Nefertari:
The Loved, The Lost, The Eternal
looters in the early years following her death (evidence provides that the tomb may have been accessed as early as 1109 B.C.E.), it is impossible to truly account for the mummy; any events that had taken place inside the tomb over the three thousand year period that preceded to modern discovery are undocumented (McDonald 1996), or documents have been long lost. Scarce numbers of grave goods were found inside the monument. Those that did remain included fragments of Nefertari’s mummy and sarcophagus, thirty-four servant figures, several earthenware vases, a pair of sandals, and an enamel knob with the name of King Ay inscribed upon it (McDonald 1996). Other items, namely jewellery, have been identified over the centuries (appearing largely in markets during antiquity), and those pieces known to archaeologists are now housed in museum collections across the globe (the majority of these were originally purchased by the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston) (McDonald 1996). Because the tomb was emptied long before modern scholars could access it, we must look beyond grave goods to uncover the history surrounding Nefertari’s death. The structure itself has proven to be a key element in uncovering the past; her life, her reign, and of course, her death and transition to the afterlife. Information pertaining to this is depicted through the extensive imagery and hieroglyphs that cover the internal walls of the tomb. However, even this evidence has fallen victim to time, and is at risk of further disappearing through natural deterioration. As such, intense preservation measures have been undertaken over the past few decades in order to maintain the integrity of the tomb and ensure that one of our most vital windows into the past can remain open for new generations of scholars to investigate.
The Ancient Egyptians’ attitude towards death and the afterlife is one of the defining aspects of their culture. Death was considered to be a transition period; it was not the end of one’s existence but rather a movement to a new state of being (Baines and Lacovara 2002). While the idea of transition is not exclusive to the Egyptians, the investment of resources into this rite sets them apart from other religious traditions (Taylor 2010). Naturally then, one could expect that the tomb of a queen would be nothing short of extravagant. Indeed, it appears that the Egyptians invested an immense number of resources here in an attempt to provide Nefertari a smooth entry into the afterlife (Baines and Lacovara 2002).