Nefertari the Beloved Great Queen of Ramses the Great

Rameses the Great adored his Great Royal Wife Nefertari Mery-en-Mut, whose name means ‘most beautiful, beloved of the goddess Mut’, Ramses wrote this  poem for her on the wall of the stunning tomb that he had created for her at Ta set Neferu, 'the Place of Beauty' :

My love is unique, no-one can rival her,

for she is the most beautiful woman alive,

Just by passing, she has stolen my heart,

she who fills the colonnades and halls

with her perfume from the Land of |Punt,

Her perfect breast is covered in the finest linen,

Gold is nothing compared to her arms,

Her skin is as fair and soft as milk,

Her hair is the colour of the dark eclipse

Beautiful of face

My love for her is unique, no-one can rival her,

She is the most beautiful woman in the world

Beloved of Mut, Nefertari.

 Ramses father gave him his own Harem, it was no shame to be a member of a harem, the ladies were made up of the daughters of noble families, and princesses from foreign lands, and it was here that Ramses met Nefertari, whom he married when he was sixteen.

Ramses came to rule in the harvest of 1279, and he ruled for 66 years, he was the third pharaoh of the 19th dynasty during the New Kingdom period, and he is regarded as the greatest, most celebrated and the most powerful pharaoh of that period, his titles were : The Justice of Ra is powerful chosen of Ra, Re has fashioned him beloved of Amun, the Srong bull, beloved of right and truth. Protector of Egypt who curbs foreign lands, rich in great years great in victory.

Ramses had 8 other wives, but Nefertari was his beloved and favourite wife, and she bore him six children. Amun-her-khepeshef who became the Crown prince and commander of the troops, prince Pareherwenemef, prince Meryattum, Prince Meryre, and Princess Meritamen and Henettawy

During the 5th year of his reign Ramses went into war at the  Battle of Kaddesh, many temples show his victories in battle. Whilst Ramses was away Nefertari his Great Royal Wife ruled Egypt. During the time that Ramses was away a small group of Hittites entered Egypt, and arrived at the Rammessium Temple to kidnap Nefertari, fortunately her own guards prevented the abduction. A few years after the war was over Nefertari used her intellegence and skills as a diplomat to maintain peace between the Hittities and Egypt. Nefertari wrote many letters to the Hittitie Queen and they exchanged regular gifts, Nefertari also encouraged Ramses to marry a Hittite Princess to cement the goodwill between the countries.

The Hittites and Ramses made a peace treaty, and a copy of it is on the walls at the United Nations Building it records : Ramses Great King of Egypt is in good peace and brotherhood with  Hattusili Great King.....

During the year 1244 Ramses began the construction of the Temples of Abu Simbel in Nubia, the temples were carved into the mountainside, and twice a year, on the days of Ramses Coronation and Birth, October 22 and February 22 the sunlight shines at dawn in a direct line into the inner sanctuary of Ramses temple and lights up the figures of Ramses sat with the Gods, Many people visit Abu Simbel on these two days as a big celebration is held here

The Temples of Abu Simbel are situated at the furthest point of Egyptian supremacy, and it is here that Ramses shows his ultimate respect and love for Nefertari, because at the side of his mighty temple, he created another smaller temple that he dedicated to Nefertari and the Goddess Hathor. On the exterior of the temple he placed images of himself and images of Nefertari at the same height as himself, so in effect he was declaring to the world that he considered Nefertari as his Equal, no other Egyptian King has ever paid his wife this compliment

In the 24th year of Ramses Rule Nefertari went with Ramses to see the Temple at Abu Simbel, but she died shortly after this visit and so she was buried in the wonderful tomb that Ramses had created for her in the southern desert area of Taa Set Neferu 'the Place of Beauty' a gorge where Kings buried their dearest wives and children.

The tomb was rediscovered by an Italian Egyptologist named Ernest Schiaparelli in 1904, when he entered the tomb only a few fragments of Nefertari's possessions remained.

Ramses wrote on Nefertari's tomb walls :

The Princess Rich in grace

Lady of Affection

Sweet with love

Mistress of the two lands

Songstress of the beautiful countenance

Greatest in the Harem of the lord of the Palace

All you have said will be done for you

Everything beautiful according to your wish

When you enter a tomb, you are entering into the realm of the Egyptian God Osiris, who is the God of the Underworld. During the 12 hours of the night Nefertari had a perilous journey to undertake, she had to cross over a new gate each hour that was guarded by demons & monsters, she had to fight off the Apophis snake that sawm in the waters of chaos, and then she had to stand before the God Osiris with many other Gods where her heart would be placed on a set of scales against the feather of Maat the Goddess of justice and truth to see if she had lead a just and honest life, and deserved to live for eternity, if thee scales didn't balance her heart would have been devoured by an Ammit, a fearsome creature with the head of a crocodile and the body of a hippopotamus, both very dangerous creatures in Ancient Egypt, and she would simply cease to exist.

As Nefertari is about to step into the world of the dead, the Goddess Isis holds her hand to guide her, and she places an ankh at Nefertari's nostrils, the ankh is the hieroglyph of breath life and spirit, it is a potent symbol representing the union of male and female and earth and heaven  It offers the gift of immortality, Nefertari does not expire or exhale, but inhales the breath of life.

The Djed Column is shown on the pillars and walls in Nefertari's tomb, the Djed is symbolic of the backbone of the God Osiris, it is a representation of stability, and when used in tombs it helped the soul to stand up again and walk into the afterlife. This Djed holds the keys of life and two was sceptres, which are symbolic of Royal Power

The ceilings in Nefertari's tomb are amazing and a vivid dark blue for the night sky and covered in stars, these represent astral sentinels who never sink below the horizon and were a representation with the souls of gods and beings who had survived  the perilous passage through death to the beyond.

Th tragedy of Nefertari's tomb was that it had been robbed and only a few items of no real value were found inside the tomb, but the worst sacrilege was what happened to Nefertari herself. Only a pair of legs broken into pieces from the knees down remained of her mummy and were found in her tomb.

The Ancient Egyptians created temples and tombs and wrote spells and the history of the person, as they believed that if a persons name was spoken, that person would live again, so it is my wish that if you enter Nefertari's tomb, please say a silent prayer for her, and utter her name once more.