Places › Luxor (ancient Thebes) › Valley of the Queens
Tomb of Nefertari (QV66)
Monument at Valley of the Queens · also called QV66, Nefertari's tomb, Tomb of Queen Nefertari
QV66 frames every scene with clear, brightly painted Book of the Dead texts, and repeats the cartouche of Nefertari, great royal wife of Ramesses II (c. 1250 BC). Many call its walls the most beautiful in Egypt.
Ernesto Schiaparelli found the tomb in 1904, already robbed. The paintings are on fine plaster modelled in low relief, then coloured. Salt had damaged them badly, and a restoration from 1986 to 1992 made them readable again. To protect them, visits are short and need a separate ticket.
Her name, Nefertari-meryetmut, means 'beautiful companion, beloved of Mut'. She is shown before Osiris, Ra-Horakhty, Isis, Hathor and other gods, with each god's speech in columns beside them. The signs are drawn with great care, and many birds and figures are painted in full detail, feather by feather.
What to see and read
Nefertari at senet
She sits alone at a board game, illustrating Book of the Dead spell 17. The game stands for passing safely into the afterlife.
Nefertari before Thoth
She stands before the ibis-headed god of writing with a scribe's palette and water bowl, from spell 94.
Seven cows and the bull
In a side room she worships the celestial cows and bull who feed the dead.
Burial chamber
A pillared room with Book of Gates texts and the gods who guard the gates.
Names you can find here
Signs to look for
- Heart and windpipe F35nfr The heart and windpipe spell nefer, 'beautiful', at the top of her cartouche.
- Vulture G14mwt The vulture spells Mut in Meryetmut, 'beloved of Mut'.
- Hoe U7mr The hoe spells 'beloved' in Meryetmut.
- Scribe's kit Y3zš The scribe's kit is the palette she offers to Thoth in spell 94.
Reading the hieroglyphs here
- Visits are timed. Decide which wall you want to read first and go straight to it.
- Photography rules here change; ask at the gate before using the Hiero Lens camera.
Point your camera at a wall Hiero Lens boxes the signs and names them, on your phone; nothing is uploaded. On worn stone, trace a sign over the photo.
Questions
Why is Nefertari's tomb so famous?
Its painted relief is among the finest and best preserved in Egypt. The colours and the elegant texts look almost new.
Who was Nefertari?
The great royal wife of Ramesses II. He also honoured her with the small temple at Abu Simbel.
Where it is
Open in OpenStreetMap · Written from published sources and not yet checked on site by our team: displays and open tombs change.