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The Osiris Nefertari: A Case Study of Decorum, Gender, and Regeneration

Author(s): Heather Lee McCarthy and Heather McCarthyReviewed work(s):Source: Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt, Vol. 39 (2002), pp. 173-195Published by: American Research Center in EgyptStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/40001154 .

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The Osiris Nefertari:A Case Study of Decorum, Gender, and Regeneration1Heather Lee McCarthy

The funeraryart and literature of the ancient Egyptiansclearlydemonstratethat they envisionedan afterlifeexistence thatemulated two parallel,but interpenetrating,mythic paradigms- he "solar"and "Osirian"modes of regeneration.These two modes havetemporalaspectsthatcorrespondwith,respectively,nhh(cyclical,repetitive)eternityand^ (linear, static)eternity.2Like the solardeity,the deceased was cyclicallyreborn and renewed- a process that the Egyptiansequatedwith the sun's celestialjourney throughthe daytimeskyand the darknessof the netherworld.The climax of this process was the re-emergenceof the sun and the souls of the deceased from thenetherworld nto the world of the livingeverymorning.3The cyclical ourney that characterized he solar mode of regenerationalso had a parallelsexualcomponent wherein the sun god was rebornviaintercoursewith a goddess who had a tripartite,mul-tigenerationalaspect.4This goddess was the solardeity's daughter.5She also acted as his consort andwas impregnated by him in the west at sunset. The goddess then became his mother when she gavebirth to the renewed andregeneratedversion of the same solardeityin the east at dawn.6This notionwas expressed pictoriallyand textuallyin both anthropomorphicand topographicalterms- the sundisk enters, gestates and leaves the body of the sky goddess or enters the western horizon andre-emergesfrom the easternhorizon7(the cosmographiccorrelate of the goddess's vagina).The deceased was also associated withOsiris, the god of the Duat (the netherworld).Like Osiris,one aspectof the deceased- the physicalbody- dwelledin the Duat(correlatedto the burial chamber

1This article s an expandedversion of a paper presentedat the 2001 AnnualMeetingof the AmericanResearchCenter nEgypt,held in Providence,Rhode Island.I would like to thank DavidO'Connor,Ann MacyRoth, and an anonymousreaderfor theircomments.I would also like to thankStephen Harvey or actingas my proxyat the conference and readingthe orig-inalversion of thispaperin myabsence.1 EdwardF.Wente,"Funerary eliefs of the AncientEgyptians," xpedition4 (Winter 1982), 17-26, especiallypp. 22-24;ErikHornung,"ZumagyptischenEwigkeitsbegriff"Fuf39 (1965), 334-36; ErikHornung,trans,byJohn Baines,ConceptionsfGod n AncientEgypt:TheOneand theMany Ithaca, 1990),93-96, 183;Jan Assman,ZeitundEwigkeitm altenAgyptenHeidel-berg, 1975),35-48.5 Hornung, ConceptionsfGod n AncientEgypt,181.4 LanaTroy,Patterns f Queenshipn AncientEgyptianMythandHistory Uppsala,1986),25-30.5 Troy,Patterns fQueenship,3-24.6 Troy,Patternsof Queenship,7; GayRobins,Womenn AncientEgypt Cambridge nd London, 1993), 17,41. Robins notesthatKamutef, he aspectof the kingas the "bullof his mother,"s a manifestationof this mythicparadigm.7 The anthropomorphic spectof this notion is expressedbyillustrations rom the BookoftheDayand the BookoftheNight,whichappearon ceilingsof Ramessideroyaltombs and depict the sun traveling hroughand emergingfrom the body of thesky-goddess.The best-known xampleof this theme is on the paintedsarcophagus hamberceilingof RamessesVI. See ErikHornung,trans,by DavidWarburton,Valley ftheKings:Horizon f EternityNewYork,1990),89, pls. 54, 55, 68, 70. A vignettedepictingone pairof feminine arms(witha pairof attachedbreasts)holdingthe sun disk illustrates he combinationof an-thropomorphicand topographicalaspectsof the westernhorizon, 59, 90; see also AlexanderPiankoff,"TheSkyGoddessNutand the NightJourneyof the Sun,"EA 20 (1934), 57-61.173

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174 JARCEXXXIX (2002)of the tomb8) and awaitednightlyrebirth and renewal effected by a syncreticunion with the solardeity.9The union between Osiris and the sun god was a temporarybut very importantoccurrenceduring which, in James Allen's words, "from Osiris the sun received the power of new life, andthroughthe sun Osiris was enabled to live again."10n New Kingdomfunerary exts, this event,whichoccursin the midst of the netherworld,was a criticalmoment in thisprocess- an event thatrechargedthe batteryof the regenerativemechanism.The PyramidTextsprovide unequivocalwritten evidence that, at least as far back as the FifthDy-nasty,deceased pharaohswere automaticallyequated with both the sun god11and Osiris12by virtueof theirkinglystatus andwere believed to experience the correspondingmodes of regenerationandrenewal.13The PyramidTextsof Neith14andWedjebten,15wivesof PepyII,verifythat deceasedroyalwomen were also associated with the solardeity and Osirisand had the epithet "Osiris"prefixed totheir names from as far back asthe late SixthDynasty.16DavidO'Connor's17analysesof the programsof twolate Old Kingdomelite tombs andJaniceKam-rin's18studyof a MiddleKingdomelite tomb persuasivelydemonstrate that the afterlife existence ofnon-royalmale Egyptianswas determinedby the same mythicparadigmsthat structure the afterlifeexistence of kings. Non-royalmen and non-royalwomen are explicitlyassociated with Osiris andgiven the epithet "Osiris" rom the Heracleopolitan Period onward.19In addition, female familymembers (mothers,wives,and daughters)depicted in the tomb programsof elite men could be en-visioned playing the same sexual, multigenerationalrole for the deceased male Egyptianthat thetripartitegoddess playedfor the solardeity.20Less straightforward,however, is the process by which women (either royalor elite) were regen-erated.Althoughdeceased women were explicitlyassociated with Osiris and the solardeity from theOld Kingdomonwards,21it has never been entirely clearwhether the afterlife existence of women

8JamesP.Allen,"Reading Pyramid,"nHommagesJeanLeclant.BdE 106(Paris,1994),5-28, especiallypp. 24-25 andfig.5.y Hornung, ConceptionsfGod n AncientEgypt,155-56.iUJamesP.Allen,MiddleEgyptian: nIntroductiono theLanguage nd Culture fHieroglyphsCambridge,2000), 95.11See RaymondO. Faulkner,TheAncientEgyptian yramidTextsOxford, 1969), 76, 133, 158-59, and 225 for Spells267,407,469, and 570, respectively;ErikHornung,TheAncientEgyptianBooks ftheAfterlifeIthaca,1999), 6.1 EspeciallyPyramidTextsspell219. Faulkner,PyramidTexts, 6-48; Hornung,AncientEgyptianBooks ftheAfterlife,.6 Therewasalso a third mode of afterlifeexistencein which the deceasedkinguniteswiththe northerncircumpolar tars.This mode coexists with Osirianand solarmodes of regeneration n the PyramidTexts.However, he changefrom the north-southorientationof Djoser'smortuary omplexto the east-westorientationof the pyramids rom the beginningof the FourthDynastyonwards,suggeststhat the associationwith the northerncircumpolar tars becomes subordinate o the solar mode.See AlanJ. Spencer,Death n AncientEgypt London, 1982),82-83, 140.^ Gustave eqmer,LesPyramidesesReinesNeit etApouit Cairo, 1933), 14-28, pls. 7-32.lbGustaveJequier,LaPyramide 'OudjebtenCairo,1928),5-8, pls. 3, 6-12.10HenryG.Fischer,EgyptianWomenfthe OldKingdomndHeracleopolitaneriod.Second Edition(NewYork,2000), 17.u DavidO'Connor discusses the SixthDynastyelite tomb of Pepyankhat Meirin, "Sexuality, tatuaryand the Afterlife;Scenes in the Tomb-chapel f Pepyankh Henythe Black),"n Peter Der Manuelian ed.)and Rita Freed(supervisor),Studies nHonorofWilliamKellySimpson.Volume2 (Boston, 1996),621-33; Pepyankhs discussedagain n idem, "Societyand Individualin EarlyEgypt,"nJanetRichardsandMaryVan Buren(eds.),Order, egitimacy,nd Wealthn AncientStates(Cambridge, 000),21-35, especiallyp. 3; Mereruka's ixthDynasty omb at Saqqaras discussed n idem, "Eros n Egypt,"n Archaeology dyssey(September/October2001), 42-51, especiallypp. 49-50.18JaniceKamrinpresentsa cosmologicalanalysisof the MiddleKingdomprovincialelite tomb of Khnumhotep I at BeniHasan n, TheCosmosof KhnumhotepLondon, 1999),especiallypp. 10, 88, 139-40, 142, 147-52, 154-56, 167-68.iy HenryG. Fischer,"AStela of the HeracleopolitanPeriod at Saqqara: he OsirisTti,"ZAS90 (1963), 35-41, especiallypp. 36ff. and pl. 6; idem, EgyptianWomen, 7.zuGayRobins, AncientEgyptianSexuality, in Discussionsn Egyptology1 (1988), 61-72, especiallypp. 61-65.Z1Except for a few later burials where the deceased woman is identified with Hathor instead. See Ann MacyRoth,"FatherEarth,MotherSky:Ancient EgyptianBeliefs about Conceptionand Fertility,"n Alison E. Rautman(ed.), Readingthe Body:Representationsand Remains n the ArchaeologicalRecord(Philadelphia,2000), 187-201 and especially,p. 199;For examplesof Hathor-identifiedwomen, see Sue D'Auria,PeterLacovara,CatherineRoehrig(eds.), Mummies ndMagic:TheFuneraryArtsofAncientEgypt Boston, 1987), 76-77, 98-99, 118-19, 156, 162-65, 169-70, 173-75, 187-89.

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THE OSIRIS NEFERTARI 175involved a sexual mode of regeneration, and, if so, how this process was enacted. A deceasedwoman could be identified with Osiris and the solar deity, and while she might be represented inher husband's or her father's tomb playingthe role of the tripartitegoddess for her deceased malerelatives,it is not clear whether she needed a tripartitegoddess figure to make her rebirth and re-generation possible. If a deceased woman needed suchassistance,who playedthe role of the tripar-tite goddess?A phenomenon recentlydiscussedby Ann MacyRoth22may providea clue to understandingthisprocess. Roth has observed that, with some exceptions,23the tomb chapels owned by royal24andnon-royalwomen- or the cult places reserved for women injointly owned tombs- omitted the figure(and sometimes the name25)of the husband.In her examination of thispattern,Roth refers,at onepoint, to the conspicuousabsence of RamessesII from the tomb of Nefertari26 in fact, the Rames-side royalwomen'stombsin the Valleyof the Queens, as a rule, completelyomit the names or imagesof their royalmale kin,27even hough queens, like kings, could be depicted in the tombs of royalsons28).While Roth does not suggestan explanationfor this particularomission, she makes a keen obser-vation,namely,thatin starkcontrast to the exclusionof RamessesII from his wife'stomb,New King-dom pharaohs are frequently depicted in the tombs of their sons.29 She argues that the "absenthusband"phenomenon in this casewas not directedby a proscription againstdepicting higherstatusindividualswithin the tombs of lower-statusdeceased family members.30The logical inference ofRoth'sstatement is that relative statusalone did not determine whether a king was portrayed n thetombs of his relatives.For if status alonewere the determinant,then one would not expect to see rep-resentations of the king (or queens, for thatmatter)in the princes'tombs, either.The purpose of the present article is to offer a possible solution to the question of how royalwomen wereregeneratedbyusing the Thebantomb (QV66) of Nefertari,the most prominentof the

22Ann MacyRoth,"TheAbsentSpouse:Patternsand Taboos n EgyptianTombDecoration,"ARCE 6 (1999), 37-53.23In the late Third or earlyFourthDynastytomb of Atet at Meydum,the figure of her husband, Nefermaat,is showntrappingbirds. The figureof Nebhepetre Mentuhotep appears n the late EleventhDynasty ombs of Queen Neferu and inthe chapelsof the six royalwomen buried in Mentuhotep'smortuary emple at Deir el-Bahari.See Roth, "AbsentSpouse,"45, 48-49.24Royalwomen of the Old throughMiddleKingdoms end to be buried in close proximity o (or within)the pyramiden-closure of the king,evenwhentheyhaveseparate ombsandpyramids. t is not until thebeginningof the NineteenthDynastythat royalwomen have both a separate necropolis-the Valleyof the Queens in western Thebes- and large, very elaboratelydecoratedtombs of their own. This practiceseems to be exclusiveto the RamessidePeriod.Hatshepsutand Tawosret, oyalwomen of the Eighteenthand late Nineteenth Dynasty,respectively, hould be regardedas specialcases because they eachassumed the role and titles of a pharaohand were given kings'burials n the Valleyof the Kings.25Roth,"AbsentSpouse," 7. A sectionof the earlySixthDynasty omb of the vizierMereruka tSaqqaras devotedentirelyto his wife, Watetkhethor, king'sdaughter,andneither Mereruka's ame norhis image appears here. The name,but not theimage,of PepiII appears n the tombs of his wives.ZbRoth,"AbsentSpouse," 9;see also ColinCampbell,TwoThebanQueens: efert-arindTy-ti nd TheirTombsLondon,1909),7, 12. Campbellnotes the absence of RamessesII (in both text and image)from Nefertari s tomb,but he offers no analysis.27Hornungacknowledges hispattern n Valley f theKings,p. 187. The single exceptionto this rule is found in the twenti-eth Dynasty omb of QueenIsis(QV51). Isis'sson, RamessesVI,completedhis mother's omb and inscribedhis cartouchesonthejambsof the doorway eadingfrom the antechamber o the sarcophagus hamber.28See ChristianLeblanc,TaSetNeferou:ineNecropoleeThebes-Ouestt SonHistoireCairo, 1989),pl. 85, for a scene showinga royalwomanofferingto Osiris n the TwentiethDynasty omb of Prince PareherwenemefQV42).^ Roth, "AbsentSpouse," 9. The examplesRoth cites are the TwentiethDynasty ombs of the sons of RamessesIII in theValleyof the Queens. Her observation s still applicableto the period discussedhere, because images and cartouches ofRamesses I areprominentlydisplayed n the decorativeprogramof KV5, the "familymausoleum"which servedas the burialplacefor a number of this king'ssons. In manyscenes, the kingmediates between his sons and the godsjust as RamessesIIIdoes in the tombs of his sons. See Edwin C.Brock,"WallDecoration,"n KentWeeks,ed., KV 5: A Preliminary eport n theExcavationofthe TomboftheSonsofRamesesI in theValley ftheKings Cairo,2000), 55-94, especially igs.45-49, 56, 60, 61a-c,62, 69b.30Roth,"AbsentSpouse," 9.

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176 JARCEXXXIX (2002)greatroyalwivesof RamessesII, as a case study.I will addressRoth'sobservation,whichusefullyac-knowledges the complexityof the "absentspouse" pattern,but will also take this idea further anddefine the multiple factors-includinghierarchicaldecorum31- hatseem to have shaped the notionof how Nefertari embarkedupon her afterlife existenceand how thisphenomenon was expressedinvisualterms.The main thesis of this studyis that Nefertari'spostmortemregenerationrequiredher to attain atemporarystate of gender fluidityin which she becomes both male and female.32The attainmentofthis state necessitatedthe absence of RamessesII from her tomb. Once the queen adopted a mascu-line aspect and achieved a state of gender fluidity,she could then assimilatewith both Osirisand thesolardeity.This would allowher to assume the chthonic fertilityof Osiris and to be reborn viawhatis essentiallya sexual mode of regeneration(like the solardeity)- possiblyinteractingwith her ownfeminine aspect in the process.Furthermore, his article willdemonstrate how the mechanismof the queen'srebirthand regener-ation-effected throughher assumptionof masculineregenerativepotentialand her assimilationwithboth Osirisand the solardeity- is conveyed by the artin her tomb. An attemptwillbe made to showhow Egyptiannotions of male and female fertility,hierarchicaldecorum, and the ideologicalrole ofroyalwomen within the conceptualframeworkof kingship33propelled specific choices made in thedesign and content of the decorative program, among which is the aforementioned omission ofRamessesII.To this end, the decorativeprogramof the SmallTempleat Abu Simbel,34where Nefertari and alocal, Nubian form of the goddess Hathor were the foci of cult, will be studied and used as a com-parandum.The decorativeprogramof the SmallTempleprovidesan instructivedemonstrationof therules of hierarchicaldecorumthatgoverndepictionsof the royalcouple's dyadicrelationship.The ra-tionale for comparingthis temple withNefertari's omb is that both of these monumentshaveexcep-tionallywell-preservedprogramsand are dedicated to the same royalwoman.They thus provide anunusuallyrich source of dataabout modes of representationdeemed appropriate or the portrayalofa queen in both temple/culticandfunerarycultic contexts.Moreover, he rules of subordinationandsuperordinationemployedin the representationsof the royalcouplein the SmallTemplehelp explainboth the omission of RamessesII from the tomb of Nefertariand the largerprocess of the queen'sregeneration.Among the workscited in this discussion are Roth's two recent, thought-provokingarticles,"TheAbsent Spouse: Patterns and Taboos in Ancient EgyptianTomb Decoration,"and "FatherEarth,MotherSky:Ancient EgyptianBeliefs about Conception and Fertility."35he former deals with thepreviouslymentioned "absentspouse" patternin tomb decoration,and the latter examines the Egyp-tianconception of fertilityand the role of ancientEgyptianwomen in death and rebirth.LanaTroy'sbook Patterns f Queenshipn AncientEgyptianMythandHistory,s an importantworkdemonstratingthat ancient Egyptianqueenship can be envisioned as the feminine half of the androgynous totality

31For a discussionof the notion of gender-related ompositionaldominance and it canonicalemployment n Egyptianartsee GayRobins,"SomePrinciplesof CompositionalDominanceand GenderHierarchyn EgyptianArt,"nJARCE31 (1994),33-40.32Roth firstproposedthe hypothesisthat deceased women assumed a masculinepostmortem dentity n additionto theirfeminineidentity,developedan associationwithOsiris,andre-engenderedhemselveswiththe help of their own tombimagesin "FatherEarth,MotherSky," 99-200.33Troy,Patterns f Queenship. he ideologicalroles of royalwomen vis-a-vis ingshipand within the overarching osmologi-cal frame of reference are two importantconceptsexaminedin this innovativeand original studyof royalwomen in ancientEgypt.34A comprehensivepublicationof the decorativeprogramand architectureof this temple is providedby ChristineDesro-ches-Noblecourtand CharlesKuentz,LePetitTemple'Abou imbel, olumes1,2 (Cairo, 1968).35Roth, "FatherEarth,MotherSky," 87-201.

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THE OSIRIS NEFERTARI 177of kingship.Anotherwork cited here, GayRobins' 1994JARCEarticle,"SomePrinciplesof Compo-sitional Dominanceand Gender Hierarchy n EgyptianArt,"explores the relationshipof gender topatternsof hierarchicaldecorum in two and three-dimensionalart.The first part of this article will describe the tomb of Nefertariand discuss its program,its func-tions, and its cosmographicsignificance.The second section will examine the decorativeprogramofthe SmallTempleof Abu Simbel in order to demonstratehow the rulesgoverningthe representationsof RamessesII and Nefertari in this temple help explain the absence of the king from Nefertari'stomb. The final section will discuss how the art in QV 66 providesimportantclues to understandingthe mechanismof the queen'sregeneration.

The Tomb of Nefertari36An examinationof the cosmographyof the architectureand decorativeprogramof QV 66 illus-trates the tomb's two primarypurposes: 1) to enable the deceased queen to enter the netherworldand 2) to revitalizeher and thus allow her to emerge from the tomb and return to the world of thelivingon a dailybasis.37These two functions,which areanalogousto the twophasesof the sun'sjour-

ney throughthe netherworld and the daytime sky,are conveyed by the architectureand decorationof the tomb. Moreover,the tomb consists of two distinct components.38The first is an upper levelthat, in the cosmographyof the tomb, is conceptuallyequivalentto the Akhetand its immediate envi-rons, a liminal zone that the deceased and the solar deity traversed n order to enter and exit thenetherworld.39The second part is a lower-lyingburial chamber that is the cosmographic equivalentof the Dual (the netherworld realm of Osiris and the dead). A descending corridor,actingas a con-ceptualand physical inkbetween the two realms,connects both sections of the tomb.Located on the northern flankof the Y-shaped"Valley f the Queens" n westernThebes, the tombof Nefertari(figs. 1,2)lies on anapproximatenorth-southaxiswithits entrancein the south. Fromthedoorway,a descending staircase eads to the squarefirst room- ChamberC.40On the eastern side ofChamberC, a doorway eads to a complex comprisedof two shallow recesses(D and E on this plan),a shortpassagewayF),and a rectangular hamber(G).A doorway n the north (rear)wall of ChamberC, gives access to a steeplydownward-sloping orridor,which lies on a diagonal,east-leaning,axis,41and descends to the burial chamber(K). Fourpiers support the burial chamber,and a rectangulardepression(oriented east-west) n the center of the room intended for the placementof the queen's36Publishedby Hans Goedicke and GertrudThausingin Nofretari:Documentationf Her Tomb nd Its DecorationGraz,1971).37ChristianLeblanc,"Architecturet EvolutionChronologiquedes Tombesde la Valleedes Reines,"BIFAO 9 (1989), 227-47, especiallypp. 245-47.38Heike C. Schmidt,"DieTransfiguration er Nefertari:Ein Leben im Glanz der Sonne," n Heike C. Schmidt andJ. Wil-leitner(eds.),Nefertari: emahlin amses'I. (Mainz,1994), 104-44; idem, "Szenarium erTransfiguration-Kulissedes Mythos:DasGrabderNefertari,"AK22 (1995),237-70. Schmidtoffers an interpretivediscussionof Nefertari's omb thatsuggeststhejuxtapositionof solar and chthonicmodes of regeneration.She envisions the areas on the (relative)north-southaxis that runin a relatively traight ine fromChamberC,throughthe corridor,and into the burialchamber,as a thematically hthonicarea,whereas he east-westaxis(referred o as D-G n the presentarticle) s more solar in its orientation. Her interpretationdiffers

frommine,becauseI envisiona greaterconceptual ntegrationbetween the spacesrather handrawinga sharpdistinctionbe-tween the "solarcomplex"of the east-westaxisand the more chthonic,"Osirian" xis of the north-south spaces.In addition,I envision ChamberC as an area that evokes theAkhet, nd she does not; Goedicke notes only thatthere is a thematicdistinc-tion between the more "earth-connected"upper chambersand the "strictly epulchralsphere"of the sarcophaguschamber(withthe descendingcorridoractingas the midpoint) n, Nofretari, 639For Allen'sdefinition of the Akhet ee, Reading Pyramid, 6.40All letter designationsused in this article to distinguish spatialunits in QV 66 follow those employed in John K. Mc-Donald, House of Eternity: The Tombof Nefertari (Los Angeles, 1996).Hornungbelieves that the slightlybent axis of QV66's corridor s a "diminished"ersion of the bent-axisroyal ombplanrevivedby RamessesII for his own tomb. See Valley ftheKings,187.

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178 JARCEXXXIX (2002)

Fig. 1. Plan of Nefertari'stomb(QV 66) in west-ern Thebes(drawing theJ. Paul Getty Trust,[1990])

sarcophagus ies between these piers.Three smallannexes(M, O, and Q) open up from the lateraland rearwallsofthe burial chamber.ChamberC is the conceptualand temporalcorrelateofthe Akhetn this phase of the deceased queen's ourney- acosmographicallyappropriatedesignation for a chamberthat communicates with the entrance doorway and theworld of the living.The most powerful evidence support-ing this interpretationis the decoration on the soffit ofthe entrance doorway (fig. 3), which depicts the sun,flankedby Isis and Nephthys in kite form, rising (or set-ting) in the midst of the mountains of the horizon asthough it were emerging from (or entering) the tomb.42In addition to graphicallydepicting the process of thesun's(andby association,the deceased's)emergence fromthe netherworld, it literally spells out the word "Akhet"Moreover, the position of this scene on the tomb's en-trance doorwayidentifies ChamberC as the area hidden(from humans) behind the "mountain"or physicalhori-zon, the hidden space that is the Akhet.Furthermore, he west wall of ChamberC is decoratedwith the text of BookoftheDeadchap-ter17 and accompa-nying vignettes,which depict Nefertariundergoing trans-formations that will allow her to emerge from her tomb"asa living soul"43and thus re-enter the terrestrialzoneoutside of the tomb.44A representationof Nefertari as ahuman-headedba-hird(fig.4) perched atop the tomb (oneof the transformationsdescribed in the text) graphicallyhighlights this notion. The &a-spirit,s described in NewKingdom funerarytexts, is the mobile aspect of the de-ceased thatcan leavethe tomb duringthe day and minglewith the livingor travelwith the solardeity.45This tableauplaces the action within the Akhet and itsplacement on this wall furtherreinforces the equation of ChamberC with the Akhet). t graphicallyhighlights the idea that Nefertari is experiencing the mysteries of regeneration within the Akhetbehind the mountainsof the horizon as the sun god does.The east wall of ChamberC is decoratedwith representationsof Osiris-Wenneneferand Anubis

standingin shrines and facing south, towardthe tomb entrance,where Nefertari,standing adjacent42The notion that this tableaurepresentsboth the risingand settingof the sun and the inwardand outwardmovement of

the deceasedis supportedby Leblanc,"Architecturet Evolution," 45 and 246, fig. 7; Goedicke nterprets his scene as a de-pictionof the settingsun in Nofretari,8, as does McDonald n Houseof Eternity,7.43See the translationof Chapter17 (especially he beginning,whichis particularlyelevant o the physical ransformationof Nefertari) n R.O.Faulkner,TheAncientEgyptianBookoftheDead London, 1989),44.44Leblancendorses the notion that the upper chamber is an area of entry, transfiguration,and re-emergence n Archi-tecture et Evolution,"244 and 246, fig. 7. Another point of view is held by Goedicke,who envisions the decorative pro-gramin the first chamberas a one-wayentry of the deceased into the realm of Osiris. Goedickediscussesthe "inaugural"characterof the outer chamber n Nofretari, 5, but does not addressthe notion of the "re-emergence"r exit of the trans-formed deceased.45SeeJohn H. Taylor,Deathand theAfterlifen AncientEgypt ChicagoandLondon,2001), 20-23.

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THE OSIRISNEFERTARI 179

Fig. 2. Axonometric drawings of QV 66 showing the west half of the tomb(top) and east half (bottom)(after Schmidt, "Die Transfigurationder Nefer-tari," 108, Abb. 150 a,b)

Fig. 3. The representationof the Akhet on the soffit of the entrance doorway(photograph theJ. Paul GettyTrust,[1986])

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180 JARCEXXXIX (2002)to the doorway,offers to Osirisand the four sons of Horus.46The form of Osiris shownis that of therevived and resurrectedgod who embodies the regenerativepotential that Nefertari will assume.The complex (Recesses D, E, CorridorF, and ChamberG) that opens up from the east wall ofChamberC (fig. 5) has a decorativeprogramthat relatesthematically o the intersection of the solarand Osirian modes of regenerationand stresses Nefertari's nteraction with these two modes. More-over, the programof this complex suggeststhat this series of spacesis the cosmographiccorrelate ofa zone in the netherworld that lies somewhere between the Akhetand the Duat. Its placement in theupperlevel of the tombspatially inks it to theAkhet-evokingrea of ChamberC. Like the topographyof the netherworld,the architectureof the tomb and,by association,the route takenby the deceased(in both directions)is not a straight ine.47In essence, the easterncomplex can be envisioned as thecosmographic representationof a transitionalareabetween the two realms,but one that seems morecloselylinked to the Akhet han to the depths of the Duat. The scenes and inscriptionsof the easterncomplex also suggest a movement toward the Duat and awayfrom the Akhetas one moves furtherinto the complex from ChamberC.The programof RecessD, for example,reinforces the cosmographicequivalenceof the upperlevelof the tomb with the Akhet- he place where Nefertari will emerge like the sun from the Duat. Itdepicts Selket on the north wall and Neith on the south wall,flankingthe passagefrom Chamber Cto the easterncomplex.The associated texts indicate that eachgoddess welcomes Nefertari and haveaccorded her a place in the sacred land so that she may appeareach daylike Re- a reference to thesolar mode of regenerationand to Nefertari'semergence from the Akhet.The programof RecessE (directlybehind- and to the east- of D) highlightsthe interpenetrationofthe solar and Osirianmodes of regeneration.This is accomplished by depicting Isis (on the northwall)and Horus,Son-of-Isis on the southwall),representativesof the Osirianmythos, leadingNefer-tari into the presence of Khepri and Re-Horakhty the latter seated with Hathor of Thebes), twoaspects of the solar deity who rise in the east and emerge from the netherworld. The pilasters ofRecessE (flankingthe doorway)are decorated withrepresentationsof Osiris as a djed-pi\\a.v-urthersuggestingthe interconnection between Osiris and the sun god.The lateral wallsof CorridorF (the narrowpassagebetween Recess E and ChamberG) are eachdecorated with standing, west-facing figures of Ma'at,who welcomes Nefertari and assures her aplace withinIu-geret.48This recess can be equatedwith thejudgment of the deceased in chapter125of the Bookof theDead;49 n analogy that suggests this corridorrepresents a further point in thejourney between the Akhetand the Duat.50Indeed, there appears to be a conceptual transition between spaces (E and G) where the synthe-sis of the solar and Osirianmodes is expressed in increasingly unequivocalterms, as Chamber Gexplicitly depicts the intertwiningof the solar and Osirian modes of regeneration that Nefertari

46Schmidtbelievesthat thisvignetteis the illustrationof BookoftheDeadchapter173 in "DasGrabder Nefertari," 41-42.47For a discussion of the non-linear opographyof the netherworldand its expressionin Old Kingdom Pyramidarchi-tecture,see Allen, "Readinga Pyramid,"4-28; idem, "TheCosmologyof the PyramidTexts,"n YaleEgyptologicaltudies3(NewHaven,1989), 1-28, especiallyhis discussionof the location of the Field of Reeds,Field of Offerings,and the Akhet onpp. 6, 17-18.48GoedickeandThausing,Nofretari,2-43.49McDonald,HouseofEternity,5;Schmidt,"DasGrabder Nefertari," 45;see Leblanc,TaSetNeferou, l. 147 (B) for a rep-resentaionof the "negative onfessions" ortionof chapter125 n the antechamber f the tomb(QV60)of Nebettawy,RamessesII'sdaughterbyNefertarior Isisnofret.Leblancenvisionsthe easterncomplexas the placewhere the "triumph f the deceased"occursduringthejourneyfromthe Duat to the Akhet(althoughnot the other way around)in "Architecture t EvolutionChronologiquedes Tombes de laVallee des Reines,"246, fig. 7 and 247. Whilethis supportsthe notion that the recess is a zone of transition,I would suggestthat the easterncomplex mighthave been significant or the deceased's nwardandoutwardmovementthroughthe tomb.

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THE OSIRIS NEFERTARI 181

Fig. 4. Nefertariplaying draughtsand depictedas human-headedba-bird on the west half of the southwall of ChamberC (photograph the]. Paul GettyTrust,[1992])

Fig. 5. Complexof spacesthat open up from the easternwall of ChamberC (photograph the]. Paul Get-ty Trust,[1992])

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Fig. 6. Syncretic orm ofRe-Osirisfrom the southhalf of theeast wall of Chamber G (photograph theJ. Paul GettyTrust,[1992])

would hope to undergo in her personal postmor-tem transformation.The programof ChamberGalso includes scenes and texts from the BookoftheDead that have a direct bearing on Nefertari'sphysicaljourney through the afterlife. The westwall of ChamberG (on the south side of the door)is perhapsthe most telling exampleof the intensi-fication of the program's message. The vignettehere depicts the syncretistic,mummiformfigureof Re-Osiris lankedby Isis andNephthys (fig.6)-an illustrationof chapter 180 from the BookoftheDead51n which the interaction of Re and Osiris"recharges"he process of regenerationand em-powers the deceased to move both into and outof the realm of the dead.52Versions of the Re-Osirisscene are included inthe tombs of two other Ramessidequeens:Nebet-tawy (QV 60), a daughter of Ramesses II, andDuatentipet (QV 74).53In both of these tombs,this scene appearsin a space that architecturallycorresponds to QV 66's Chamber G (i.e., in aneastern lateral chamber that opens up from theeast wall of each tomb'santechamber,but in eachcase withoutQV 66'sassociatedrecesses).The scenes on the south wall of the chamber l-lustrate chapter 148, a spell that provides bothnourishment for the deceased and the magicalsteeringoars thatwillguideher on herjourneyandprotect her from her enemies. The north wallde-picts chapter 94, in which the deceased requestswritingequipmentfrom Thoth that willendowherwith the scribalproficiencyshe needs to success-fully completeherjourney.The adjacentscene on the north half of thewest wall(on the northside ofthe door)depictsthe queen offeringbolts linen to Ptahwhilehe, in turn,providesher withprotection,life, and stability.The rear(east)wall shows two back-to-backcenes of the deceased offeringto Osiris-Wennenefer,the resurrectedOsiris,and to Atum, the solar/creatordeity of Heliopolis (fig. 7). The pairingof thegods, like the representationof Re-Osirison the west wall,is a graphicvisual statement of the coex-istence and interaction of the two complementarymodes of regeneration.Furthermore, n the asso-

51 Hornung, The Ancient EgyptianBooksof theAfterlife, 140.bZFaulkner, Bookof theDead, 177.56In Nebettawy'somb (QV60)this scene is located on the north half of the west wall of the east lateralchamber,and thescene is on the east wall of the east lateral chamberof Duatentipet's omb (QV74). Leblanc,TaSetNeferou, ls. 149 (A), 195(B); Bertha Porter and Rosalind L. B. Moss, TopographicalBibliographyof Ancient Egyptian HieroglyphicTexts,Reliefs, and Paint-ings:I. The ThebanNecropolis,Part 2. Royal Tombs nd Smaller CemeteriesOxford, 1964), 761 (10), 768 (6).

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Fig. 7. Osiris-Wennenefernd Atumfrom the east wall ofChamberG (photograph the]. Paul GettyTrust, 1992])

ciated texts, Osiris and Atum explicitly endowNefertariwith the abilityto access both regenera-tive modes.54The descending corridor not only serves as apoint of departure that separates the mostlyAkhet-evokingpper chambers from the explicitlyDuat-evokingburialchamber but also serves as atransitionalzone in which one realm abuts andthen dissolves into the next.55While the upperhalf of the corridor is decorated with scenes thatare not explicitly funerary (and at times evenevoke the terrestrialrealm),the lower half of thecorridor evokes the Duat through the funerarycontent of its texts and decoration and throughthe spatial arrangementof its architecture. Thelower half of the corridor,unlike the upper half,lies beneath the floor level of the upper cham-bers. The "underground" ocation of the lowerhalf of the corridorthus intensifies the decorativeprogram'sequationof the lowerhalf of the corri-dor with theDm^.56The thicknessesof the upper doorwayare deco-rated with the queen'scartouches andsymbolsof Upper andLowerEgypt57-direct evocations of theterrestrial i.e., Egyptian)realm. The side wallsof the upper partof the corridor are decoratedwithtwo pendant offeringscenes in which Nefertari consecratesnemset-jars,roduce, and bread to two en-throned goddesses- Hathor and Selket on the east and Isis and Nephthys on the west (a figure ofMa'at kneels behind the second goddess in each group). Two recesses that separatethe upper and

lower zones of the corridor are decoratedwith anthropomorphizedDjed-pillarshat appearto sup-port the ceiling.Both lateralwalls of the lower section of the corridor aredecorated with scenes that more directlyevoke the netherworld thando the scenes on the upper part. On each side, the Anubis-jackalits ona shrine, with a winged cobra protecting the cartouche of Nefertari above, while Isis (on the westside) and Nephthys (on the east side) kneel on a hieroglyphic sign for gold, and hold a shen sign.58The associatedinscriptions,though not chaptersfrom the BookoftheDead,relate to the queen'safter-life existence. They expressthe wish that Nefertarihavea place in the "sacred and"[7? dsr],appearin heaven like Re, and rest on the throne of Osiris59-once again reflectingthe interpenetrationofOsirian and solarmodes of regeneration.Eventhe queen'sepithets, inscribed on the two doorwaysof the corridor,suggestNefertari'sphysi-cal movement to (and from) the netherworld and her transformationthrough this transitionalzone54Goedicke, Nofretari,pl. 39.55Goedicke and Thausing,Nofretari, 5. Goedicke envisions the corridor'sprogramas showing"twoaspectsand stagesinthe funerarydevelopment."56Goedicke,Nofretari,6; McDonald,Tombof Nefertari, 7.57Goedicke andThausinar, ofretari,45, pls. 42-45.58Schmidtequatesthe vignettes(but not the text) with Bookof theDead 151 in, "DasGrab der Nefertari,"47; idem, "DieTransfiguration erNefertari," 21,Abb. 169 and 122.59Goedicke andThausing,Nofretari,5-48.

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Fig. 8. Top of descendingcorridorviewedfrom ChamberC (note the queen s epithetson the doorjambs)(photograph the]. Paul GettyTrust,[1992])

in a way that echoes the message provided (pictorially) by scenes in the corridor and (architectur-ally) by the corridor'ssteep slope. Thejambs of the doorwayat the top of the corridor(fig. 8) listthe queen's titles and give primacyof place to those that relate to her earthlyroles. In fact, the title"^^"(conventionally translated"hereditarynoblewoman") s listed first, at the top of each verticalcolumn of text.60Thejambs at the bottom of the corridorleadingto the burialchamber(fig.9), how-ever, record her title "Osiris"irst,and the "rt-p(t"itle does not appearat all.61

60Goedicke andThausing,Nofretari, l. 23.51Goedicke andThausing,Nofretari, ls. 8, 68.

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Fig. 9. Viewof descendingcorridorand doorwayto burial chamber note the queen's epithetson the door-jambs) (photograph the]. Paul GettyTrust,[1992])

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Fig. 10. Viewof burial chamberlooking north (photograph theJ. Paul GettyTrust,[1992])

The decorativeprogramof the burial chamber(fig. 10)defines this spaceas the architectural orre-late of the netherworld.The westhalf of the chamber s decoratedwithimagesandtexts that illustrateBookoftheDeadchapter144,in which the deceased(shownon the south wall of the burialchamber, othe west of the doorway)addresses ivegatesof the underworld herecondensedfrom the sevengatesdescribedin the chapter).62A group of three supernaturalbeings- a doorkeeper,a guardian,and anannouncer-guardseachgate(the fifthgatetableauat the northwestcorner is abbreviated nd hasonlyone associatedfigure, the doorkeeper).In addition,a canopicniche is carvedinto the (approximate)middle of the west wall and is decorated withfigures of the winged Nut and mummiformfunerarydeities. All of the figuresand hieroglyphs n the niche arepaintedto resemblegold.63

62Goedicke andThausingNofretari,9-50.53See Goedicke and Thausing, Nofretari, ls. 88, 89; Cathleen Keller discusses the golden figures in this niche as an ex-ampleof the transferof the so-called "monochrome" ombstylefromprivatetombs to royaltombs in, "RoyalPainters:DeirEl-Medinan DynastyXIX," n EdwardBleibergand Rita Freed(eds.), Fragmentsfa ShatteredVisage: roceedingsf theInter-nationalSymposiumnRamesseshe Great Memphis,1991), 50-86, especiallypp. 62-63; as illustrated n Leblanc,TaSetNefe-rou,pl. 72, a paintingof Nut similar to that foundin Nefertari'scanopicniche is on the sarcophaguschamberceilingof thetomb (QV38) of Sat-Re, he wife of RamessesI and mother of Seti I; for examplesof paintingsof "golden" tatues of godsin the tomb of Sety II, see Hornung, Valley f theKings,180-81, pls. 133-38; and for the definition of the "monochrome"tomb painting style see BernardBruyere,Tombeshebaines e Deir el-Medineh decorationmonochromeCairo, 1952), 7 fif.

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Fig. 11. Mummiform Nefertari from southeast corner ofChamberM (photograph the]. Paul GettyTrust, 1992])

The east half of the sarcophaguschamber isdecorated with images and texts that illustrateChapter 146 from the Bookof the Deadin whichthe deceased recitesspells for entering the Houseof Osiris n the Field of Reeds64 on the southandeast walls). On the east half of the north (rear)wall, Nefertari offers to three funerary deities-Osiris,Hathor of the West,and Anubis.The rear and lateral chambers also evoke thenetherworld-with references to sacred places inreal geographical ocations.65The western lateralchamber (M) depicts a mummiform Nefertari(fig. 11), the tomb of Osiris atAbydos,and funer-arydeities.66One of the gods givesNefertari "thekingship of Atum."67The eastern lateral cham-ber68 O) is decoratedwitha large figureof Ma'at(on the east wall), Nefertari adoring the Hathorcow as she emerges from the west69 north wall),and the queen adoring Isis and Anubis (southwall).70A figure of Ma'atstates that Nefertari hasa place in the temple of Amun at Karnak.71Thedecoration of the rearchamber(Q) is fragmentaryand consistsof a figure of Isis, a goddess protect-ing Nefertari'scartouche,and a figureof Selket.72C. Leblanc identifies the burial chamber as theroom in which the deceased Nefertari would lieinert like Osiris in the Duat before her rebirthand re-emergence.73One might take this notion astep further and suggest that the central area ofthe burial chamber- the depression in which thesarcophaguswasplaced- can be envisioned as thevery heart of the netherworld,where Osiris (and, by association,Nefertari in her sarcophagus) srevitalized.74The identificationof the deceased queen with Osiris is suggestedby the decoration of

64Faulkner,BookoftheDead,133-37.65Schmidtenvisions the lateral chambers as evocations of "mythical"ocations, the west lateral chamberrepresentsthetomb of Osiris n Abydos, n "DasGrabder Nefertari," 54-56.66Goedicke andThausing,Nofretari,3-54.67Goedicke andThausing,Nofretari,3.68Schmidt identifies this lateral chamber as the "mythic"Chemmisin, "DerGrabdas Nefertari,"256-59. The Thebanreferencesin this chamber, however,make this identification seem less definite.69Hornung nterprets his as an adaptationof the Bookofthe CelestialCow or a queen'stomb, in Valley ftheKings,186.Goedicke andThausing,Nofretari,4.71Goedicke andThausing,Nofretari,4. Thismayrefer to a statue of the queen in Karnak emple.72GoedickeandThausing,Nofretari,5;Schmidtenvisions this room as a conceptualextension of the "houseof gold"(i.e.,the sarcophagus hamber n, "DieTransfiguration er Nefertari," 31-32.73See Leblanc,"Architecture t EvolutionChronologiquedes Tombesde la Vallee des Reines,"254 and 246, fig. 7; Allen,"Reading Pyramid,"5.7 Hornung, Valley ftheKings,116; Allen, "Reading Pyramid,"4-25.

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Fig. 12. Drawing of a scenefrom the Small Templeat AbuSimbel showing Ramesses II and Nefertari offering toTaweret(after Desroches-Noblecourtnd Kuentz, Le PetitTemple, vol. 2., pl. 109)

the faces of the four piers surroundingthe sar-cophagus depressionwith djed-pi\\ars,75 protec-tive Osiriansymbol.The presence of the queen'scartouches and titles along the top and sides ofeach djed-pi\\a.r uggest that these djed-pi\\arsareiconic, Osirianrepresentationsof Nefertari her-self.76The equationof Nefertariand Osiris is fur-ther strengthenedby the decorationof the innersides of the piers along the central (i.e., north-south) axis with images of Osiris-Wenneneferstanding and facing outward (toward the tombentrance).

The SmallTempleThe decorativeprogramof the SmallTempleof

Abu Simbel exhibits significantdifferences fromthat of the tomb- differences that highlight whythe decorative program of Nefertari's tomb hasthe form that it does.An examinationof the SmallTemple of Abu Simbel reveals two concepts-embedded in the rules of decorumgoverningthe

portrayalof the royal couple- thathelp explainthe necessityof omittingthe kingfrom the decorativeprogramof the tomb. These rules are:(1) the ideology of kingshipclearlydefines an unambiguouslyfeminine role for Nefertari whenshe is pairedwiththe king;and (2) the rules of socialhierarchycon-sistently place the queen in a subordinateposition in relationshipto the king.In her book on queenship,Troydiscussesand defines the role of royalwomen withinthe ideologi-cal frameworkof kingship.Troy arguesthat kingshipcan be envisionedas a male-femalecompositeon earth thatcorrespondsto the androgynousform of the creator n the divine realm.77Further,shedemonstratesthat kingship necessarily provides the conceptual frame of reference for queenship,and queenship is thus the feminine half of the androgynoustotalityof kingship.78Troy'snotion can be applied to the interpretationof the SmallTemple'sprogram.Here, Nefertariis shown as anunambiguously eminine counterpartto the king- one whose place on the hierarchicalscale is lower than that of the king- but who is, nevertheless,envisioned as his ideologicallycrucialfeminine complement. The separatecoronation scenes79 or RamessesII and Nefertariattest to thecomplementaryrelationshipof the masculine and feminine elements of kingship.

75Hornung, Valley f theKings,187. Hornung interpretsthe djedpillar images adoringcolumnsin the burialchamber ofRamessesII's tomb as iconic representationsof the deceasedassimilatedwithOsiris,and he believes thatrf/^d-pillarsecorat-ing the piersin Nefertari'sburialchamberservethe queen in the sameway.See also idem, "ZumDekorationsprogrammesNefertari-Grabes," in I. Brancoli, et al. (eds.), Llmperio Ramesside.ConvegnoInternazionalein Onoredi Sergio Donadoni (Rome,1997), 87-93, especiallyp. 93.GoedickeandThausing,Nofretari,4, pl. 120. Goedicke dentifiesa similarlyabeleddjed-pi\\arn the east lateralannex ofthe sarcophagus hamberas an imageof Nefertari n the form of a djed-pi\\ar. omparepl. 120withpls. 96, 100, 102, 106.77Troy, Patterns of Queenship,2ff.78Troy, Patterns of Queenship,2ff./y Horusand Seth crownthe king on the south wall of the first chamber.See Desroches-Noblecourt nd Kuentz,Le PetitTemple,ol. 2, pls. 41-42. Isis and Hathor crownNefertarion the southhalf of the east wall of the vestibule n pls. 98-99 andcolor plate C.

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Fig. 13. Drawing of doorway intelfrom the Small Templeillustratingthe rule of superordination and subordination.The horizontal registerwith the king's cartouche is abovethe register upon which the queen'scartouche is inscribed(afterDesroches-Noblecourtnd Kuentz,Le Petit Temple,vol. 2, pl. 94)

Fig. 14. Drawing of doorwaylintelfrom the Small Templewith Nefertari'scartouche(after Desroches-NoblecourtndKuentz, Le Petit Temple, vol. 2, pl. 116)

An analysisof the SmallTemple'sdecorativeprogramrevealsthat, in total, there are fifty-one pic-torial scenes from the entrance corridor to the sanctuary. n all of these scenes, rigidrules of superordinationand subordinationgovern the relationshipof the king and queen. To wit, whenever thekingis shownin a scene withNefertari,the kingis alwaysdepictedin front of the queen (fig. 12).Thisrule also appliesto the arrangementof the names and epithets of RamessesII and Nefertari. Whenthe king'scartoucheappearsalong with that of Nefertari,his name appears n the dominant first(oruppermost) position.80An exampleof this comes from the lintel of one of thedoorways eadingfromthe columned hall into the vestibule(fig. 13). Here, the horizontalregisterinscribed with the cartou-che of RamessesII is placed above thatcontainingthe cartouche of Nefertari.81There are, however,parts of the temple that are reserved for Nefertari alone. In these instances,the issues of super ordination and subordination do not come into play.82Forexample, some of thetemple doorwaylintels omit the king'sname and are inscribed with only Nefertari's cartouche(fig.14)83-just as some of the SCenesdepict Nefertariwithouther husband- but these are the only occa-sions in which Nefertari'sname is not in a subordinateposition.

8(1See Robins,"CompositionalDominance," 3, 36-37 for her discussion of the superiorfirstposition of the male in two-dimensionalart- her "secondrule"of compositionalhierarchy.81Desroches-Noblecourt nd Kuentz,Le PetitTemple,ol. 2, pls. 93-96.82Robins,"CompositionalDominance," 6-38.8-9>See Desroches-Noblecourt nd Kuentz,Le PetitTemple,ol. 2, pls. 115-118.

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Fig. 15. Facade of the Small Templeof Nefertari and Hathor of Ibshek at Abu Simbel (photo by author)

In some cases, the patternof compositionaldominancein this temple's programdictates that theking'scartouchesare not only in a superior position to those of Nefertari,but also outnumber them.This occurs on the architravesand soffits of the ceiling of the columned hall, in which the king'scartouches outnumber the queen's by a 3 to 1 ratio.84The arrangementof colossal statues on thefacade (fig. 15) is a three-dimensionalcorrelate of this pattern. Although the king and queen are ofequal size, there are twice as many figuresof the king, i.e., a 2 to 1 ratio.FuneraryContext: Rebirthand Regeneration

In sharpcontrast to her role in the SmallTemple,Nefertari is representedin her tomb as a beingwith a capacityfor masculineregenerative potential.A woman'spostmortem assumptionof mascu-line sexualpotentialwould have been deemed importantfor two key reasons:(1) The assimilationofthe deceased with both Osiris and the solar deity was necessaryfor regeneration,and the abilitytoadopt a masculineidentity mayhave been considered conducive to this process. (2) As Roth pointsout, the Egyptiansappearto have believed that men, not women, were responsiblefor creatingnewlife.85She convincinglyarguesthat, in the Egyptianunderstandingof the process of conception, therole of women was to stimulate male sexual arousal and then to receive the child (already fullyformed in the semen) into her body.86In the tomb of Nefertari,the queen'sidentificationwithOsiris,her association with the solardeity,and her gender fluidityare expressed directlyand explicitlyin the texts. Throughoutthe tomb, theinscriptionsemphasizethe queen'sOsirianaspect by employingspecial epithets and phrasessuch as"OsirisNefertari,"87r "Justifiedwith Osiris."88 he equation of Nefertariwith Re is made through

84Desroches-Noblecourtnd Kuentz,he PetitTemple,ol. 2, pls. 59-64.85Roth, "FatherEarth,MotherSky," 89 ff.86Roth, "FatherEarth,MotherSky," 89.87Forexamplesof the former,see Goedicke andThausing,Nofretari, ls. 53, 59.88This term tends tofollowthe cartouche,in contrast to the appellation"Osiris"whichdirectlyprecedeshe queen'snameor titles. The term "justifiedwith Osiris" m?(hrwhr Wsir) an occur without the "appellation"OsirisprecedingNefertari'sname or titles. For examples,see Goedickeand Thausing,Nofretari, ls. 28, 30, 32, 34, 37, 69, 72. It can also occur in a sen-tence in which "Osiris"precedes the queen'sname and titles (e.g., Wsirhmtnswtwrt nbttlwy Nfrt irymV hrw hr Wsir).Seepls. 35, 36, 38, 41.

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THE OSIRISNEFERTARI 191

Fig. 16. Nefertari and Anubisfrom the burial chamberofQV 66 (photograph the]. Paul GettyTrust,[1992])

the speech of various gods and goddesses, whogive Nefertari, "the appearance of Re."89Theyalso express the wish that she "appear n the skylike Re"90 nd enjoy "allprotection, all guarding,like Re." In the transitional corridor, Anubisstates the wish that Nefertari "appear n heavenlike Re,"91and that "Iu-geretbe illuminated"92with her rays.The grammatical gender of Nefertari's titlesand pronouns suggest her fluid sexual state.When, for example, she is called "true-of-voice,"this epithet is always rendered with masculinegrammaticalgender (mi'hrw)instead of femininegrammaticalgender (i.e., mVthrw).This standsincontrast to the consistentemploymentof the fem-inine grammaticalgender in the titles that Nefer-tari assumedin life such as "hmtnswtwrt""rtp(t"and "nbt tlwy."92Furthermore, Book of the Deadchapter 17, which deals unequivocallywith thenotion that Nefertari is deceasedand undergoingtransformation,refers to the queen with mascu-line pronouns.94 n other inscriptions,when godsand goddesses address Nefertaridirectly, heyusefeminine, second-personsingular pronouns or omit the pronoun altogether.95Thus, she is a male"Osiris"n death, while the titles and epithets that she held in life reflect the female aspect of heridentity.The pictorial representationsof the queen further reinforce the notion of her gender fluidity.

Throughoutthe tomb, the canonicalEgyptiancolor encodement for male and female figures is em-ployed. Everymale deity is shown with deep orange-brownor red-brown kin (withthe exception ofthe golden canopic niche deities and the chthonic deities Osiris and Ptah, who are depicted withgreen skin).Everygoddess,whetherfully anthropomorphicor animal-headed,s depictedwithyellowskin significantly ighterthan that of the male deities. Nefertari'sskin tone, however,ranges from acreamy pink-brown with painterlyflourishes such as shading on cheeks and nose) to a deep (andmonochromatic)orange-brownor red-browncolor, the same shadesemployed for male deities (fig.16). Exceptfor one scene, she is neverrepresentedwith the yellow skin color used for the figuresof

89Goedicke and Thausing,Nofretari,52.yuGoedicke and Thausing,Nofretari, 41-42, 44, 46-48.91GoedickeandThausing,Nofretari,7.92Goedicke andThausing,Nofretari,7.9JGoedicke andThausing,Nofretari, ls. 19-23, 27-28, 30, 32,34, 35-39, 41, 46, 48, 50, 52-69, 72-76, 78, 80, 85, 94-96, 98,100-104, 106, 108-9, 112-16, 119-21, 123.94Goedickenotes that the assimilationwith Osiris s responsible or the malegrammatical ender.See Goedicke,Nofretari,39, n. 50. A less plausibleexplanation s offeredbyMcDonald,who views the use of masculinepronouns referring o the queenas the result of a circumstance n which"thecopyistlost his concentration rom time to time. . . . ";see McDonald,Houseof

Eternity,59, n. 2.95See example of the use of feminine second-person singular pronoun (gods and goddesses speakingto Nefertari andbestowing blessings upon her) see Goedicke andThausing,Nofretari, ls. 53, 57,59. Forexamplesof the consistent omissionof pronouns, see pls. 31, 39.

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Fig. 17. The "announcer"Nefertari rom the west wall ofthe burial chamber(photographby Harry Burton TheMetropolitianMuseum of Art)

goddesses. In all other tomb scenes, Nefertari'sskin color is usually significantlydarker- and al-waysdifferent-from that of the female deities.The one exception to this rule (fig. 17) occursnear the south corner of the west wall of theburialchamber,where the queen is shown in therole of the "announcer"96f the firstgate in chap-ter 144 of theBookoftheDead.In thisvignette,sheis shown with yellow skin. This particularrepre-sentation of Nefertari is made visually distinctfrom all of her other depictions by costume aswell as skin color. Nefertari as the "announcer"wears a tight sheath dress- the "archaic" emalecostume worn by every goddess- instead of theloose-fittingwhite gown worn by women of theperiod, which she wears elsewherein the tomb.This aspect of the queen, along with the door-keeper and guardian,confronts a typicaldarker-skinned representation of herself on the southwall of the burialchamber.The "announcer"Nef-ertari serves as a graphicguaranteeof the efficacyof the processof the queen'srebirth and regener-ation, because she has successfullycompleted hertransformation the period of gender fluiditybe-ing a temporaryphase in the cyclicalregenerativeprocess)- andhavingdone so hasregainedher un-ambiguously eminine aspect.In other words,thedivine, yellow-skinnedNefertari is the ideal formthat the queen will become at the conclusion ofthe process.97The evidence that artisanswere not completelyrestricted from using yellow to represent Nefer-tari in the tomb suggests that there was a specialreason to refrain from employing yellowin all ofthe other representations.Thus, the anomalousyellow-skinned representation of the queen ap-pears to be an exception that clearlyunderscoresthe intentionalityof the "masculine"olor encodementin the many orange-brownand red-brown ep-resentationsof Nefertari.98The yellow-skinnedNefertari also providesa clear contrast with the more

ambiguousrepresentationswithpink-brown kin(whichmightbe envisioned as a "gender-fluid"olor96Goedicke and Thausing,Nofretari, 9. Goedicke does not recognize the "announcer" s Nefertari. He describes the"announcer"figure of the first gate as a "womanwithoutany special features."For the opinion that this image representsNefertari-and is the tomb'sonly yellow-skinned epresentationof the queen, see Hornung, Valley f theKings,195, pl. 151.9 A comparableuse of visualart to ensure a desired result s discussedby GayRobins,TheArtofAncientEgypt Cambridge,1997), 190. Robinssuggeststhat a group of Deir el-Medinaostraca,decorated with images of women nursingtheir babies,show the dangerousprocessof childbirthas a successfulfait accompli nd were thus used to producethe desired outcome.98Althoughthe tombclearlyemploystraditional, anonical,genderedcolorencodement,at Abu Simbel the SmallTemple'sprogramrepresentsallof the figures- gods andgoddessesand the kingandqueen- withbright golden skinregardlessof gen-

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Fig. 18. Illustrationfrom the Book of the Dead chapter164 (BM 10253) showing the ithyphallic orm of the god-dess Mut-Pakhet(photograph the British Museum)

becausethey employneither the "masculine" olorencodement nor the specifically "feminine"yel-low,either).Untilthe TwentiethDynasty,whenTyti(QV 52) and Isis (QV 51) were depicted through-out their tombs with pink-brownskin (withoutshading),Nefertari was the only queen known tobe representedwith thisambiguousskin color.Allothersurvivingpaintings rom NineteenthDynastyqueens' tombs show the royalwomen with the or-ange-brownor red-brown"masculine" kin colorthat contrasts withimages of yellow-skinnedgod-desses in those same tombs."

The variationin Nefertari's skin-colorfurthersupports the notion that, while death transformsthe queen into the male Osiris andsolargod, shealso preserves the feminine identity that definedher livingaspect- a state thatperhapsfinds a con-ceptual correlate in the ithyphallicform of thegoddess Mut-Pakhet(fig. 18) that illustratesBookof theDeadchapter 164.10Another, very graphic,demonstration of female gender fluidity in funeraryart comes from the tomb (QV 52) of Tyti,aTwentiethDynastyroyalwoman,who is shown in one scene wearingthe typicaldress and regaliaofa Ramessidequeen, but is shown as the male Tyti/Iunmutef101fig. 19) in an adjacentscene.Roth suggeststhat the imagesof a female tomb owner retain anaspectof visiblefeminine identityin order to stimulateher male fertilityand help her self-regeneration.102t is possible then, to applythis idea to Nefertari's omb, and to envisionher own feminine form stimulatingher maleaspectandre-conceivingherself. I would, however, like to suggest another possibility- namelythat she (in herdeceased, male,Osirian/solaraspect)can be envisioned asbeing stimulatedand regeneratedthroughinteraction with the goddesses representedon the walls of her tomb (of whom Isis and Hathor, theconsorts of Osiris and Re, respectively,are those most frequently depicted).

ConclusionRamessesIFsconspicuousabsence from the tomb of Nefertariappearsto be an intentional andim-portant part of the process of Nefertari'sregeneration.This absence can be understood when one

der. The golden color is comparable o that used for the figuresandhieroglyphs n the canopicniche of QV66. As in the can-opic niche, the intent seems to be to represent iguresthat havegoldenflesh.99A scene from the tomb of Merytamun QV 68), a daughterof Nefertari and RamessesII, employsthe same color en-codement scheme. A scene on the north half of the west wall of Merytamun's ntechambershows the queen standingbe-tween Isis and Horus, Son-of-Isis.While Isis is depicted with light yellow skin, both Merytamunand Horus have darkorange-brown kin. See Leblanc,TaSetNeferou, l. 175. Otherexamplesare from the sarcophaguschamberof the tomb(QV73) of Henuttawy,pl. 188, and the Antechamberof the tomb (QV40) of an anonymous queen, pls. 74, 75 (A);see ChristianLeblanc and AlbertoSiliotti,Nefertari la VoiledelleRegina Florence, 1993), 65-67 for vivid color photos of the decorativeprogramof the anonymous queen in QV40, which shows that the queen appearsto have dark-orangebrownskinthrough-out the tomb, while goddesses are clearlyshown with light yellowskin.00Faulkner,BookoftheDead,160, 163. Thischapterprescribes he use of an ithyphallic,hree-headedfigureof Mut-Pakhetwhile recitingwishes for the well being of the deceasedin the afterlife. The chapter,however,is dedicatedto ritualperfor-mance and does not explainthe significanceof the goddess'sphallicform.101Leblanc,TaSetNeferou, l. 122;PMI, part2, 758 (20)-(21).wzRoth, "FatherEarth,MotherSky," 99.

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Fig. 19. Queen Tyti (QV52) as a woman (left) and as themale Tytillunmutef(right) (photo byauthor)

considers three key issues: the king's relationshipto both Osiris and Re; hierarchicaldecorum andthe ideology of queenship; and the necessity ofthe queen's assumptionof masculineregenerativecapacity (and her identification with Osiris andRe) in order to be reborn after death.Osiris, in his role as the deceased king of thenetherworld,provides a model for the static andunchanging aspect of every Egyptian king indeath-just as the solar deity serves as a parallelparadigmaticmodel for the cyclical renewal ofthe living and the deceased king. Both para-digms are "built n" to the ideology of masculinekingship. For this reason, the association ofRamesses II with Osiris and the solar deity ismore appropriate han that of aroyalwoman withOsiris. Tomb inscriptions that frame Nefertari'spower in terms of kingship (i.e., allowingNefer-tari to sit on the throne of Osiris and endowingher with the rulershipof Atum)bear this notionout by suggesting that Nefertari's role in the fu-nerarycontext must be equatedwith that of mas-culine rulershipin order to facilitate her afterlifeexistence.103Nefertari is equated frequently and directlywith both Re and Osiris in QV 66's texts;and hersexual fluidity is strongly suggested by the em-ploymentof masculinegrammatical ender in theinscriptionsand by canonicalmasculine color en-codement in the pictorial images.If, however,theking were depicted in the tomb, he, as the male ruler(and as a higher-ranking oyalthan the queen),would be a more appropriate"Osiris" nd "Re" or three importantreasons:

1) The king, as the masculineaspectof kingship,has a considerablycloser ideologicalrelationshipwith both Osiris and Re than does the queen, who, as the feminine half of kingship,is associ-ated with the goddess Hathor.1042) The king's relationshipto the queen within the context of kingship"fixes"Nefertari'sunambig-uously female role, and if she is conceptually"locked n"to a feminine role, she cannot attainthe fluidityof gender identity that would assist her association with Osiris and Re or her as-sumption of the masculine regenerativepotential that would allow her to experience rebirthand renewal.

103Hornung suggeststhat Nefertari's ombdirectlyborrowsimagery romking's ombs,and these featuresset it apart romthe tombs of officialsand princesin Valley ftheKings,186-87 and idem, "ZumDekorationsprogrammes Nefertari-Grabes,"88-93.104por j-j asSociation f royalwomen withHathor,and Hathor's ole as the divine manifestationof the feminineprototypethatroyalwomenembodysee Troy,Patternsof Queenship,, 53-72.

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