QUEEN NEFERTARI’S TOMB in Luxor I was fortunate to visit it.

I HAD A CHANCE TO VISIT QUEEN NEFERTARI’S TOMB IN THE VALLEY OF THE QUEENS 🇪🇬- check my YouTube video below.
Though Tutankhamun’s tomb gets more attention – the plasterwork and art in that are as nothing compared to Queen Nerertari’s tomb.

As Great Royal Wife of Ramesses II she lived as the most important woman in Egypt during, arguably, Egypt’s peak of power. Following her death in about 1255BC, Nefertari was buried in, what is now, the pre-eminent tomb of the Valley of the Queens. Her husband, Ramesses II, outlived her – hence the tomb was completed.

The Valley of the Queen’s is in the same mountain as the Valley of the King’s – but a bit farther south.

The quality of the art in her tomb reflects her position and also the skill of the Egyptian craftsmen. These men, from Deir El Medina, had worked for the extraordinarily wealthy rulers of the 18th and 19th Egyptian dynasties (from the rule of Amunhotep I in 1526BC)  and developed over 300years a vast pool of skills to please their monarchs.

Stylistically Nefertari’s tomb art is comparable, I think, to the tombs of Seti I and Tausert & Setnakht, which are also early 19th dynasty tombs. However Nefertaris tomb is perhaps more accomplished even than Seti’s.

The tomb was rediscovered in 1903 by an Italian team led by Ernesto Schiaparelli, at the time he was also director of the Egyptian Museum in Turin. He set up the numbering codes for the Valley of the Queens tombs, giving Nefertari’s tomb the designation QV66. The sign created at that time for this tomb can be seen above the entrance door.

From the modern, massive, security door, the stairs are steep and descend through a small chamber, with a tiny chamber off it, into the principal room, the burial chamber. There are three chambers off this burial chamber.

The tomb is remarkable for four principal reasons.
Firstly ,the entire tomb is in effect complete, except for the funerary furnishings. Even the areas where the plasterwork has disintegrated only serves to illustrate the skills needed to complete the work.
Secondly, the decoration itself was finished, unlike so many other tombs in Luxor.

Thirdly, the decoration’s quality is superb with consistent execution. Finally, the colours have retained their richness.
Individual tombs in this period were designed, rather than evolved during work. This is most clearly demonstrated by a papyrus architectural plan made during the reign of Ramses IV, by the scribe Amennakht, now in the Egyptian Museum Turin. It not only includes the specific layout and dimensions – but also interior design as a broad requirement.

Queen Nefertari’s tomb walls are decorated in low raised relief plastered walls.

The process would be to – apply a plaster to the rock surface to create an even surface.
Then the plaster would then have a planned layout painted by a soft light brush using a wash of a red ochre colour.
A master draftsman would then lay out the details in a fine black ink.
A sculptor would create the raised relief.
Finally, the colour would be applied.
In the chapels in the Temple of Seti I in Abydos, some of whose decoration is comparable, I feel that a final stage was creating a polished surface to the paint – a less polished finish may be in this tomb.

So – the process was laborious – needing time and different skilled men within a team to complete the work, hence the remarkable luck that this work appears to have been completed.

King Seti I died only 24 years before Nefertari, who was his daughter-in-law. So it’s not inconceivable that the same craftsmen worked on all the comparable tombs and temples, or the craftsmen were successors to, and trained by and within the team of craftsmen who did Seti’s work. They almost certainly all lived in Deir El Medina near to the valley.

The tomb may be closed to the public for extended periods. If it is open when you visit Luxor do consider visiting – though check the entry cost, as it is intended to reduce the number of visitors; and it succeeds in doing so.

Apart from the amazing quality of the decoration – this tomb is unlike so many other tombs in Luxor as there is currently no glass panelling that creates a barrier between visitors and the art they have come to see.
Below is a video I uploaded to YouTube – it’s not professional – though I hope it’s interesting.