Item Size:  11.5" x 24.5"      Type:  Wall Plaque  

Material:  Casting Stone, with Antique Stone Finish & Color Detail

Original:  From the Tomb of Nefertari, 19th Dynasty, 1270 B.C.E.

Current Location of Original:  Tomb of Nefertari, Valley of the Queens, Luxor, Egypt

The tomb of Nefertari, from which this wall fragment comes, is the largest architectural and decorative enterprise ever dedicated to a pharaoh's wife. Nefertari was the Chief Queen and favorite wife of Ramses II. The name Nefertari means "the most beautiful of them." Ramses II devoted the minor temple of Abu Simbel to the goddess Hathor, and dedicated it to Nefertari. There, identified with the goddess, Nefertari intensely participated in the divine cult. Nefertari gave Ramses II his firstborn son, as well as three other sons, and two daughters. She died in her forties. In the relief, Nefertari, dressed in beautiful white ceremonial garb, receives the breath of life from Isis, the Mother goddess. The hieroglyphic inscription gives the name of the Queen and her titles, together with the one from Isis: "Isis, Lady of Heaven, Great Royal Wife, Nefertari-Mery-En-Mut. Justified."