It was great, once again, to welcome our friend John Johnson from the Horus Society to deliver our February lecture and to see such a good turnout for it. John delivered his talk in his usual inimical style, with an equal measure of humour and enthusiasm. His subject, the Tomb of Nefertari, reflected John’s special interest in the New Kingdom, and his talk opened for us the stunning world of the tomb-builders’ craft – unlike the tomb of Nefertari, which remains tightly closed!
First discovered in 1904, by the Italian explorer Ernesto Schiaparelli, but closed soon afterwards in order to preserve the wonderful tomb paintings from the damage caused by the moisture produced by thousands of visitors, eventually restoration work started in 1988 and allowed the tomb to be reopened once more, although numbers of visitors were severely restricted and entrance fees were high. The tomb, however, is currently closed once more for protection and to allow for further restoration.
The images which John showed (taken by members of the Horus Society) were both beautiful and impressive, and we were left wondering how it was possible to produce such workmanship in such difficult conditions. John impressed us all with his reading of the hieroglyphs, which brought out the meaning of the tomb’s inscriptions: instructions for allowing the successful passage of Nefertari to the afterlife.
Notable was John’s lively description of the great Queen, which did much to bring her alive to his modern audience. As John said, “This would bring a smile to the Queen’s face were she, in some other life, able to hear it!”