As you might guess, I still keep thinking and am fully busy with what is happening in the country of my birth and how many young people and children get injured or die there. I try to help translate news and research and share as far as I can. What could I do more? Indeed that will be a true tragedy in our century. In the hope of the last win!
Anyway, I remain in Iran after this prologue, the ancient Persian and Zarathustra. I’m still wondering again and again why human needs religion(s), and I look at my past and the old God Ahura Mazda; I would say this one was surely more acceptable than the Hebrew Gods: (I say gods because there are more than one: Yahweh, God; Jesus’s father, and Allah.) I do admit that t is also a religion, but Ahura Mazda had only three commandments and not ten! “Good Thoughts, Good Words, and Good Deeds”. It sounds so simple and clean, but man-made religion has never been God-made religion!
Here I present a part of Friedrich Nietzsche’s book, Thus Spoke Zarathustra. It was not so easy for me to translate it from German to English, but I hope I have got the main topic!
The name of it is “Das Tanzlied”: “The Dance Song.” I hope you will enjoy it.
One evening Zarathustra went through the forest with his disciples, and when he was looking for a well, behold, he came to a green meadow surrounded by trees and bushes, where the girls were dancing together. As soon as the girls recognized Zarathustra, they stopped dancing; But Zarathustra approached them with a friendly gesture and spoke these words:
Don’t stop dancing, you lovely girls! No spoilsport came to you with an evil eye—no girl enemy. I am God’s advocate before the devil: but he is the spirit of heaviness. How should I, your light, divine dances, be fine? Or girls’ feet with nice ankles?
I am indeed a forest and a night of dark trees: But whoever is not afraid of my darkness will also find rose slopes under my cypresses. And he also likes the little God who is dear to the girls: He lies next to the fountain, quiet, with closed eyes.
Probably in broad daylight, he sniffed at me, the idler! Was he chasing butterflies too much? Do not be angry with me, you beautiful dancers, if I punish the little God a little! He will probably scream and cry – but he is still crying to laugh!
And with tears in his eyes, he shall ask you for a dance; and I myself want to sing a song to his dance: a dance song and a mockery of the spirit of gravity, my highest, the most powerful devil, of whom they say that he is the lord of the world.
And this is the song that Zarathustra sang when Cupid and the girls were dancing together. In your eyes, I looked lately, oh life! And I seemed to be sinking into the unfathomable. But you men always gift us with your own virtues – ah, you virtuous ones!
So she laughed, the incredible, but I never believed her and her laughter when she speaks evil of herself. And when I spoke in private with my wild wisdom, she growled: “You want, you desire, you love, that’s why you praise life!”
I almost answered angrily and told the angry one the truth; one cannot answer more wickedly than when one “tells the truth” to one’s wisdom. That’s how it is between the three of us. Basically, I just love life- and, truly, most of all, when I hate it!
But the fact that I am good at wisdom and often too good: That makes it! She reminds me very much of life! She has her eyes, her laughter, even her golden fishing rod: What is my fault that the two look so alike? And that life once asked me: who is that… wisdom? – I said eagerly: Oh yes, the wisdom! One thirsts for them and never gets enough; one sees through veils, one catches through nets. Is she beautiful? What do I know? But the oldest carp are still baited with it.
Changeable is she and defiant; I often saw her bite her lip and comb her hair again. Perhaps she is bad and false, and in everything a room woman, but when she speaks badly of herself, that is when she most often seduces.
When I said this to life, it laughed maliciously and closed its eyes. Who are you talking about? Said that, well, from me? And if you were right – they say that to my face like that! But now also speak of your wisdom! Ah, and now you opened your eyes again, O beloved life! And to us unfathomable ones, I seemed to sink again.
So sang Zarathustra. But he became sad when the dance was over and the girls had gone. The sun has long gone down, he said at last; the meadow is damp, and the cold comes from the forest.
An unknown is around me and looks thoughtful. What! Are you still alive, Zarathustra? Why? What for? Whereby? To where? Where? How? Isn’t it folly to be still alive?
Oh, my friends, it is the evening that asks me like this. Forgive my sadness! It was evening; Forgive me that it became evening!
Hathor might be the only supernatural being I wish to have as God”dess”. She indeed had everything good in herself to give to the subservient like us!
I once posted about this fantastic goddess, but now it’s about a dedicated mysterious votive tunic to her!
Egyptian Hand Painted Papyrus with Winged Maat & Hathor. (with Author Signed)
Often described as a child’s tunic because of its small size, this garment probably had a more sacred function. It is dedicated to Hathor, who is depicted in the shape of a cow and described as ‘Hathor foremost of Thebes, Lady of Heaven, Mistress of the gods’ in hieroglyphs above the animal. Such tunics would have been offered to the goddess, possibly to invoke protection for a child or a woman during labour. Liana Miate
And her breathtaking temple shows with no wonder in recognition of her greatness, though the assumption that she and Isis are the same goddess and attribute both to each other isn’t the case! Hathor is the personification of the principles of love, joy and motherhood, and was the goddess of music, dance, fertility, and aided women in childbirth. Isis is revered as the underworld’s queen and the transformation goddess. She possesses the powers of a water goddess, an earth goddess, and a star goddess, the patron of nature, magic and divination. She’s known as a friend of slaves, sinners, artisans, and the downtrodden. She hears the prayers of all; none are forgotten or overlooked.
Egyptian votive tunic. Probably from the 19th Dynasty, about 1275 BCE. Possibly from Deir-el-Bahari, Thebes. The British Museum (photo taken at The Powerhouse Museum, Sydney, Australia)
Marie Grillot gives a brilliant description of this marvellous papyrus work and its beauty here. 🙏💖
This linen tunic, with a straight cut and an open round neckline, is dated to the 19th Dynasty (around 1275 BC). Besides its lack of a sleeve, it seems relatively well preserved, considering it’s more than 3000 years!
It owes its originality to the scene painted on the front, which stands out discreetly against a white background that has now partially disappeared…
It represents the goddess Hathor, in her cow form, emerging from the western mountain of Thebes, whose sides, behind her, are symbolized by red dots, just like the ground she treads with her paws.
With a thin line of red paint, the artist has traced the outline of the bovine silhouette and has, in the same way, enhanced the main characteristics that animate its light ocher coat…
Advancing towards the rising sun, she is wearing two large feathers with the solar disk at their base. The whole is surrounded by its high horns painted blue.
Her ears are so beautifully rendered, her black eye stretched with a line of makeup, her muzzle that we imagine vibrant, her long tail, her white hooves, everything contributes to giving her life…
Around her neck hangs a sistrum, one of the main attributes of the goddess… This rattling instrument is adorned with magical virtues: it can appease the gods, ward off evil spirits and attract protection. It is related to this representation of Hathor because it was supposed to reproduce the noise she makes when, in her cow form, she walks through the thickets of papyrus.
Hathor, the goddess of love, joy, beauty, and music, is here assimilated to the West’s summit. It is on the slopes of the beautiful mountain of Thebes that the necropolises are, and thus, symbolically, she receives the dead there… “In the Theban religion, Hathor, who is in the western mountain, becomes a funerary goddess; she then receives the deceased, who has become her child, into the mystical lap of the mountain tomb. She helps him to be reborn as, as Isis-Hathor, she watched over Horus in the papyrus swamp of Khemmis …” (Fernand Schwarz).
Representation of Hathor emerging from the Theban mountain in the tomb of Amenemheb (TT 278) – Gurnet Muraï
Also, the tunic is painted in black, with hieroglyphic inscriptions. “The first line of the inscription in the lower part gives the title’ mistress of the house and the name (unfortunately unclear but ending in ‘-Imentet’) of the woman who dedicated this tunic; the second line repeats the name and epithets of Hathor”.
To better “interpret” this garment, it is important to mention its dimensions: its height of 34.30 cm and width of 25.50 cm. These measurements could mean that it was intended for a child… but the interpretation can also be decidedly “religious”. Thus Nigel Strudwick (Masterpieces of Ancient Egypt) believes that: “it is more likely that it was specially made as a votive offering to the goddess. Many types of votive objects were placed in temples throughout Egypt as gifts expressing devotion to deities, which it was hoped would, in turn, favour the giver. This textile and other similar textiles may have been donated by women to worship, perhaps accompanying specific prayers for children or successful childbirth. However, none of the inscriptions refers to it. Another suggestion is that tunics may have been used to clothe divine images; there is evidence from the titles of the people named therein that only those connected with the cult of Hathor exhibited such garments. They presumably had to be carefully stored in temples to maintain and protect the decoration and effectiveness of the object”.
On the other hand, in “Clothing (non-royal), Pharaonic Egypt”, Aleksandra Hallmann indicates that: “Generally, the tunics encountered in the archaeological record are sleeveless, since sleeves have been found as separate garments…The Known exceptions of tunics with sleeves already attached are certain votive tunics for Hathor”.
The origin indicated for this tunic is Deir el-Bahari – Thebes. Indeed, if Ta Set Neferou (the Valley of the Queens with its sacred cave) and “Set Maât her imenty Ouaset” (the craftsmen’s village with its temple) were places of worship in Hathor, they were not the only ones … Thus, in “The Bel Occident of Thebes, Imentet Neferet”, Christian Leblanc recalls that: “It was under the reign of Mentuhotep II that, for the first time, the Belle Fête de la Vallée was celebrated on the left bank. , whose itinerary was modified over time. We know that on this occasion, the god Amon of Karnak went, in procession, to the West of the city, for a certain number of days to honour the dead there and to meet Hathor there. It also mentions the existence of a “Temple of the Cow”, which was: “Perhaps a late appellation of the temple of Queen Hatshepsut at Deir al-Bahari, where there is a Hathoric sanctuary, or the sanctuary of Hathor him -same”…
It should also be remembered that, during excavations carried out in the temple of Thutmose III for the Egypt Exploration Fund, Edouard Naville discovered, on February 7, 1906, the magnificent chapel of the sacred cow of Hathor. Dug into the rock to a depth of four meters, made of painted sandstone, it represents Hathor protecting the pharaoh Amenhotep II standing under her head. At the same time, from her udder, she “suckles a young boy, who is obviously Amenhotep II, the son of Thothmes III”, specifies Gaston Maspero. On the orders of the latter, it was patiently dismantled by Emile Baraize to be transported to the Egyptian Museum in Cairo (JE 38574 – JE 3857), where it will be reassembled, identically, by Alexandre Barsanti.
Chapel of the Sacred Cow of Hathor – painted sandstone – New Kingdom – 18th Dynasty Provenance: Temple of Thutmose III at Deir el-Bahari, discovered on February 7, 1906 by Edouard Naville during excavations of the EEF – Egyptian Museum in Cairo – JE 38574 – JE 38575
The excavations will also deliver “a certain number of fabrics and other votive textiles (as well as many other votive objects) linked to the later cult of Hathor, practised there at least from the New Kingdom”, specifies the British Museum, which has acquired several objects from these excavations.
However, this is not the case for this tunic he acquired from the Reverend Chauncey Murch, a member of the American Presbyterian Mission in Luxor. The purchase occurred in 1906 (EA43071); the Museum does not exclude the possibility that “this tunic could have been discovered during a contemporary clandestine excavation carried out on the same site”…
Foucart Georges. Note de M. Naville sur ses découvertes à Deir el Bahari (Égypte). In: Comptes rendus des séances de l’Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres, 50e année, N. 2, 1906. p. 110;
I can’t ignore that I am still thoughtfully involved in what is happening in Iran and the bloodshedding of the brave youth, girls and boys, on the streets throughout the country. That is not patriotism, as I do not have such a feeling, nor for humanity only, because many people are oppressed or suffering from poverty or hunger around the world. It, at first, is because I had experienced such a situation those days. Al and I participated in the demonstrations against Khomeini’s tyranny a few months after the regime changed. Those days it was hard to fight against a brand new government which claimed freedom. But we knew what would be a regime with a mullah on top! We have suffered a lot under attack from the mercenaries of the regime.
Second, I am wondering how it can be possible that these youths who are born in a time of Islamic rule, so fearless, come into the streets and want their freedom. They must actually know only the law of Islam, but these young people know much more than we can imagine. Isn’t it worth enough to protect them? I surely do not expect to go out and shout out for them. I just wish for your consensus and sympathy for their deeds. You know, I am worried about the happening in the media; the internet in Iran is almost interrupted, and who is responsible? I discovered that it is by a German company named Arvancloud, based in Düsseldorf, Germany. What the hell is going on? It is always pleasant for a business person to have a dictator talk about business rather than confront a nation. I am afraid of lobbyism, an underhand act by the corrupted politicians to want to keep such a murder regime.
I must think back to Plato’s cave. It is an issue we all may keep in mind: What we’re looking at might not be the reality. Rely on your soul and inner voice:
In the allegory “The Cave,” Plato describes a group of people who have lived chained to the wall of a cave all their lives, facing a blank wall. The people watch shadows projected on the wall from objects passing in front of a fire behind them and give names to these shadows. The shadows are the prisoners’ reality but are not accurate representations of the real world. The shadows represent the fragment of reality that we can normally perceive through our senses, while the objects under the sun represent the true forms of objects that we can only perceive through reason. Three higher levels exist: the natural sciences; mathematics, geometry, and deductive logic; and the theory of forms.
Socrates explains how the philosopher is like a prisoner freed from the cave and comes to understand that the shadows on the wall are not the direct source of the images seen. A philosopher aims to understand and perceive the higher levels of reality. However, the other inmates of the cave do not even desire to leave their prison, for they know no better life.[1]
Now I tell you from my political experience: The regime change in Iran is not only affected Iran, but it also has a considerable influence in the West! It is for sure that after this bloody terrorist regime, a moderate government will change all the conditions in the middle east. It means peace and calmness in all relationships in the area, and it is good for the whole world. Also, a prayer, at least, will work. And it is always important to keep your eyes open.
In my confusion, I was busy with Khalil Gibran, and when I found this story (The Earth Gods), it reminded me of when I was fully busy making music and was daring even to combine songs. One of them I named (The God, Who was Condemned to Live on Earth), and I just thought, what a coincidence! I also came across other posts with the same topics. Therefore, I thought, let’s share them both in one post.
When the night of the twelfth aeon fell, And silence, the high tide of night, swallowed the hills, The three earth-born gods, the Master Titans of life , Appeared upon the mountains. Rivers ran about their feet; The mist floated across their breasts, And their heads rose in majesty above the world. Then they spoke, and like distant thunder Their voices rolled over the plains
For measureless is the gulf that lies between divinities,
And windless is the space.
Yet I would comfort you,
I would make serene your clouded sphere;
And though equal, we are in power and judgement,
I would counsel you.
When out of chaos came the earth, and we, sons of the beginning, beheld each other in the lustless light, we breathed the first hushed, tremulous sound that quickened the currents of air and sea.
Then we walked, hand in hand, upon the grey infant world, and out of the echos of our first drowsy steps, time was born, a fourth divinity that sets his feet upon our footprints, shadowing our thoughts and desires and seeing only with our eyes.
And unto earth came life, and unto life came the spirit, the winged melody of the universe. And we ruled life and spirit, and none save us knew the measure of the years nor the weight of years’ nebulous dreams, till we, at noontide of the seventh aeon, gave the sea in marriage to the sun.
And from the inner chamber of their nuptial ecstasy, we brought man, a creature who, though yielding and infirm, bears ever.
Through man who walks the earth with eyes upon the stars, we find pathways to earth’s distant regions; and of man, the humble reed growing beside dark waters, we make a flute through whose hollowed heart we pour our voice to the silence-bound world. From the sunless north to the sun-smitten sand of the south.
From the lotus land where days are born
To perilous isles where days are slain,
Man, the faint-hearted, overbold by our purpose,
Ventures with lyre and sword.
Ours is the will he heralds,
And ours the sovereignty, he proclaims,
And his love-trodden courses are rivers to the sea of our desires.
We, upon the heights, in man’s sleep, dream our dreams.
We urge his days to part from the valley of twilights
And seek their fullness upon the hills.
Our hands direct the tempests that sweep the world
And summon man from sterile peace to fertile strife
And on to triumph.
In our eyes is the vision that turns man’s soul to flame,
And leads him to exalted loneliness and rebellious prophecy,
And on to crucifixion.
Man is born to bondage,
And in bondage is his honour and his reward.
In man, we seek a mouthpiece,
And in his life, our self-fulfilment.
Whose heart shall echo our voice if the human heart is deafened with dust?
Who shall behold our shining if man’s eye is blinded with night?
And what would you do with man, child of our earliest heart, our own self-image?
And down there, I’ve attached the other post with gratitude, translated from Greek. I hope you will enjoy it.
Highlights from the book “The Gods of Earth” by Khalil Gibran
– Man is a slowly rising god. And between its joy and pain is our sleep, and, therefore, our dreams.
– What is mortal is worth nothing if it remains mortal. The innocence of childhood, the sweet ecstasy of youth, the passion of blossoming maturity, and the wisdom of old age. The splendour of kings, the triumph of warriors, the fame of poets, and the honour of dreamers and saints. All of them and what is in them is food for the gods. And nothing of food will be unspeakable if the gods do not raise it to their mouths. And just as the mute grain of wheat becomes love songs when swallowed by the nightingale, so man, like the bread of the gods, will taste divinity.
– I would willingly comfort you, but how can I do that? Only the abyss listens when gods call gods because the gulf that opens between deities and empty space is immeasurable. And yet I would like to comfort you, to make your cloudy surroundings peaceful. And although we are equal in strength and judgement, let me give you my advice.
– Yes, in your soul, your Redeemer sleeps, and in sleep, he sees what your watchful eye does not see. And this is the secret of our existence. Would you leave the harvest unharvested in your haste to sow again in the furrow of your dreams?
– It is not unbridled spending of the flesh nor the crushing of lust when lust fights with ourselves. Nor is it flesh that takes up arms against the spirit. Love does not rebel. Only she leaves the multidimensional path of ancient fates that she brings to the sacred grove, so that she can sing and dance her secret to eternity. Love is a youth with broken bonds, manhood freed from the soil and womanhood fired with flame and shining with the light of heaven deeper than ours. Love, distant laughter in the spirit. It’s a wild attack that leads you to your wake. It is a new dawn on earth, a day that eyes or mine cannot yet see, but it has already been perceived by her own most incredible heart.
Silk Allegory (Allegorie de soie 1950) by Salvador Dali
This topic is not new to me, as I have been thinking about it since I was a young man. As you might know, I was born and grew up in a country in which Gender is an essential issue with the men ruling. Of course, Iranian women had many rights in the time of the Shah, but after the Islamic revolution, the Islamic rules have reduced almost all of them. Since I left Iran, I have given up any nationalism or ism at all, but maybe like James Joyce and his Irish feeling, I still have my Persian root. And now, it tears my heart apart when I see how the young girls are fighting and shedding blood to get their rights back.
Anyway, in my youth, I observed my body so often. My anatomy was more feminine than masculine. I wasn’t as hairy as a young man should be, and my skin was (or still is) soft and supple. It may be because of my mother’s wish to have a daughter. Of course, I had no desire for a man, but as I watched my body in the mirror, I missed a woman’s body near mine. Also, I am a man with all male and female feelings towards women. That caused me to think of it and have questions about these differences. And later, the theme of homosexuality and why it happens.
Some days ago, I watched a movie on TV (The Danish Girl from 2015), and I wondered why I had never heard about this one. It’s a well-made movie and touched me very much, not only because of its dramatic themes but also because it awakened my thoughts on the mysterious twilight of our Gender along the topic of Anima and Animus. I don’t know if any of you have seen this movie, but it is about transgender, based on the novel by David Ebershoff; it was a fictionalized account of the true story of Lili Elbe, one of the first trans women to undergo gender reassignment story.
You may watch this movie, though; I tell a summary; A married couple, both artists (painters), live happily together until the man discovers his inclination to be female. That shocked him initially, but the desire was much stronger than any appropriateness. (S)he decides to go towards his (or her) destiny, and the wife, though with a broken heart, decides to help.
I don’t want to discuss right and wrong or equality on this topic here, though it can always be essential. It only brought me back to my childhood and my own experiences with my own body.
The main question is: what is it about this nature failure? Why does a born masculine want to be feminine and vice versa? What has gone wrong? Especially the interesting thing is that this movie shows that a happy married man suddenly finds his (or her) true self to be a woman. If it is because of the hormones, they came very late, or is it because of the sudden awakened Anima? Are the hormones the same as Anima and Animus? Oh yes! There are a lot of questions which I can’t answer. Let’s look at what the master, Dr Jung, says.
We must also consider that we have two big problems to solve: first, to find the harmony between our body and soul, and second: to find the balance between our Anima and Animus. That is what Dr Jung calls wholeness, as the soul has and can’t have any gender! The main question might be this: have we forgotten something?
In “On the psychology of the child archetype”, Dr Jung talks about Child hermaphroditism, which I have translated from my book; Archetype.
He writes: It is a remarkable fact that perhaps the majority of the cosmogonic gods are bisexual in nature. The hermaphroditus means nothing other than a union of the strongest and most striking opposites. This union rejects the first and primitive spiritual constitution, in whose twilight differences and opposites are either only a little separated or blurred altogether. However, with the increasing sanctity of consciousness, the opposites become more distinct and irreconcilable. Therefore, if the hermaphrodite were only a product of a primitive and lack of differentiation, one would expect that it would soon have been eradicated with increasing culture. This is just not the case; on the contrary, the imagination of higher and highest levels of culture has always occupied itself with this idea, as we can see from Gnosticism’s Late Greek and syncretic philosophy. In the natural philosophy of the Middle Ages, the hermaphroditic Rebis plays an important role. And in very recent times, we still hear of the androgyny of Christ in Catholic mysticism. (Koepgen, Die Gnosis des Christentums, 1939, S. 315 ff.)
Here it can no longer be a matter of the still-existence of a primitive Phantasma, of the original contamination of opposites. Rather, the primal idea is as we can see from medieval works. (v. Lapis as mediator and medium; cf. Tractatus aureus cum scholiis, in Bibliotheca chemica, 1702, vol. 1 p. 408 b; and Artis auriferae, 1593, vol. 2, p. 641.)
It has become a symbol of the constructive union of opposites, a real “unifying symbol”. In its functional meaning, the symbol no longer points back but forwards to a goal that has not yet been reached. Regardless of its monstrosity, the hermaphroditus has gradually become a conflict-solving saviour, an importance which, incidentally, it already achieved at relatively earlier stages of culture. This vital importance explains why the image of the hermaphrodite did not die out in antiquity. Still, on the contrary, with the increasing deepening of the symbolic content, it could assert itself through the millennia.
That is, however, remained a mystery for us all. May we be able to find the answer and can solve the enigma of our existence. Amen!
Here s also a video about this somehow fascinating and, at the same time, tragic occurrence.
Queen Nefertari and Horus. Wall painting in the tomb of Queen Nefertari. It portrays the ancient Egyptian god Horus (left) leading Queen Nefertari by the hand. Nefertari lived around 1300-1255 BC and was the first wife of the Egyptian pharaoh Ramses II. The tomb of Queen Nefertari, located in the Valley of the Queens, Thebes, Egypt, is one of the best preserved and most ornately decorated of all known tombs. It was rediscovered in 1904 by the Italian archaeologist Ernesto Schiaparelli but has been closed to the public since 2003. Science Photo Library
It is inevitable to ignore the Myths of the feminine in ancient Egypt, especially this divine queen Ahmose Nefertari. I have already noticed that I shared several posts about this queen; however, she deserves another one, especially about this fantastic find of her statuette in such a beautiful form.
Ahmose-Nefertari was the first Great Royal Wife of the 18th Dynasty of Ancient Egypt. She was a daughter of Seqenenre Tao and Ahhotep I and a royal sister and wife to Ahmose I. Her son Amenhotep I became pharaoh, and she may have served as his regent when he was young. Ahmose-Nefertari was deified after her death. Wikipedia
Reddit The 3,200-year-old tomb of Queen Nefertari. The paintings are considered the best-preserved and eloquent decorations of any Egyptian burial site.
Let’s read this brilliant explanation by Marie Grillot about this excellent artwork. via: égyptophile
The former deified queen Ahmes-Nefertari, protector of the workers of the royal tombs painted shea wood – Reign of Ramses II Department of Egyptian Antiquities of the Louvre Museum (by acquisition in 1827 from the Drovetti collection – n°54) – N 470 – photos of the museum
According to some sources, this votive statuette of the great Queen Ahmes Nefertari entered the Louvre in 1827, along with the Drovetti collection, made up of 1970 pieces, which Champollion had urged the sovereign Charles X to acquire. Other writings indicate it as having arrived in the collections “before 1852” without further details.
Referenced N470, 35.5 cm high, it is made of shea wood and was carved in one piece” except for the left foot “. The queen is shown standing with her left leg forward. Her left arm is bent under the chest, and she holds a sceptre (fly swatter?) in her hand. Its flexible stem passes between her breasts, and flowers and straps bloom from the armpits to the beginning of the front -arms. Her right arm rests along the body, and her hand clutches an object that has now disappeared.
She is dressed in a long tight dress which covers her body down to her ankles, revealing her elegant forms, in particular a well-defined chest – the tip of the breasts of which is “haloed” with a circle of black paint -the navel with the bulge that surrounds it, as well as the bones of the knees.
The former deified queen Ahmes-Nefertari, protector of the workers of the royal tombs painted shea wood – Reign of Ramses II – Department of Egyptian Antiquities of the Louvre Museum (by acquisition in 1827 from the Drovetti collection – n°54) – N 470 – photo from the museum
The face is beautiful, of an asserted nobility, with large almond-shaped eyes, an elegant nose and a sensual mouth.
If the statuette is offered to our eyes today in its soft blond wood, it was indeed polychrome, as evidenced by the touches of paint, red and black, which remain.
Ahmes Nefertari is the daughter of Ahhotep II and Seqénenré Taâ II. Great royal wife of Ahmose, mother Amenhotep I, she reigned for many years. She lived in Thebes and was buried in the necropolis of Dra Abu el-Neggah. The exact location of his tomb has been “several times questioned since Carter’s earlier excavations “.
Other statuettes, similar but of different sizes, are in various museums, such as Turin or Berlin.
Other statuettes, similar but of different sizes, are found in several museums, such as Turin or Berlin. Ahmes-Nefertari is the daughter of Ahhotep II and Séqénenré Taâ II. Great royal wife of Ahmose, mother Amenhotep I, she reigned for many years. She lived in Thebes and was buried in the necropolis of Dra Abu el-Neggah.
In his magnificent work “Les statues egyptiennes du Nouvel Empire au Louvre”, Christophe Barbotin describes precisely how the garment is made: “a tight-fitting fabric draped around the body tied under the right breast which leaves bare the right shoulder and covers the instep and the heel. The double fall of the fabric is marked by a braid starting behind the left shoulder and continuing behind the right shoulder (with a defective alignment from one shoulder to the other), constituting a diagonal on the bust on either side of the right breast. This braid is adorned with tight fringes on the left forearm and along the left leg to the heel. The covering of the drape is marked by an incised line connecting the knot under the right breast to the right ankle”.
Like the Valley of the Kings, this necropolis did not escape the looting that took place at the end of the Ramesside period. Around 1100 BC. AD (21st dynasty), the high priest Pinnedjem II, who then ruled the Theban region, did everything possible to preserve the royal remains. This is how he had them reinterred in his own tomb, dug in the rocky cirque of Deir el-Bahari, more precisely, in the rocks of Chaak el-Tablyah.
Coffin in sycamore wood of the great queen Ahmes-Nefertari, protectress of the workers of the royal tombs discovered in 1871 – 1881 in the Cachette of the Royal Mummies (DB 320) at Deir el-Bahari
It was there, in the heart of the Theban mountains, that they rested until the summer of 1871, when the Abd el-Rassoul brothers, villagers from Gournah, discovered the tomb, its treasures piled up pell-mell, papyri, alabaster vases, shabtis and… forty-two mummies and sarcophagi. They decided to seal this secret, to say nothing about it. “They went down three times in ten years to the bottom of their hiding place.” But years later, having noted the appearance of objects from clandestine excavations on the antiquities market, Gaston Maspero launched an investigation. After multiple and extraordinary developments, on July 5, 1881, in the presence of Mohamed Abd el-Rassoul in the crushing heat of Deir el-Bahari, Emile Brugsch, Ahmed Effendi Kamal, assistant to the Cairo museum, and Thadéos Matafian, supervised the “re-discovery” of this hiding place of royal mummies, now known as DB 320.
Among the mummies of the greatest sovereigns was that of the great queen Ahmes Nefertari. During the re-burial, she had been placed back in her 3.78 m sycamore wood coffin on which “she is majestically represented standing, arms crossed, covered with a mummy sheath and holding two ‘ankh’ signs in her hand. “.
The former deified queen Ahmes-Nefertari, protector of the workers of the royal tombs painted shea wood – Reign of Ramses II Department of Egyptian Antiquities of the Louvre Museum (by acquisition in 1827 from the Drovetti collection – n°54) – N 470 – photos of the museum
She wears an imposing three-part hairstyle, painted black, composed of plaits braided in a very particular way which fall to the upper part of the breasts. This wig is surmounted by the remains of a vulture (painted in yellow), the emblem of the goddess of Upper Egypt, Nekhbet, whose wings are worked on three levels and whose head adorns the middle of the forehead. The whole is surmounted by a mortar, part of which is missing.
The former deified queen Ahmes-Nefertari, protector of the workers of the royal tombs – painted shea wood – Reign of Ramses II – Department of Egyptian Antiquities of the Louvre Museum (by acquisition in 1827 from the Drovetti collection – n°54) – N 470
The face is beautiful, of an affirmed nobility, with large almond-shaped eyes, a long fine nose, and a sensual mouth. If the statuette is offered to our eyes today in its soft blond wood, it was indeed polychrome, as evidenced by the touches of paint, red and black, which remain. Thus: “according to the traces visible on the cheek of the lady, the flesh was painted in a dark colour, which is again a speciality of this deified queen”, specifies Christophe Barbotin.
The deified queen Ahmes-Nefertari – wood – New Kingdom Turin Museum – cat 1369
She is “pegged” to an acacia wood base on which her name and titles appear: “The divine wife of Amon, the great royal wife, mistress of the double country, the beloved of her father Amon, the mother of the king, Ahmes Nefertari. May she live, be young and durable like Re, eternally”. It was dedicated by: “Djéhoutyhermaketef, who lived in Deir el-Medina and exercised the functions of quarryman during the reign of Ramses II (1279-1213 BC)”. The posthumous cult of Ahmes-Nefertari and Amenhotep I – very pronounced, especially within the community of workers of the royal tombs of Set Ma’at who made them their protectors – will continue for nearly five centuries after their “disappearance.”
The exact location of her grave was: “several times questioned since Carter’s old excavations”.
The former deified queen Ahmes-Nefertari, protector of the workers of the royal tombs – painted shea wood – Reign of Ramses II – Department of Egyptian Antiquities of the Louvre Museum (by acquisition in 1827 from the Drovetti collection – n°54) – N 470 – museum picture.
During the 21st Dynasty, the high priest Herihor who ruled the Theban region took care to restore the coffins and mummies of former rulers who had suffered from desecration or had been damaged by the robbers of graves. Their re-burial took place in the rocky cirque of Deir el-Bahari – more precisely in the rocks of Chaak el-Tablyah – in a tomb initially known to have been that of Princess Inhâpi.
This incredible “hiding place of royal mummies” was discovered in 1871 by Gournawis, the Abd el-Rassoul brothers. However, its “existence” will not be “officially” known to the Service des Antiquités until ten years later, in 1881.
Indeed, after an investigation with many twists and turns – prompted by the fact that artefacts arrived illegitimately and from unknown sources on the antique market – Gaston Maspero’s collaborators went back to the source of the traffic. This is how on July 5, 1881, in the crushing heat of the rocks of Deir el-Bahari, guided by Mohamed Abd el Rassoul, Emile Brugsch, Ahmed Kamal Effendi and Thadéos Matafian, supervised the “re-discovery” of this tomb – which will be referenced DB 320 -, which contained about fifty mummies – including about forty pharaohs.
The mummy of the great queen Ahmes-Nefertari had been replaced in her 3.78 m sycamore wood coffin (CG 61003) on which: “She is majestically represented standing, arms crossed, covered with a mummy sheath and holding hand two ‘ankh’ signs.
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