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Aspects of the Cultic Role of Queen Nefertari and the Royal Children during
the Reign of Ramesses II

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 Aspects of the Cultic Role of Queen Nefertari and the
Royal Children during the Reign of Ramesses II

Georgia Xekalaki and Reem el-Khodary

1. Introduction
The purpose of this paper is to identify different cultic aspects of certain royal family members during
the reign of Ramesses II. This research is focused on the presentation of the Great King’s Wife Nefertari
in ceremonial scenes that are located in different state temples, specifically the Temple of Luxor, the Great
Temple of Abu Simbel, and with a special reference to the Smaller Temple of Abu Simbel, which was
dedicated to her. To understand such particular cultic roles, we will consider not only the queen’s attitude
towards her husband, but also that of the royal children, who were also frequently depicted in the scenes
of the period.

2. The royal family

The royal family was naturally composed of the king’s spouses and offspring. Although the monumen-
tal visibility of the royal family was quite low in some eras, there were other periods, including parts of the
Ramesside period, when royal wives and children would often be represented with the king undertaking
various activities.
There were three main categories of queens in Ancient Egypt: firstly the Great Royal Wife, or the prin-
cipal queen, who appeared to be of great authority after the king, secondly the King’s Mother, and thirdly
the other wives of the king, whom he married but who were subordinate in position to the principal wife.
The queens of the New Kingdom held great influence in a variety of different roles, both religious and
political, sometimes even acting as the means for a king to reach the throne. However, at other times they
themselves had the access to such power through a weak king who would have been controlled through a
powerful wife or mother. Different interpretations have been offered for the representations of the queens
in different temples. Only a few of the Great Royal Wives were actually represented as equal to their hus-
bands, in something of a partnership with the king; one of those was Nefertari.
Nefertari had at least four sons and two daughters, although none of these children ascended the
throne. Ramesses’ eventual heir was Prince Merneptah, his thirteenth son by another wife, Isetnofret,

  G. Robins, Women in Ancient Egypt (London, 1998), 20.




  Nefertari’s origins are unknown, but she was probably a member of the elite. While she was queen, her brother Amenmose
held the position of Mayor of Thebes. At age thirteen Nefertari married Ramesses, only fifteen, before he ascended the throne,
and remained the most important of his wives for at least the next twenty years. By the 1240s bc her prominence appears to wane,
and her images by the Pharaoh’s side become scarce. For a discussion of her monuments see RITANC II, 557–65.

561
Georgia Xekelaki and Reem el-Khodary

who became his new principal wife after Nefertari died, which was probably in the twenty-fifth year of
his reign. Nefertari was one of very few Egyptian royal wives to be deified during her lifetime. Ramesses’
temple at Abu Simbel is accompanied by a smaller temple nearby, dedicated to Nefertari and the goddess
Hathor, a very unusual act, as temples were usually dedicated to deities, not mortals. Her status is
confirmed by the fact that she was depicted as part of her husband’s entourage, even during important
voyages such as a trip to Nubia to commission a new temple built at Abu Simbel. Nefertari is also
depicted as being equal in size to Ramesses, a rarity indicating her importance to the pharaoh. Ramesses’
unusual degree of affection for his wife, as seems to be reflected in the content of the walls of her tomb,
might imply that some Egyptian royal marriages were not simply matters of convenience or means to
accumulate greater power and alliances, but were based around emotional attachment. Poetry written by
Ramesses about his dead wife is featured on some of the walls of her burial chamber.
Nefertari held a large range of titles, some of which were       wrt Hswt (Great of Praise),  
 
  
bnrt mrwt (Sweet of Love),      Hmt nswt wrt (Great Royal Wife),      nbt imAt (Lady of Charm),



  Hmt nswt wrt mryt.f  (Great Royal Wife, his beloved),10   
     nbt tAwy (Lady of the two lands),11
   Hnwt tAw nbw (Mistress of all lands),12  Hmt kA nxt (Wife of the strong bull),13

       Hmt-nTr
14   
(God’s Wife),     ,      ,   
  Hnwt rsy mHw (Mistress of the North and the South). Nefertari was
15

consistantly depicted accompanying the king, or was referred to by various titles in his temples;16 she is
referred to as ‘the one for whom the sun shines’. She was also often referred to as Nefertari, mryt n Mwt,
‘Beloved of Mut’.17
Egypitan royal families also included a significant group of individuals known collectively as the royal
children    (msw-nsw), and individually with the title King’s Son  (sA-nsw) or King’s Daughter
 (sAt-nsw). Individuals with these titles are attested in monumental art and architecture (statues, reliefs

in temples and tombs, tomb paintings, large royal stelae, rock graffiti), minor art (inscribed vessel frag-
ments, small statues, jewellery), and in the collection of royal mummies and anthropological material.
In most of these contexts such individuals are associated with the king or the royal couple, although
their individual monuments (of votive, funerary or secular character) are not rare. Despite the quantity
of records relevant to royal children, a complete interpretation of their appearance in monuments is
still lacking. The main problem presented by this topic is connected with the double character of these
personages (individually and as a group) as royalty and private individuals. The collective term msw

  W. Helck, ‘Nofretere’, LÄ IV, 518–9.
  Her prominence is further supported by cuneiform tablets from the Hittite city of Hattusas, containing Nefertari’s corre-


spondence with the king Hattusilis and his wife Pudukhepa. She appears to have been instrumental in maintaining peace between
Egyptians and Hittites, which eventually led to Ramesses’ marriage to a Hittite princess, see Kitchen, Pharaoh Triumphant, 99.

  M. Gitton, ‘Variation sur le thème des titulatures de reines’, BIFAO, 78 (1978), 397.
  H. Gauthier, Le Livre des rois d’Egypte, recueil de titres et protocoles royaux, III: De la XIXe à la XXIVe dynastie (MIFAO 19;


Cairo, 1914), 75.


  Gauthier, Livre des Rois III, 76.

  Gauthier, Livre des Rois III, 75.

  Gauthier, Livre des Rois III, 77.
10
  H. Goedicke and G. Thausing, Nofretari: Eine Dokumentation der Wandgemälde ihres Grabes (Graz, 1971), 33
11
  Gauthier, Livre des Rois III, 76.
12
  Gauthier, Livre des Rois III, 76.
13
  Gauthier, Livre des Rois III, 78.
14
  Goedicke and Thausing, Nofretari, 33.
15
  Goedicke and Thausing, Nofretari, 33.
16
  Gitton, BIFAO 78, 397.
17
  Gauthier, Livre des Rois III, 78.

562
 The Cultic Role of Nefertari and the Children of Ramesses II

generally demonstrates an ancestry from the king (nsw) but it has also been connected with a static
condition where individuals are seen as manifestation of life created by the king.18 Additionally, another
title was used: sA-nsw /sAt-nsw n Xt.f – demonstrating a blood-relationship with the king, but which also
incorporated a deeper connection with the cultic implications which had already existed from the Old
Kingdom.19 This double status is strengthened by iconography, in which the royal offspring are largely
presented as adolescents or even adults, but with clear symbols of childhood and dependence.20
This dichotomy is more visible in the Ramesside period than at any other time, especially during the
reign of Ramesses II. Evidence 21 shows the numerous offspring of this king occupying standard positions
in temple decoration in active scenes related to cult, or flanking the images of king and queen, in indi-
vidual or group-representations. In all these attestations their iconography and titulary are presented as
developed and tend to be standard. The King’s Daughters are primarily associated with the domain of
cult, but their iconography largely shifts from princely to queenly.22 The King’s Sons are also seen in war-
scenes, as well as in minor monuments associated with their political and administrative action. Their
individual iconography is characterized by specific regalia23 – the xw -fan, HkA-sceptre – having an esoteric
meaning but also already known to be employed from the Eighteenth Dynasty by certain officials. The
most important princes are presented with an extended titulary, also showing affinities with – and thus
probably influenced by – late Eighteenth Dynasty high officials’ titulary. Consequently, while they seem
to share the king’s essence by witnessing aspects of the king’s divinity in rituals, they derive certain roles
from the private sphere. In this way, like the Great King’s Wife, the King’s Sons and (especially) Daugh-
ters, move between royal and non-royal contexts.

3. Iconographical Evidence
a. The Smaller Temple of Abu Simbel
The Smaller Abu Simbel Temple that Ramesses II dedicated to his Great Wife Nefertari together with
the goddess Hathor is indicative for the type of honour she received during her lifetime.24 The façade of
the temple is adorned by six colossal statues, four of Ramesses II and two of Nefertari, all of the same
height.25 In addition there are much smaller statues of royal children, believed solely to be the children of
  The term msi is often seen with the meaning ‘manifestation of life’. The form mswt, found also without its female ending as
18

msw, has also been interpreted as ‘manifestation’ in the way parallel to the term xprw, J. Baines, ‘mswt “Manifestation”’, in A. Guil-
laumont (ed.), Hommages à François Daumas presentées par l’Institut d’Egyptologie, Universite Paul Valery (1986), I, 43–50.
19
  e.g. the use of the term in the Pyramid Texts, Utterance 669.
20
  The hairstyle includes the side hair-lock of youth; C. Müller, ‘Jugendlocke’, LÄ III, 273–4.
  See particularly M. M. Fisher, The Sons of Ramesses II (ÄAT 53; Wiesbaden, 2001), II, 1–212; W. K. Miller, The Genealogy
21

and Chronology of the Ramesside Period (unpublished thesis; University of Minnesota, 1986), 1 ff.
22
  This is relevant not only to the King’s Daughters who married Ramesses II but also to others, whose status as princesses
never changed e.g. the King’s Daughter Henuttawy; see C. Leblanc, ‘Henout-taouy et la tombe no 73 de la Vallée des Reines’,
BIFAO 86 (1986), 202–26 & plates, where she appears in queenly regalia and her name in a cartouche; also her iconography in
the Abu Simbel façade.
23
  For the xw-fan, see O. J. Schaden, The God’s Father Ay (PhD Thesis; University of Minnesota, 1977), 67, I. Pomorska,
Les Flabellifères á la droite du Roi en Egypte Ancienne (Prace Orientalistyczne 34; Warsaw, 1987), 36–9; W. Murnane, The Road to
Kadesh: A Historical Interpretation of the Battle Reliefs of King sety I at Karnak (SAOC 42; Chicago, 1985), 163; for the HqA see P.
Newberry, ‘The Shepherd’s Crook and the So-called “Flail” or “Scourge” of Osiris’, JEA 15 (1929), 84–94; for general comparison
between the titulary of King’s Sons and high officials compare the titulary of princes Amenherkhepeshef, Ramesses, Preherwen-
emef, and Merneptah in Pomorska, Flabellifères, 150–6, with the one of the God’s Father Ay from his tomb in Tell el-Amarna in
Schaden, The God’s Father Ay, 140.
  In spite of the fact that the temple of Abu Simbel is known to be dedicated to both Nefertari and Hathor, we believe that
24

Nefertari was actually identified with the the goddess Hathor, as Queen Ti was before at the temple Sedeinga, as well as for other
reasons that will be discussed below.
25
  C. Noblecourt and C. Kuentz, Le petit temple d’ Abou Simbel: Nofretari pour qui se lève le dieu-soleil (Cairo, 1969), I, 15.

563
Georgia Xekelaki and Reem el-Khodary

Nefertari.26 These are allocated in two triads on both sides of the temple’s main entrance. Each princely
figure wears a pleated gown with broad sleeves and large apron. Their hairstyle consists of a straight side-
lock on a shaved head, and each holds a xw -fan. The princesses have their hands folded on their chests
and wear long transparent garments. Their hairstyle consists of a long straight sidelock on short round
wig topped by a flat crown.27 Their names and titulary is presented as follows, from left (south) to right
(north), in spectators’ view:
Flanking the southernmost statue of the king (A on fig. 1):
1. King’s Son Meryatum, justified.
2. King’s Son Meryre, justified.
Flanking the southernmost statue of the queen (B on fig. 1):
1. King’s Daughter Henuttawi, justified.
2. King’s Daughter Merytamen, justified.
Flanking the southern statue of the king next to the door (C on fig. 1):
1. King’s Son Reherwenemef, justified.
2. Hereditary Prince, King’s Son Amenherkhepeshef.
Flanking the northern statue of the king next to the door (D on fig. 1):
1. Hereditary Prince, King’s Son Amenherkhepeshef, justified.
2. King’s Son Reherwenemef, justified.
Flanking the northern statue of the queen (E on fig. 1):
1. King’s Daughter Merytamen.
2. King’s Daughter Henuttawi.
Flanking the northernmost statue of the king (F on fig. 1):
1. King’s Son Meryatum, justified.
2. King’s Son, Meryre, renewed in life.
Flanking the entrance are scenes of the king and one of Nefertari presenting flowers to Isis.28 The
entrance leads to a hall containing six pillars with capitals in the form of the head of Hathor, bearing scenes
of Nefertari with either the sistrum, or flowers, or carrying both papyrus29 and sistrum.30 The walls of the
main hall bear scenes of Ramesses II striking captives before Ra-Horakhty and Amen-Ra, with Nefertari
behind him.31 Other scenes show Nefertari offering flowers to Anuket,32 a scene where she is represented
with sistra before Hathor of Dendara,33 and one showing her offering to Mut.34 Beyond this hall, the ves-
tibule has a series of scenes of the king and Nefertari, with sistrum and flowers, before Taweret.
26
  Fisher, Sons, 14
27
  H. C. Schmidt and J. Willeitner, Nefertari: Gemahlin Ramses’ II (ZBA 10; Mainz, 1994), 65–6.
28
  The goddess Isis has always been associated with the virtues of archetypal Egyptian wife and mother, Schmidt and Wil-
leitner, Nefertari, 76–7; RITA II, 507.
29
  Those flowers might have been like a bundle of papyrus which is often associated with the goddess Hathor.
  PM VII, 113; RITA, II, 506; Schmidt and Willeitner, Nefertari, pl. 101; R. Wilkinson, Reading Egyptian Art (London,
30

1992), 213.
31
  Schmidt and Willeitner, Nefertari, 74, pls 99–100; PM VII, 114; RITA II, 507.
32
  Schmidt and Willeitner, Nefertari, 76, pl. 103; PM VII, 115.
33
  Schmidt and Willeitner, Nefertari, 74, pl. 102.
34
  The second member of the triad of Thebes, Spouse of Amen, she had played the role of the divine mother of all kings.
All the great royal wives gained roles and rank equal to hers when they held the title of Hmt-nTr n Imn, the divine wife of Amen,
or the wife of the god Amen. Accordingly, they were even portrayed with her iconographic features: it appears that the goddess
Mut replaced Hathor in some of her roles after Amen had merged with Ra in the New Kingdom.

564
 The Cultic Role of Nefertari and the Children of Ramesses II

Fig. 1. The Smaller Temple at Abu Simbel Fig. 2. The Great Temple at Abu Simbel
(not to scale with fig. 2). (not to scale with fig. 1).

Above the doorway, the queen’s cartouche appears between two vultures, while to the sides are typical
offering scenes of the queen; once offering to the cow goddess Hathor of Abshek in a barque and another
showing her offering flowers to the triad of Elephantine,35 composed of Khnum,36 Satet 37 and Anket.38
There is also a scene of Nefertari, while being crowned by the two goddesses Hathor of Abshek and Isis.39
In the furthest depths of the temple is the sanctuary, where a statue of the goddess Hathor, in the
form of a cow, stands in a niche flanked by two Hathoric pillars, decorated with offering scenes.40 Again
there are scenes of the queen represented with the king once before Hathor, and before Mut, and again
carrying incense and the sistrum before Isis and Mut.41 Another very important scene is also found in the
sanctuary: Ramesses is represented with incense and libation in front of a deified form of himself and
Nefertari.42 Significantly, it is important to notice here the complete absence of the figures of any royal
children in the main halls of the temple.

b. The Great Temple of Abu Simbel

To define the meaning of the appearance and actions of the king’s consort and other members of the
royal family in this temple, we intend to consider it together with similar presentations in other state
temples; the neighbouring Great Temple of Abu Simbel, and, most importantly, the peristyle court com-
missioned by Ramesses II in the front part of Luxor temple.

  Schmidt and Willeitner, Nefertari, 74, pl. 98; PM VII, 116.

35

36
  Khnum was worshipped as one of the principal creator gods. He was regularly represented as a ram-headed man seated in
front of a pottery wheel moulding the children in two over his wheel; P. Behrens, ‘Widder’, LÄ VI, 1243–5.
37
  Satet, the second member of the Elephantine Triad, was worshipped as guardian of the southern frontiers of Egypt. She
was represented as a woman wearing the white crown of Upper Egypt with antelope horns on either sides of it; D. Valbelle,
‘Satet’, LÄ V 487–8.
  The third member of the triad of Elephantine, daughter of Khnum and Satet, the goddess of the first cataract of the Nile,
38

nearby Aswan, she is always represented as a woman holding the papyrus sceptre and wearing a tall plumed crown. By the New
Kingdom, she became regarded as daughter of Ra and she was also worshipped at Nubia; E. Otto, ‘Anuket’, LÄ I 333-4
39
  RITA II, 508; Schmidt and Willeitner, Nefertari, 77, pl. 104.
40
  Schmidt and Willeitner, Nefertari, 78, pls 106–7.
41
  RITA II, 509.
42
  This scene is the one which most strongly indicates the fact of the divinity of the Nefertari, and that she was mostly identi-
fied with the goddess Hathor in that temple. PM VII, 116; RITA II, 509.

565
Georgia Xekelaki and Reem el-Khodary

The group of statues on the façade of the Great Temple of Abu Simbel, is in the form of raised relief,
carved on both sides of the entrance to the speos which is the interior of the temple. They function in a
similar way to the colossi which were normally placed in front of pylons and monumental gateways, but
which survive either out of context 43 or in situ in partially surviving temples.44 Analytically, this temple
façade is covered by four colossal seated statues of Ramesses II, which can be conventionally named as A,
B, C and D (from south to north - see fig.2).45 Between the colossi are sculpted minor standing figures of
prominent members of Ramesses’ family. Two princes are sculpted between the lower legs of two colossi
B and C, flanking the door; the Hereditary Prince, Royal Scribe, General, King’s Son Amenherkhepshef
and the Royal Scribe and First Generalissimo of His Majesty, King’s Son of his Body, his beloved Ram-
esses. Both princes wear a long pleated gown, while their hairstyle consists of a straight sidelock on a
shaved head. Both hold xw-fans on their right hand. Two King’s Daughters appear in the equivalent
positions in colossi A and D; the King’s Daughter of his Body Nebettawi and the King’s Daughter of his
Body Nefertari respectively. They would probably appear in a similar way; however, only the figure of
Nebettawi survives well enough to show that both princesses appeared in a transparent gown, sidelock on
shaved head, and their right hand folded over the chest.
However, the importance of such study is the appearance of more of the King’s Daughters within
the group, in comparison to the queenly figures. They all flank the colossi of Ramesses as follows: the
King’s Daughter Bintanat flanks statue A on the far south, and King’s Daughter of his Body, his Beloved
Merytamen flanks statue D; two more figures in queenly regalia appear, usually identified as the King’s
Wife Isetnofret (in A) and the princess Baketmut (in B).46 The rest of the positions occupied by the King’s
Wife Nefertari (in statue B) and the King’s Mother and God’s Wife Tuya (in statues B and D) who appear
in the same size and posture to the King’s Daughters. In a similar way queens and princesses appear in
queenly regalia: vulture crown, and double feathers on flat crown.
In the temple’s interior, themes are relevant mainly to the pharaoh, who is depicted in war-scenes (in
the outer parts) and offering scenes (in both outer and inner parts). The Great Hall, mainly decorated
with war scenes, contains a notable offering scene involving Nefertari, carved on one of the eight Osiride
pillars (I on fig. 2) supporting its roof. The scene involves the queen offering to Hathor of Abshek. An
equivalent scene of the king on the same pillar portrays him to offer to his deified self.47 This analogy
indicates that while Ramesses’ deified self is present in this temple, the queen’s is not. In a similar way, the
pharaoh’s first daughter Bintanat appears as King’s Wife holding sistra and flowers in a similar offering
scene towards Anukis, in pillar III.48
The Second Hall contains two larger depictions of Nefertari accompanying the king, carved on the
North and South walls.49 On the North wall, the king offers to the sacred barque of Amen-Re, while on
the South he addresses the barque of his deified self. Nefertari follows him in both, holding the sistra.
However, when she addresses Amen, she is wearing a sidelock on a round wig or shaved head (her head
is not very well preserved), topped by a flat diadem. Her image is different on the North wall, where she
wears her usual tripartite wig, vulture crown and double-plumes; the headdress also consists of Hathoric
horns and sun-disc.

43
  Statue of Ramesses II from Herakleopolis, now in Cairo, JE 45975; PM IV, 121.
44
  Statue of Ramesses II from Luxor, in front of pylon, east side; see PM II, 304 (7).
45
  PM VII, 100–101; RITA II 496–7.
46
  J. Baines and J. Malek, Atlas of Ancient Egypt (New York, 2000), 184.
47
  PM VII, 105 I (a).
48
  PM VII, 105 III (b).
49
  L. Habachi, Features of the Deification of Ramesses II (ADAIK 5; Glückstadt, 1969), 4–6.

566
 The Cultic Role of Nefertari and the Children of Ramesses II

Scenes of the royal children in connection with the king are found in the Great Hall of the temple. A
series of King’s Sons and King’s Daughters appear proceeding under scenes where the king smites enemies
(a Nubian and a Libyan respectively) in both interior sides of the entrance to the hall.50 Still, these largely
ceremonial scenes are loosely related to the central subject matter, and this example is not indicative for
their reason for their presence in the temple. Thus, it can be paralleled with a similar scene seen in another
monument, the court of Ramesses II in Luxor.

c. The Temple of Luxor

The court of Ramesses II is a rectangular peristyle enclosure, an addition to the temple which was
largely the work of Amenhotep III in Luxor. A procession of Nefertari followed by a group of royal chil-
dren, consisting of 18 princes and 20 princesses 51 is carved on the interior west wall of the courtyard (A
on fig. 3). The queen and children precede the king who performs a series of ritual actions with different
deities.52 Through an association with all the other known processions of royal children which survive
in situ facing real doorways53 or pylon representations, we can identify the scene as a ritual procession
towards the temple. Still, this is a unique example where the queen and royal children appear together.
Thus, the depiction might be helpful to identify how the role of the Great King’s Wife in cultic occasions
is combined with that of the royal offspring.
The queen is seen in a tall double-feather diadem on a flat (modius) crown and she holds sistra in both
hands. Her hairstyle consists of a short round wig with a long sidelock, reminding one of the hairstyle
of the King’s Daughters. The text associated with her figure states her action being that of ‘propitiating
her father Amen’.54 The princes are seen with a long straight sidelock on a shaved head and they all carry
xw -fans. The first three princely figures, and the last ten, wear an ankle-length kilt with a long transparent
gown over it. There are some variations among these figures in their clothing and regalia held, although a
sash is worn and a HqA -sceptre is seen in the majority of princes’ hands,55 showing the presence of all rel-
evant symbols. Regarding the titles of the princes, the first three first appear with an extended titulary:

1. Fan-bearer on the Right Hand of the King, Hereditary Price, Eldest King’s Son of his Body,
Generalissimo of his Majesty, Amenherkhepeshef.
2. … General of the Lord of the Two Lands, Ramesses.
3. … Overseer of Horses, First Charioteer of his Majesty, King’s Son of his Body, Perherwenemef.
The rest are only listed as ‘King’s Son of his Body’, sometimes with the epithet ‘his beloved’.56 As
for the princesses, they are all depicted in long transparent gowns with broad sleeves and no belt. Their
hairstyle consists of a round wig and straight long sidelock, falling on their shoulder or on their chest
(the pattern alternates in every two princesses for symmetry). Each princess has her right arm raised in
front of her holding a sistrum, while with the left hand placed along the body each hold a mnit-necklace.

50
  PM VII, 101(37)–102(38).
  The procession is damaged after the 16th prince and then after the 20th princess; the original scene would have included
51

approximately 26 princes and an unknown number of princesses; PM II, 308 (28). For the full complement of royal children in
the procession; see Fisher, Sons, II, 41.
52
  PM II, 308 (28), Fisher, Sons 1, 38–9.
53
  Fisher, Sons 1, figs 5, 7, 8, 13,
54
  KRI II, 849.1–849.8; RITA II, 553.
55
  In these scenes th 4th to the 9th figures are represented wearing an uneven kilt. The 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th, 13th and
24th figures are carrying the fan, the sash and the HqA sceptre, while the 14th figure is represented only carrying the fan and the
sash, without the HqA sceptre, and finally the 16th figure is only carrying the fan.
56
  KRI II, 860.11–866.11 (L1).

567
Georgia Xekelaki and Reem el-Khodary

Fig. 3. The Peristyle Court in Luxor Temple.

The first princess, Bintanat carries the distinctive titulary of ‘King’s Daughter of his Body, Chief in the
Harem of Amen’. The rest carry titles formed in a standard titulary, called ‘King’s Daughter of his Body,
his beloved’, and also characterized as chantresses (Smayt) of different gods.57
This ‘attending’ procession is definitely more abstract than the other two seen in Luxor temple, where
a clear focal point (the pylon) and princely action (offering) allows us to connect them with a specific
ritual procedure: an offering to the temple. Still, the way that the royal children appear behind the queen,
permits us to define aspects of their cultic role and their overall rank within the royal family. At first, the
size of the royal offspring is slightly smaller than the queen, indicating that they are facing divinity (either
relevant to the king or gods) in a similar way.
As for the overall representation of the Great King’s Wife in the courtyard reliefs, figures with this
title appear three times. Apart from the scene discussed above, Nefertari is seen on the interior wall of the
east pylon(B on fig. 3), accompanying Ramesses II as he offers to a statue of Min, which appears to be
in procession. The queen is depicted in a tripartite wig, vulture crown and double-plume diadem, while
she plays the sistrum and also holds a mnit-necklace.58 Another queenly figure is seen accompanying the
Pharaoh in close proximity to the previous scene, but she has been associated with another Great King’s
Wife, Isetnofret.59

4. The Regalia
a. The Regalia of Nefertari
The ceremonial insignia of Nefertari are an important theme that is worth discussing, since we believe
they mark the aspects of the divinity of Nefertari, as well as displaying her connection with Hathor.
The vulture crown is considered to be one of the oldest insignia worn by the royal wives of the king as
well as the Kings’ Mothers.60 It was worn originally by the vulture goddess Nekhbet of Upper Egypt when
appearing in her human form. Since it originated as a divine crown and continued to be used by female

57
  KRI II, 919.9–920.2 (L1).
58
  PM II 306 (17); Schmidt and Willeitner, Nefertari, 53.
59
  PM II 306 (17).
  A close fitting cap in the shape of the vulture’s body with the wings of the bird spread against the sides of the wearer’s
60

head, with the vulture’s head jutting forwards from the forehead.

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 The Cultic Role of Nefertari and the Children of Ramesses II

deities, then was transferred to be worn by queens, it may have marked one of their divine aspects.61 The
vulture crown also provides another natural level of association with Mut and, when found with the disc
of Hathor, marks another duality between Hathor and Mut.
The double-feather crown,  , was originally a characteristic of male falcon gods and of the male fertil-
ity god Min, as well as the god Amen. Starting in the New Kingdom, they became attached to the double
uraeus and the eyes of Ra and were worn by the queens. The goddess Hathor wore a pair of curved ostrich
feathers. Both types of feathers were named Swty, by the Ancient Egyptians, which may reflect some sort of
connection. By the Eighteenth Dynasty queens began to wear the two feathers with the two horns and the
sun disc of goddess Hathor,62 which one might assume to be another mark of the identification between
Hathor and Nefertari, and another symbol of the queen’s divinity.
The sistrum, , is the main insignia of goddess Hathor,63 and the queen is always represented with it,
which is the main means by which identification is made between the goddess Hathor and Nefertari.64
The papyrus,  or , in spite of the fact that it was symbol of Lower Egypt, was very much associated
with the goddess Hathor.

b. The Regalia of the Royal Sons

The xw-fan ,65 is generally accepted as indicating life-giving (through circulation of air) and protec-
tion (as shade). As a symbol of protection it was associated with the individuals closest to the king (royal
companions, royal tutors) from the Eighteenth Dynasty onwards;66 therefore, that the King’s Sons carry
it can be regarded as a further indication of their role as king’s protector. As a life-encompassing symbol it
may be also associated with the king’s divine qualities, given that the royal ka is seen carrying it,67 and this
must have mobilised specific associations with the King’s Sons.68 A Late Ramesside text about carrying
the fan names the qualities of the bearer as ‘divine father, initiated in the secrets’.69 Combining these refer-
ences, the use of the fan as a sceptre of the King’s Sons indicated their role as protectors of their father, as
well as their own access to certain restricted knowledge, and their possible association with royal qualities
as witnesses of the Pharaoh’s divine aspect or as sharing part of the king’s divine essence, and finally as
living witnesses of his ability to be reborn through his unique contact with the gods.
The HqA-sceptre,  is shown as a symbol of government and is used as a determinative for words
expressing leadership.70 Looking at its most popular use in kings’ iconography, it is combined with the
flail, indicating that the two sceptres express different types of authority, combined within the pharaonic
role.71 In addition, certain titles often held by officials such as Hereditary Prince, and certain forms of
61
  L. Troy, Patterns of Queenship in Ancient Egyptian Myth and History (Boreas 14; Uppsala, 1986).
62
  Troy, Patterns of Queenship, 126–7.
63
  Wilkinson, Reading Egyptian Art, 213; C. Ziegler, Catalogue des instruments de musique Egyptienne (Paris, 1979), 31–6.
64
  Troy, Patterns of Queenship, 92–101.
65
  J. Baines, Fecundity Figures (Warminster, 1985), 74; Wilkinson, Reading Egyptian Art, 172–9; Fisher, Sons, I, 132.
66
  Pomorska, Flabellifères, 36–9; W. Murnane, ‘The Kingship of the Nineteenth Dynasty; A Study in the Resilience of an
Institution’, in D. O’Connor and D. Silverman (eds), Ancient Egyptian Kingship (PdÄ 9; Leiden, 1995), 200.
67
  For an early Eighteenth Dynasty example see E. Naville, The Temple of Deir el Bahari, V (MEEF 27; London 1906), pl.
cxxixx.
68
  In certain contexts, e.g. the funerary scenes from KV 5, the royal ka is seen following the king in ritual scenes where he is
also accompanied by his sons, see K. Weeks, KV 5: A Preliminary Report on the Excavation of the Tomb of the Sons of Ramesses II
in the Valley of the Kings (rev. edn, PTMP 2; Cairo, 2006) 66, fig. 53.
69
  P. Lansing 13: a, b; see J. Capart, ‘Nefertari, Isisnofret et Khaemouaset’, CdE 33 (1942), 75.
70
  R. Hannig, Großes Handwörterbuch Ägyptisch–Deutch (2800–950 v. Chr.) (KAW 64; Mainz, 1995), 563–4.
  In spite of the fact that the flail is associated only with gods, kings and certain priests, the HqA is largely seen held by other
71

categories e.g. royal tutors and other officials, see Newberry, JEA 15, 84–7; P. Der Manuelian, Studies in the Reign of Amenophis II

569
Georgia Xekelaki and Reem el-Khodary

King’s Son 72 also support this idea of given authority. However, if officials holding a similar titulary and
portrayed with regalia such as the xw and HqA would fulfill the relevant roles in a real sense, the King’s
Sons, blood-related to the king, would fulfill them at all levels, actual and symbolic.73

c. The Insignia of the Royal Daughters

Insignia held by the daughters, the sistrum and mnit, are more explicitly connected with ritual use.
The sistrum is directly connected with the cult of Hathor and the same is the case with the mnit  ; both
are seen as symbols of the transmission of the divine essence of the goddess to the person using them,
permitting the goddess to become manifest through them. In this way, the queen and princesses are in
contact with the deity through specific rituals that aim to regenerate the king. An immediate parallel to
their role is the establishment of the xnr, through which women, normally from the elite, performed
ritual singing in front of family members or state personages, during ceremonies of more 74 or less stately
cults. The title ‘chantress’, appearing along the names of the princesses refers precisely to this function.75
A literary parallel for this association is seen in the performance of the royal children before the king and
queen in the Middle Kingdom tale of Sinuhe, where the royal children are described as females holding
sistra as they mediate the return of Sinuhe to Egypt in the form of his rebirth through the royal couple,
who function as the creator god and Hathor.76 This meaning hardly alters in our princely procession; the
princesses have to be considered as invoking the divine power on behalf of the king.
At this stage it is worth connecting the scene with its general context, the temple of Amen in Luxor.
This temple, considered also as ‘the harem’ of Amen,77 was largely connected with the god’s procreative
power and consequently with the king’s creation and regeneration. Thus, the function of the princesses is
associated with that of the princes, as they both promote the king’s renewal through cult; the princesses
by supporting his regeneration through fertility-related powers, the princes by protecting him and dem-
onstrating his own essence, his royal ka, which permits him this regeneration. Finally, the queen mobilises
these two functions performed by the royal children, by being herself the image through which this regen-
eration occurs. It is significant that during this procedure the king faces in the same direction as his queen
and offspring, as demonstrated by the scene from Luxor court’s interior west wall. This indicates that in the
cultic stage portrayed in the Luxor scene, but also in those in the Great Temple of Abu Simbel and similar
scenes, the divinity of the offering king is not yet manifested through assimilation.78

(HÄS 26; Hildesheim, 1987), 178. Such a use by non-royals indicates that as a symbol it indicated secular authority, as opposed
to the flail’s divine authority.
72
  E.g.‘King’s Son of Kush’ for the Viceroy of Nubia.
73
  Iconographical evidence from Sed-festival celebrations records fan-bearers proceeding with the king and called Com-
panions (smr) of the king, while a Hereditary Prince (rpat) proceeds in front of them, see E. Uphill, ‘The Egyptian Sed-Festival
Rites’, JNES 24 (1965), 370.
74
  For stately cults see the performances of such musical troupes in the Sed-festival, see Uphill, JNES 24, 371; J. Leclant, ‘La
fête Sed au Temple Jubilaire d’Aménophis III, Soleb (Soudan)’, Annuaire du College de France Paris 80 (1979–80), 532–3; The Epi-
graphic Survey, The Tomb of Kheruef: Theban Tomb 192 (OIP 102; Chicago, 1980). For private cultic performances see A. Capel
and G. Markoe, Mistress of the House, Mistress of Heaven: Women in Ancient Egypt (New York, 1996), 42.
75
  Capel and Markoe, Mistress of the House Mistress of Heaven, 42.
76
  H. Goedicke, ‘The Song of the Princesses (Sinuhe B 260–79)’, BSEG 22 (1998), 29–36.
77
  KRI II, 605, 609; RITA II, 400.
78
  Which is later normally portrayed in inner parts of temples, see L. Bell, ‘Luxor Temple and the Cult of the Royal Ka’,
JNES 44 (1985), 251–94. At Abu Simbel, where a self-deified Ramesses II is worshipped, we have to notice that this is still sepa-
rate from the human image of the king, who is presented offering in the outer parts of the temple. We also have to notice the
absence of contemporary Great King’s Wives in cultic scenes from the inner side of state temples, e.g. the Great Temple of Abu
Simbel, KRI II 760–4.

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5. Conclusion
This comparative study has shown that the cultic role of Nefertari was diverse, as a Great King’s Wife
but also as a living queen who was able to interact with the divine. Her ceremonial role as a Great King’s
Wife is widely demonstrated in state temples; Luxor Temple and the Great Temple of Abu Simbel present
two examples. This role is demonstrated in temple reliefs through her participation in certain rituals
along with the king and the royal children. In such rituals the queen fulfills a companion role to that
of the king, as the link between human and divine. In this role she is in contact with various divinities,
interacts with them and she may represent the female principle of divinity, but she is not herself divine.
This message is communicated through the intervention of the royal children, as fully-human direct
intermediaries between gods and men. However, the context of the small temple of Abu Simbel indicates
the queen’s status as raised to the level of divinity. Instead of being a separate entity from the gods (even
from her husband’s deified self ), she is the goddess, assimilated with Hathor, and acting as such. In this
context the royal children are very different not only in status but also in quality, as they are represented
merely as minor figures flanking her and the king, and they are completely absent from the inner part of
the temple. As a result, the divine status of the queen is better demonstrated.

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