Dr. Backhouse began by explaining that she was going to be looking at what we actually know about Nefertari and Ramesside Queenship. A very interesting topic, given that we feel we know a great deal about 18th Dynasty queens, but it is not in fact until the 19th Dynasty that we have queens being buried in the Valley of the Queens, which makes them so much more visible.

We know that Ramesses II’s most notable wife, his Great Royal Wife, was Nefertari and that together with Isetnofret they are the mothers of his favourite children. Images of the children of both are depicted concurrently, though we never see both Nefertari and Isetnofret in the same scene.

It is likely that Ramesses II married Nefertari whilst he was still the Crown Prince, but we know nothing of her life beforehand other than that she came from a family which moved in the elite circles at court. We see her from year 1 of her husband’s reign taking part in cultic activity and from the start of his kingship she is involved in both political and religious roles, being his constant companion. She accompanies him on many of his statues, although as many of these are usurped, and often from Amenhotep III’s reign, the lady depicted originally was Tiye.

Her titles give clues to her diverse roles – political, religious and personal. As the political Nefertari she is Mistress of the Two Lands, wife of the Strong Bull, Lady of Upper and Lowe Egypt, whereas God’s Wife is descriptive of her religious obligations. In personal terms she is described as hereditary noblewoman, sweet of love, great of praises, lady of charm and great royal wife his beloved.

There are many carved examples in temples of Nefertari carrying out cult activities, but she is the only Ramesside queen who is shown at a Window of Appearance taking part in the ceremonies with the king. She is also recognised on the international stage, with letters found showing exchanges with the Hittite queen.

One of the greatest dedications to Nefertari is of course at Abu Simbel. On his own temple there Ramesses II has various female members of his family represented by his ankles, but the prominent position is reserved for Nefertari. But the smaller temple is actually dedicated for her and two of the statues fronting the temple are of Nefertari. It is extremely unusual to see a queen on the front of a temple, however Ramesses II also include four statues of himself! There are more highly unusual scenes inside the Abu Simbel temples with Nefertari attending at a smiting scene, although she does not take part herself (as Nefertiti did). In the inner sanctum of the smaller temple there is a unique and remarkable scene which appears to show Nefertari being crowned by Isis and Nephthys, which parallels a similar scene in the larger temple with the same act taking place for Ramesses II between Seth and the local form of Horus. Another scene shows the king and queen worshipping one of the gods together; an ultimately powerful image. On the Stela of Heqanakht there the lower register shown a seated Nefertari receiving devotions, whilst Rameses II, offering to the gods on the upper register, is followed by one of his daughters. Could this be an indication of some frailty on Nefertari’s part? She disappears from the record between regnal years 24 and 30.

Nefertari has an exquisite tomb in the Valley of the Queens, the Place of Beauty, which had previously been used for burials, but not for that of queens. It was rediscovered in 1904 by Schiaparelli but had been disturbed long before this. Prior to the 19th Dynasty New Kingdom queens had been buried either in an undecorated chamber in the king’s tomb or in an undecorated tomb of their own in the Valley of the Kings. Nefertari’s is the largest and most sumptuously decorated of the tombs in the valley, with a complex architectural design, and the extensive and beautiful decoration tells the story of her transformation as well as ensuring that she has a successful afterlife. Images of Nefertari show her with darker skin tones than usually used for females, which may refer to her need to become an Osiris – the road to rebirth for all at this time period. Her skin is also shown shaded, rather than straight block colour, which was the norm, again perhaps relating to rebirth. At one point Thoth is depicted conferring scribal proficiency on Nefertari, who will need this skill to read and recite the names of the Announcer, Guardian and Gatekeeper as she passes through the series of gates leading to the Duat.

Dr Backhouse concluded the lecture underlining that this was a fascinating period for Queenship in Ancient Egypt’s history with very visible markers on the landscape and a significant shift in the archaeology with the new treatment of tombs for the queens.