getty Conservation Institute, launched a restoration project to preserve the tomb’s artwork. They carefully
removed over 3,000 years of accumulated dust and soot, and applied protective paper to the fragile walls and ceilings to safeguard the paintings.
By 2006, access to the tomb was restricted to private tours of no more than 20 people, each requiring a special license costing US$3,000. As of
December 2023, however, visitors holding a 2,000 EGP entry ticket or a premium Luxor Pass are permitted to enter
1.) Wadjet in the form of a winged cobra
as protector, on the staircase to the Tomb of Nefertari
2.)
3.)
1.) The queen is often shown wearing a
headdress
2.) in the shape of the protective vulture
goddess, Nekhbet
3.)
1.) The God Khepri, depicted with the head
of a scarab beetle (or as a scarab pushing the sun)
2.) A large winged figure at the top is likely
the goddess Nekhbet, depicted as a vulture, who was a protector deity of Upper Egypt and the pharaoh
3.) The falcon head and sun disk headdress is the
sun god Ra or Ra-Harakhty
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