Queen Nefertari and her fascinating tomb

Nefertari , whose name means the most beautiful of them all , was not an ordinary queen. She was the beloved wife of the great pharaoh, Ramesses II who wore the crown of Upper and Lower Egypt for 67 years, probably starting in 1279 B.C. He was a king of both war and peace, and signed the world's first peace treaty. His popular title, Ramesses the great, derived from his being a great builder who constructed many temples, statues and obelisks, leaving his stamp on monuments throughout Egypt.

Although Ramesses had several wives, Nefertari was his favorite and chief queen until her death around 1255 B.C. They were married around 1279 B.C. and there is a shrine to Ramesses II at ”Gebel- El Silsileh" with a stela from the first year of his reign and showing Ramesses and Nefertari Performing religious rites before deities.

Nefertari gave Ramesses II his first son, the crown prince Amenhirkhopshef and at least three other sons and two daughters; in all Ramses II had 92 sons and 106 daughters by his many wives. Nefertari had several titles such as (hmt-nsw-wrt) which means "great royal wife", (nbt-t3-w-nbw) mistress of all lands, beautiful of face (nfrt-hr) and ''sweet of love" (bnrt- mrwt).

Nefertari participated in both political life and affairs of state and appeared beside her husband in festival ceremonies. Ramesses was eager to show her accompanying him. Because of her beauty and his love for her, he dedicated the small temple of Abu-Simbel to her (jointly with the goddess of love and joy, hathor) , an honor never granted to any other queen. There are six statues on the temple façade, two portraying Nefertari in the same size as the king b(33 feet high) .

Ramesses II ordered that a beautiful tomb be built for his beloved wife in the valley of the queens which the ancient Egyptians called st-nfrw, "meaning place of beauty". Today it is known as Biban - El Harim. It is located on the southwestern side of Theban Necropolis.

The tomb of Nefertari is the most beautiful in the entire valley of the queens. It is an elegant structure with unusual decorative motifs and vividly colored scenes portraying Nefertari wearing long, transparent white garments and lavish jewels. She must have been a charming woman. She is shown with a beautiful face, slim- waisted body, delicate hand gesture and majestic posture which also reflect the skill of the artist. The ceiling of the tomb is decorated with yellow stars on the blue background, representing the heavens.

The tomb was discovered by the Italian archeologist "Schiaparelli" in 1904. It consists of an entrance with a staircase leading down to a hall measuring 17 feet by 17.5 feet, where there is a rock – cut bench with niches and a cavetto cornice to hold funerary items. There is a side – chamber to the right and a corridor with steps leading down to the burial chamber which has four pillars and three small side chambers. The site of the sarcophagus is sunken slightly below the ground.

Unfortunately, the tomb was carved from poor quality limestone so that rainwater seeped through cracks and joints for several thousand years. Salts grew and crystallized behind the plaster layer with the paintings, pushing them outward and causing them to fall off.

The decorations on this tomb are religious – funerary and distinguished by fine detail and balanced composition, however, according to the opinions of some experts they are coldly academic. Visitors in general, on the other hand, are fascinated by the pictures

Schiaparelli had written that " the size of the figures , the variety of colors , the magnificence and firmness of style make this tomb one of the most important monuments in Theban necropolis.

It is important to highlight the profound symbolic meaning of the paintings on Nefertari tomb which illustrate some chapters of a ritual the Egyptians called " formulas for coming out into the day" the title" book of the dead" was attributed to it relatively recently in 1842, by scholar R. Lepsiius. These paintings portray the queens long journey in the after world .

Land of Fascination "Hurghada"

Hurghada stretches for about 36 kilometres (22 mi) along the seashore of the red sea. It is a charming winter resort attracting a lot of visitors searching the right place for relaxation, meditation and fun as well. It was in progress from a small fishing village to one of the best tourist resorts fascinating swimmers and divers. Today there is 20 Km of beach hotels where everyone can have serenity, joy and fun. Visitors are intrigued by scuba diving; windsurfing and desert safaris. Moreover, they enjoy the crystal blue water, sunshine and spectacular treasures of the red sea by riding a delightful submarine cruising in the middle of natural coral reefs and colorful fish. Diving is practiced in one of the most perfect places worldwide with nothing except a mask, snorkel, and flippers. Hurghada is divided into three parts: (El Dahar) is the downtown, kept vivid by its bazaars and mosques reflecting the Egyptian characteristic, Sekalla is the city center and El Memsha (Village road) is the modern part.

Reference:" Hurghada, land of fascination, by Dr. Jihan

Hieroglyphics and Egyptian papyrus

The Greeks who first came across the ancient Egyptian monuments called the markings on them hieroglyphics, from the Greek words for “sacred carvings”. They thought that the symbols were used only for religious purposes, and that their secrets could be understood only by those familiar with the ancient religions. Actually, the hieroglyphics were not only carved on stone monuments but were also painted on wood and drawn with ink on papyrus , a form of paper made by the Egyptians. In more recent times, thousands of papyrus scrolls have been found preserved in the pyramids, the tombs of kings.
The Sumerians wrote on soft, damp clay, using a stylus- a piece of sharpened bone or reed for a writing instrument. When the clay hardened, the writing became permanent. The use of a stylus on the soft clay produced characters that were wedge- shaped. The name cuneiform, which is given to these symbols, means "wedge-shaped".
The oldest Sumerian tablets, dating from about 3500 B.C., contained serious of pictures of objects. The Sumerians discovered, however, that they couldn’t communicate everything they wanted through pictures. They soon came to let some of the pictures represent ideas or actions associated with them In this way, a picture of the sun could also be used for the idea of light, or heat, or a day. A picture of a foot could also mean walking or running.
Egyptian writings like Sumerian began as a serious of simple pictograms, then developed into a combination of pictograms and ideograms, and finally into phonograms or sound symbols. Unlike the Sumerians, who gradually changed their symbols into the wedge – shaped cuneiform, the Egyptians kept using their picture forms over the years.
On Tombs and walls and jewels and cliffs, Egyptians carved their hieroglyphs. Picture writing cut in stone, in amber, ivory, bronze and bone.
The complex hieroglyphics were retained for carvings on tombs and monuments, but for everyday writing the Egyptians needed something that could be done more easily and quickly. First they developed the hieratic writing, a simplified form of hieroglyphics. Much later, about 700 B.C., they began using an even simpler form called the demotic. Both of these forms were written chiefly on papyrus.

Papyrus and the scroll:

The ancient Egyptians discovered, somewhere around 3000 B.C, that they could make a kind of paper from papyrus, a reed that grew near the delta of the Nile river. Strips of papyrus were laid crosswise on a flat stone about twelve to sixteen inches square. The papyrus was then treated with gum solution and pressed, pounded, and polished until a flat sheet suitable for writing was formed. For longer writing tasks, the sheets were fastened together into a continuous band or scroll.
The Egyptians scribes wrote with a reed or brush on only one side of the papyrus, arranging their lines of hieroglyphs in columns. The papyrus scrolls had a roller - like rod at each end so that the reader could unwind one end and wind the other as he read.

A rolled up scroll could be easily carried and stored. Egyptian rulers realizing the importance of Papyrus, made its production a state monopoly, and guarded the secret of Papyrus jealously. The ancient Egyptians appeared to have used papyrus in so many ways. We know they made paper from

papyrus but they also used it to make sandals, wove it into mats, baskets and fencing, made rope and also used parts of the plant for food as well as a medicine. The reeds were bundled together to make boats and dried to make fuel for fires. There are undoubtedly other uses that the ancient Egyptians found for papyrus.

Refereces :the world of language - Egyptian-papyrus