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House of Eternity: Tomb of Nefertari

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House of Eternity: Tomb of Nefertari J\l _ ia.__ ... __ .... �_ IIiIiii_ng the Immortals.· •...._ ....... _ --'iiiiW A W alk throu h the "House ()f Eternity" � . � JT('� " ..... , ...n ntt,a�/'t' as. II) (' HOUSE OF ETERNITY Previous spread: The illustration of Chapter 148 from the Book of the Dead occupies the entire south wall of Chamber G. In front of each of the seven cows and K the bull are offerings of vegetables, milk, and bread. The entra nee to the tomb at the time of its discovery by Schiaparelli in 1904. Photo: Courtesy of the Museo Egizio. Turitl. " A WALK THROUGH THE "HOUSE OF ETERNITY Descent and Entrance THE TEXTS IN THE TOMB A flight of eighteen steps with central Since Nefertari Called by the laborious tasks in the 6); slipway leads down from the gate to the was not a sov­ Egyptians "The Book of hereafter (Chapter ereign, the the Coming Forth by and the negative confes­ tomb entrance. This first stairway is choice of texts Day," the Book of the sion, in which the dead undecorated, but the door jambs and lintel that could Dead consisted of nearly professed to have done identify the tomb as Nefertari's. appear in her two hundred utterances no harm to widows, tomb was intended to help guide children, or their fellow The text on the left jamb is nearly restricted. The the dead on their jour­ men (Chapter 125). obliterated; but the one on the right may architects and neys into the beyond. Inscribed in the tomb still be read: "Hereditary noblewoman; priests who These texts, or "spells," of Nefertari are portions expressed the aspirations of Chapters 17,94,144, great of favors; possessor of charm, sweet­ determined the decorative pro­ of ordinary Egyptians to 146, and 148. ness, and love; mistress of Upper and gram chose flourish in the nether­ Lower Egypt; the Osiris; the king's great selections from world and join the com­ wife, mistress of the two lands, Nefertari, chapters of the munity of imperishable Book of the spirits. Not all the texts beloved of Mut, revered before Osiris." Dead. in the book had to be The lintel bears faint traces of the setting Texts in the Book of actually inscribed to be sun flanked by two oudjat eyes and car­ the Dead evolved from effective. utterances that first Well-known chapters touches of the queen surmounted with the appeared in the Sixth of the Book of the Dead double plume. Dynasty pyramids of the included the canopic To the left, the door thickness is Old Kingdom and were formula for protection of the viscera (Chapter 151); badly damaged. But the figure of Nekhbet, further elaborated in coffin texts during the the heart scarab text to the vulture goddess of Upper Egypt, can Middle Kingdom. restrain the heart from be made out, together with her name. bearing witness against Her utterance - that she has given life to the deceased (Chapter 30); a formula for the Nefertari - has all but vanished. On the servant figurines, called right reveal are equally fragmentary traces Llshabtis, who toiled in of Edjo, the cobra goddess of Lower Egypt. place of the dead, performing specific, The pairing of these two deities expresses the division of Egypt into northern and southern kingdoms, united by King Menes in the distant past. Although largely sym­ oudjat literally. the healthy eye bolic, there may have been some historical foundation to this separation. cartouche on Egyptian The trapezoids formed between the monuments, an oval or oblong figure containing the sloping roof and the upper margin of the name of a ruler or deity scenes are filled with coiled and winged thickness the side of an serpents who confer life and dominion on opening in a wall. such as a the queen. The door soffitcarries a repre­ door or window sentation of the sun setting behind a sand reveal the jamb of a door hill and flanked by two kites, birds whose or window; the thickness of the door frame shrill cries recall mourning women. The left bird wears the emblem of soffit the horizontal. lower Isis, the right that of Nephthys. The setting edge of a TOof or the under­ side of a molding that pro­ sun signals that we have entered the jects along the top of a wall; nighttime realm of the dead, who are the inside surface of a vault or an arch accompanied by Isis and Nephthys, sisters of Osiris, king of the netherworld. 58 HOUSE OF ETERNITY Chamber C Within the tomb itself, the first chamber is nearly square (5 x 5,2 meters), with a rock­ cut table along its west and north sides, Scenes on the right-hand side of this room relate to the recesses and chamber beyond, On the left, however, the inscription and vignettes are drawn exclusively from senet from the ancient Chapter 17 of the Book of the Dead.' Egyptian verb meaning to This chapter asserts the identity of pass [someone or some­ thing j, the word is applied to the gods Re' and Atum, a theological equa­ a board game consisting of tion dating at least to the Old Kingdom, thirty squares with movable gaming pieces anciently On a deeper level, its theme is the transfor­ termed the dancers. In mation of the queen into an effective being certain funerary contexts, the deceased is represented in the afterlife, one who will join the com­ playing this game alone. pany of Osiris. Her ability to do so depends His/her unseen opponent less on any special knowledge that she symbolizes Fate, who must be defeated in order to gain may possess than on the text itself, struc­ immortality in the hereafter tured as a series of questions and responses. ba in Egyptian mythology, Chapter 17 is one of the longest and oldest the soul, symbolized by spells in the Book of the Dead,2 a bird with a human head; that part of the soul free to In the illustrations on the south wall, leave the tomb temporarily the queen is shown in three of her different senet; sekhem powerful, to have transformations: first, playing next, power as a ba; and finally, adoring a composite, " A WALK THROUGH THE HOUSE OF ETERNITY lion-headed god. The first two transforma­ tions are explicitly mentioned in the open­ ing of Chapter 17. On the left, Nefertari sits on a high-backed chair resting on a reed mat, the gaming table before her. The entire scene is framed within a shelter made of reeds. The queen is dressed in a sheer white gown reaching to her sandals and wears a vulture-headed cap or head­ dress. In her right hand is a sekhem scepter, and with her left she is just about to move a senet piece. The rest of the space is filled with her name and titles. The next vignette shows the queen as a ba bird perched atop a low shrine. The ba, the mobile portion of Nefertari's soul, is free to leave the tomb temporarily. The figure of the kneeling queen, her hands raised in adoration, seems curiously placed until we realize that it is meant to address the twin-headed lion god, the earth god, Akeru, on the west wall. Akeru is actually a complex of images: the sun rising above the horizon and the sky above are integral to this image. It is meant to invoke the morning 1 In funerary papyri, text Ihe cOlI/illg forth by dny ill sun, a recurrent metaphor for rebirth in � and illustration are inte- order to assume the forms � Egyptian art. All three figures on the south Q grated in one long, con- amoug any forms he (sic] � wall are paying homage to this composite � tinuous roll, but here the wishes, playillg senet and H artists separated image sittillg ill the bOOlh, COII/- figure, Akeru. 0< 0 and text, placing illustra- illg forth as a liyillg ba by The senet scene, the ba, and kneeling � 0 tions in the upper regis- tile Osiris, the killg's great 0 ter and words in the figure were frequently shown together in CQ wife, miSlress of the two middle. The correspon- lands, Nefertari, beloved contemporary funerary papyri. Here, how­ dence between the two is of Milt, jllstified after he ever, the architecture of the tomb required therefore interrupted (sic] died. II is effective to that this scene be folded at the corner. and, in a few instances, do tillS on earth, so Ihat it not close at all. happells eutirely accordillg to instructions," Opposite: Detail Jrom Chamber 2 The introductory The use of masculine The illllstratioll on the C, south wall. The ba chapter heading is con- pronouns in reference to south wall oJ Chamber bird, representing the tained in the first nine the queen suggests the columns and succinctly copyist lost his concen- C shows NeJertari in soul, was Jree to summarizes its overall tration from time to three transJormations: travel outside the intent. It reads: time. a natural enough playillg the board game tomb during the day. "Begill"i"g of the praises response. given that the and recitations to come funerary honors accorded senet; as the human­ forth a"d go dOW/l into Ihe Nefertari were highly ba headed bird; kneel­ Necropolis, to be spiritllal- unusual for a woman. illg ill adoratioll. ized i" Ihe BeaulifllllVest, On the west wall are a half dozen vignettes_ Next to the image of the earth god, there is an especially effective image of a heron or benu, a bird with phoenix-like qualities, often labeled as the soul of Re'.
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