 Queen
Nefertari at Luxor Temple.
Nefertari was the chief consort of Ramesses II until her death around
his regnal year 24, and she figures prominently alongside Ramesses II
on many of his monuments. Ramesses dedicated to her the small temple of
Abu Simbel in Nubia, the first cult of an Egyptian queen in Nubia since
that which Amenhotep III established for his wife, Tiye, at Sedeinga.
In this photograph, a diminutive Nefertari is depicted behind the leg
of her colossal husband in the first court of Luxor Temple, tenderly touching
his calf. A graffito in the same court suggests that at least one visitor
considered the beautiful Nefertari to be at least as comely as the fabled
Helen of Troy, for he carved and captioned a figure of Paris on a neighboring
pillar next to her figure.
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