Predecessors of Cleopatra

by Leigh North

“I don’t think he will bite me,” said Sir Henry, “will you Fahad?” and the beast answered with a purr and would hardly let the hand be withdrawn.

Queen Nefritare-Minimut was the first, the chief, and the best beloved, there seems little question, of the wives of Rameses II, since it is her picture that appears with that of the king in various places and she is termed “Beloved Companion.” Maspero gives a picture of her in her chariot, following the king and says, “Still a young woman with delicate, regular features already faded and wrinkled under her powder. Like her husband she wears a long robe, its folds, through the rapid motion, floating behind her.” There is a large escort and every one stands in a chariot driven by a groom. This queen was the mother of a number of children, who, in the temple of Abou Simbel, elsewhere called Ibsamboul, are grouped with her. We may accord her some charm of beauty since the monarch of that time selected his wife, not from a list of foreign princesses of suitable rank, but from among the children of his own nobles, or relatives, with whose attractions he could become more readily acquainted. More than one writer speaks of the queen’s figure being full of grace and her features refined and attractive in her pictures.

There are two temples at Abou Simbel, translated “Father of the Corn” or “Father of the Sickle,” excavated in the solid rock. The larger has statues chiefly of the king, though there are smaller ones of his mother, wife and some of his children. The smaller, of the queen also of equal size with her husband, and smaller ones of some of their sons and daughters. These are the most familiar effigies of Rameses II and Nofritare-Minimut together, the male figure being full of spirit, the female of grace. “Rameses, the Strong in Truth, the beloved of Amen,” says the outer legend, “made this divine abode for his wife, Nefertari, whom he loves.” Within the words are “his royal wife, who loves him, Nefertari, the beloved of Maut, constructed for him this abode in the mountain of Pure Waters.”

Curtis says, “In these faces of Rameses, seven feet long, is a godlike grandeur and beauty which the Greeks never reached—the mind cannot escape the feeling that they were conceived by colossal minds. Such only cherish the idea of repose so profound—their beauty is steeped in a placid passion that seems passionless. In those earlier days Art was not content with the grace of Nature, but coped with its proportions. Vain attempt, but glorious!”

Miss Edwards was present and took part in the discovery of some portions of this edifice and describes the occurrences and her sensations with her usual picturesqueness and enthusiasm.

On the inner north wall there is a picture, presumably of Queen Nofritari, with a blue head-dress and disk, in her right hand the ankh or life sign and in her left a jackal-headed sceptre. Vases of a blue color stand on a table of offerings near.

It is at this temple that we know Rameses best, fifteen or twenty years later than the pictures of him before described. Here, to quote from the same author, he has “outlived the rage of early youth and become implacable. God-like serenity, superhuman pride, immutable will breathe from the stone. He has learned to believe his power irresistible and himself divine.”

The queen wears the plumes and disk of Hathor and has her daughters with her. She has much sweetness and grace if not positive beauty.

The colossi are difficult to see but the southernmost may be best viewed in profile on a sand slope level with the beard. Even the great cast in the British Museum cannot be well seen. The temple at Abou Simbel has one hall and many large chambers. The colossi are placed two to the right and two to left of the door; they are sixty feet high without the platform and measure across the chest twenty-five feet four inches. The figures are sealed, but if standing would be eighty-three feet high. Little dimples giving sweetness to the corners of the mouth and, tiny depressions in the lobe of the ear, are as large as saucers. The most southward statue is best preserved. The next statue is shattered to the waist, the head lying in the sand, at its feet. The third is nearly perfect. The fourth has lost beard, uraeus and arms, and has a hole in front. The heads are worked out, the bodies generalized. The figures are naked to the waist, and clothed below in the usual striped tunic. They wear the double crown, rich collars, no sandals or bracelets, and there are holes in the stone which may have held bronze or gold belts. The cartouches of the king are on his breast, and arm, having been probably tatooed upon his person. The statues are executed in a light vein of rock and were, it is likely, not painted, like those of Siva’s temple in Elephantine, in India. Above the door is a twenty-foot statue of Ra and on either side a portrait of the king in bas relief.

The smaller temple has six statues, three on each side of the door, over thirty feet high, the King and Queen Nofritari. The king is crowned with the pashent, and uraeus and wears a fantastic helmet, adorned with plumes and horns. He has some of his sons, she her daughters with her, ten feet in height, reaching to the knees of their parents. The names of the royal consorts appear on every pillar and on every wall, with the statement that affection unites them. The queen is seen on the facade as the mother of six children and adorned with the attributes of a goddess. The king is attended by captives of different nations. The temple seems to have been left unfinished. The larger temple is within twenty-five yards of the brink of the river, the smaller within as many feet. They are of different shades of yellow.