Statue of Queen Ahmose–Nefertari
New Kingdom, Dynasty 18, reign of Ahmose, ca. 1550–1525 B.C
Egyptian
?Limestone; H. 11 in
(28 cm)
?Rogers Fund, 1916
(16.10.224)
Queen Ahmose-Nefertari was the wife of Ahmose, first king of Dynasty 18. Probably the daughter of Kamose, last king of Dynasty 17, she wielded considerable influence for almost fifty years during the reigns of her husband and her son, Amenhotep I, and survived into the reign of Thutmose I. A posthumous cult in association with her son was established soon after her death and she served as the patron of the Theban necropolis and especially of the tomb builders of Deir el-Medina
This beautifully detailed statue of the queen portrays her in a heavy wig adorned with the vulture headdress. A uraeus had originally been carved in place of the vulture head on her brow. Her costume, with heavy wig and close-fitting dress with broad shoulder straps, and her face, which is rather round and flat, are typical of queens of the earlier Middle Kingdom