View source for Ahmose-Nefertari

{{Short description|Ancient Egyptian queen consort}}
{{Infobox royalty
| name = Ahmose-Nefertari
| title = [[Queen consort]] of [[Egypt]]<br/>[[Great Royal Wife]]<br/>[[God's Wife of Amun]]<br/>[[Regent]]
| image = Queen Ahmose-Nefertari Neues Museum 26042018 2.jpg
| caption = Ahmose Nefertari in deified form in tomb [[TT359]]
| full name = Ahmose-Nefertari
| place of burial = <!-- <br /> {{coord|LAT|LONG|display=inline,title}} -->
| spouse = [[Ahmose I]]
| issue = [[Amenhotep I]]<br/>[[Ahmose-ankh]]<br/>[[Siamun (son of Ahmose I)|Siamun]] <br/>[[Ramose (prince)|Ramose]] ?<br>[[Ahmose-Meritamun]]<br/>[[Mutnofret]] ?<br/>[[Ahmose-Sitamun]]
| dynasty = [[18th Dynasty]]
| father = [[Seqenenre Tao]]
| mother = [[Ahhotep I]]
| religion = [[Ancient Egyptian religion]]
}}
{{Infobox hieroglyphs
|name = <hiero><-N12:F31-F35-M17-X1:D21:Z4-></hiero>
|name transcription = Ahmose Nefertari <br/>  ''Jꜥḥ ms Nfr trj'' <br/>  ''Born of [[Iah]], the beautiful companion''
|}}
{{Ancient Egyptian religion}}
'''Ahmose-Nefertari''' (Ancient Egyptian: ''[[wiktionary:jꜥḥ-ms|Jꜥḥ ms]] [[wiktionary:nfrt-jrj|Nfr trj]]'') was the first [[Great Royal Wife]] of the [[18th Dynasty]] of [[Ancient Egypt]]. She was a daughter of [[Seqenenre Tao]] and [[Ahhotep I]], and royal sister and wife to [[Ahmose I]]. Her son [[Amenhotep I]] became pharaoh and she may have served as his regent when he was young. Ahmose-Nefertari was deified after her death.

==Family==
{{further|Family tree of the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt}}

Ahmose-Nefertari was a daughter of [[Seqenenre Tao]] and [[Ahhotep I]] and the granddaughter of [[Senakhtenre Ahmose|Senakhtenre]] and queen [[Tetisheri]].<ref name=dh>{{cite book |last1=Dodson |first1=Aidan |author-link1=Aidan Dodson |last2=Hilton |first2=Dyan |date=2004 |title= The Complete Royal Families of Ancient Egypt |location=London |publisher= Thames & Hudson |isbn= 0-500-05128-3}}</ref> Ahmose-Nefertari was born in Thebes, likely during the reign of [[Senakhtenre Ahmose]].<ref name="Forbes">Forbes, Dennis C. Imperial Lives: Illustrated Biographies of Significant New Kingdom Egyptians. KMT Communications, Inc. 1998. {{ISBN|1-879388-08-1}}</ref><ref>Sébastien Biston-Moulin, "Le roi Sénakht-en-Rê Ahmès de la XVIIe dynastie", ENIM 5, pp. 61–71, 22 mars/march 2012 [online: [http://www.enim-egyptologie.fr/index.php?page=enim-5&n=6]</ref> Ahmose-Nefertari had quite a few siblings and half-siblings, including her future husband [[Ahmose I|Ahmose]] and King's Son [[Ahmose Sapair]], and her many sisters: [[Ahmose-Henutemipet]], [[Ahmose-Tumerisy]], [[Ahmose-Nebetta]], [[Ahmose-Meritamon (17th dynasty)|Ahmose-Meritamon]], [[Ahmose-Henuttamehu]], [[Ahmose (princess)|Ahmose]], and [[Ahmose-Sitkamose]].<ref name=dh/>
		
Ahmose-Nefertari may have married [[Pharaoh]] [[Kamose]] but, if so, there is no record of such a marriage.<ref name="Forbes"/> She did become the [[Great Royal Wife|great royal wife]] of Ahmose I, with whom she had at least three sons. She is depicted on a stela from Karnak with a son named [[Ahmose-ankh]] and a son named Siamun was reburied in the royal cache [[DB320]]. But it was her son [[Amenhotep I]] who would eventually succeed his father to the throne. She was also the mother of two daughters who became Royal Wives, [[Ahmose-Meritamun]] and [[Ahmose-Sitamun]]. She may also have been the mother of [[Mutnofret]], the wife of [[Thutmose I]]. A prince named Ramose included among the Lords of the West and known from a statue now in Liverpool, may be another son of Ahmose-Nefertari.<ref name=dh/>

==Life==
[[File:Stele of Amenhotep I.jpg|thumb|left| Posthumous stele of Amenhotep I and Ahmose-Nefertari making an offering to Osiris.]]
Ahmose-Nefertari was born during the latter part of the [[Seventeenth Dynasty|17th Dynasty]], during the reign of her grandfather [[Senakhtenre Ahmose]].<ref name="Forbes"/> Her father Seqenenre Tao fought against the [[Hyksos]] and may have lost his life during a battle. He was succeeded by Kamose.<ref name=dh/> It is possible that Ahmose-Nefertari married Kamose, but no evidence exists of such a marriage.<ref name="Forbes"/>

After the death of Kamose the throne went to Ahmose I. Pharaoh Ahmose was very young and queen-mother [[Ahhotep I]] served as regent during the early years of his reign. Ahhotep would have taken precedence at court over her daughter Ahmose-Nefertari, who was the great royal wife. Ahmose I  became the first king of the 18th Dynasty, and a pharaoh ruling over a reunited country.<ref name="Forbes"/>

Queen Ahmose-Nefertari held many titles, including those of hereditary princess (iryt-pꜥt), great of grace (wrt-imꜣt), great of praises (wrt-ḥswt), king's mother (mwt-niswt), great king's wife (ḥmt-niswt-wrt), god's wife (hmt-ntr), united with the white crown (ẖnmt-nfr-ḥḏjt), king's daughter (sꜣt-niswt), and king's sister (snt-niswt).<ref>Grajetzki, Ancient Egyptian Queens: A Hieroglyphic Dictionary, Golden House Publications, London, 2005, {{ISBN|978-0-9547218-9-3}}</ref> The queen was revered as "Goddess of Resurrection" and was arguably the most venerated woman in Egyptian history.<ref name=gestoso>Graciela Gestoso Singer, "[https://www.academia.edu/414029/Ahmose_Nefertari_the_Woman_in_Black Ahmose-Nefertari, The Woman in Black]". ''Terrae Antiqvae'', January 17, 2011</ref> [[Nubia|Ancient Nubia]] ruling families have been said to feature strong matriarchal inclinations, a characteristic described as indisputable in the case of the 17th Dynasty.  Along with other queens of the period, it has been suggested that the matriarchal quality of Ahmose-Nefertari's rule and line originated from Nubia.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Redford |first=Donald B. |title=History and chronology of the eighteenth dynasty of Egypt : seven studies |isbn=978-1-4875-7491-8 |oclc=1102218633}}</ref>{{rp|66–69}}<ref name="Edward. 1973" />{{rp|135}}

A donation stela from Karnak records how king Ahmose purchased the office of ''[[Second Prophet of Amun]]'' and endowed the position with land, goods and administrators. The endowment was given to Ahmose-Nefertari and her descendants, though she was the most prominent God's Wife of Amun. Separately the position of Divine adoratrix was also given to Ahmose-Nefertari.<ref name="Tyldesley">Tyldesley, Joyce. Chronicle of the Queens of Egypt. Thames & Hudson. 2006. {{ISBN|0-500-05145-3}}</ref>  Records from a later era indicate that in this position she would have been responsible for all temple properties, administration of estates, workshops, treasuries and all the associated administration staff.<ref>"''The Great Goddesses of Egypt''", Barbara S. Lesko, p. 246, University of Oklahoma Press, 1999, {{ISBN|0-8061-3202-7}}</ref>

Amenhotep I came to power while he was still young. As his mother, Ahmose-Nefertari may have served as [[regent]] for him until he reached maturity.<ref name="Tyldesley"/><ref name="Shaw">Shaw, Ian. The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt. Oxford University Press. 2000. {{ISBN|0-19-280458-8}}</ref> Because of her position as regent for her son, some speculate that she started the [[Valley of the Kings]].<ref>{{Cite book|title=The search for nefertiti : the true story of an amazing discovery|last=Fletcher, Joann|date=2014|publisher=Morrow|isbn=978-0-06-210636-0|oclc=877888764}}</ref>

Ahmose-Nefertari is shown to be alive during the early years of the reign of [[Thutmose I]]. She is depicted in Nubia next to the [[Viceroy of Kush]] [[Ahmose called Turo]] in the company of the newly crowned king and Queen Ahmose. A vase fragment found in [[KV20]] was inscribed with the double cartouche of king Tuthmose I and Ahmose-Nefertari and the epithet indicates the queen was alive. A large statue of queen Ahmose-Nefertari from Karnak may be one of the last statues created in her honor before she died.<ref name="Bradbury" />

==Death and deification==
{{infobox deity
|type=egyptian
|cult_center=[[Deir el-Medina]]
|offspring=[[Amenhotep I#Funerary cult|Amenhotep I]]
|name=Ahmose-Nefertari
|image=Ahmose-nefertari.svg
|day= II [[Shemu]], 14
}}
Ahmose-Nefertari likely died in approximately the fifth or sixth year of Thutmose I. Her death is recorded on the stela of a wab-priest called Nefer. The text mentions that "the divine consort Ahmose-Nefertari, justified with the great god lord of the West, flew to heaven". Helck proposed that the annual cult holiday (II Shemu 14) dedicated to Ahmose-Nefertari at Deir el-Medina may have commemorated the day of her death. The father of Nefer, who was likely overseer of the royal works [[Ineni]], oversaw her burial.<ref name="Bradbury">Louise Bradbury, Nefer's Inscription: On the Death Date of Queen Ahmose-Nefertary and the Deed Found Pleasing to the King, Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt, Vol. 22 (1985), pp. 73-95</ref> She was likely buried in [[Dra Abu el-Naga]] and had a mortuary temple there. Considering the placement of her coffin in DB320, Ahmose-Nefertari may have instead been the tomb's original occupant prior to its reuse as a cache.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Aston |first=David |date=2013-01-01 |title=TT 320 and the kay of Inhapi |url=https://www.academia.edu/39997435/TT_320_and_the_kay_of_Inhapi |journal=GM 236}}</ref> When Ahmose-Nefertari died, she was deified and became "Mistress of the Sky" and "Lady of the West".<ref name="Tyldesley"/><ref>Tyldesley, Joyce (1996). "''Hatchepsut: The Female Pharaoh"'', p.62, Viking, {{ISBN|0-670-85976-1}}.</ref>

===Mummy===
[[File:Mummy Ahmose-Nefertari Smith.JPG|thumb|Alleged mummy of Ahmose-Nefertari, from DB320]]
Ahmose-Nefertari's mummy is assumed to have been retrieved from her tomb at the end of the New Kingdom and moved to the royal cache in [[DB320]], had she not originally been buried there. Her presumed body, with no identification marks, was discovered in the 19th century and unwrapped in 1885 by [[Émile Brugsch]]. Two mummies were found in a coffin one of which was more carefully wrapped than the other. The former was assumed to be that of Queen Ahmose Nefertari by the museum authorities whilst the other was stored in a damp room which caused the mummy to decompose so much so that it was buried in the garden of the museum. Maspero at later date came to assume that the mummy buried in the garden was that of Ahmose Nefertari.<ref>A History of the Pharaohs, V2, p. 253, Arthur Weigall</ref> {{efn| When Brugsch and [[Gaston Maspero]] first unwrapped and examined the supposed mummy of Ahmose-Nefertari, they ascribed her to the "[[white race]]".  According to Maspero, "the corpse had hardly been exposed to air when it literally began rotting and started oozing [[black]]ish pus of an unbearable stench."<ref>{{cite book |last=Maspero |first=Gaston |date=1889 |title= Les momies royales de Deir el-Bahari |language=fr |location=Paris|page=536 }}</ref>}}  The original ownership of the tomb has been challenged.<ref>The so-called Royal Cachette TT 320 was not the grave of Ahmose Nefertari [http://www.dylanb.me.uk/wp/?page_id=977] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190606140733/http://www.dylanb.me.uk/wp/?page_id=977|date=2019-06-06}}</ref> Ahmose-Nefertari died in her 70s. Similarly to [[Tetisheri]], her grandmother, her hair had been thinning and plaits of false hair had been woven in with her own to cover this up.<ref name="Edward. 1973">{{Cite book |last=Edward. |first=Harris, James |title=X-raying the pharaohs |date=1973 |publisher=Scribner |oclc=602245173}}</ref>{{rp|38}} Her body had been damaged in antiquity and was missing her right hand.<ref name="Tyldesley" />

According to [[Grafton Elliot Smith]]'s description in 1912, the mummy's skin is blackened in the same manner as the majority of other contemporary mummies.  He also associates the strands tied to her own hair with those of [[Nubians|Nubian]] women's hair at the time of his writing.  He adds that the shape of the cranium firmly supports her foreign origin.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Smith|first1=Grafton Elliot|title=Catalogue general des antiquites egyptiennes du Musee du Caire : nos. 61051-61100 |date=2000 |publisher=Duckworth |isbn=0-7156-2959-X |pages=13–14 |oclc=611883032}}</ref>{{rp|13–14}} Several authors highlight the significant prominence of Ahmose-Nefertari's front teeth as revealed in [[Projectional radiography|X-ray]] images, and also characterized as severe maxillary or dental-alveolar [[prognathism]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Bunson |first=Margaret |title=Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt |publisher=Gramercy |year=1999 |isbn=978-0517203804 |pages=17}}</ref>{{rp|17}}<ref name="Edward. 1973"/>{{rp|31}}<ref>{{Cite book |last=E. |first=Harris, James |title=Ed. by James E. Harris and Edward F. Wente. An x-ray atlas of the royal mummies. |date=1980 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |isbn=0-226-31745-5 |oclc=642059788}}</ref>{{rp|331–332, 341}} The same authors bring attention to the presence of the same trait in Ahmose-Nefertari's grandmother [[Tetisheri]], suggesting that it is genetically determined and inherited. Harris and [[Edward F. Wente|Wente]] add that dental-alveolar prognathism is a common trait in both ancient and current Nubians at the time of their writing.  It is stated that Ahmose-Nefertari shares the same pure genealogy as her mother, [[Ahhotep I]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Shaw |first=Ian |title=The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt |publisher=Oxford Paperbacks |year=2002 |isbn=978-0192802934 |pages=229}}</ref>{{rp|229}}

In April 2021 Ahmose-Nefertari's mummy was moved to [[National Museum of Egyptian Civilization]] along with those of 3 other queens and 18 kings in an event termed the [[Pharaohs' Golden Parade]].<ref name=Parisse>{{cite news |last=Parisse |first=Emmanuel  |date=5 April 2021 |title=22 Ancient Pharaohs Have Been Carried Across Cairo in an Epic 'Golden Parade'  |url=https://www.sciencealert.com/22-ancient-pharaohs-have-been-carried-across-cairo-in-an-epic-golden-parade |work=ScienceAlert  |access-date=5 April 2021}}</ref>

===Iconography===
[[File:Ahmose-Nefertari, 18th dynasty, Louvre Museum.jpg|thumb|Ahmose-Nefertari, 18th dynasty, Louvre Museum]]
[[File:Xix dinastia, statuetta in legno della regina ahmose nefertari, forse da deir-el-medina, 1279-1213 ac ca. (museo egizio).jpg|thumb|85px| Statuette of Ahmose Nefertari. From Deir el-Medina]]
[[File:Ahmose-Nefertari 4 depictions from various Tombs.png|thumb|85px|Ahmose-Nefertari 4 depictions from various Tombs ]]

In the Theban region – and especially in the village of [[Deir el-Medina]] – Ahmose-Nefertari is mentioned or depicted in at least 50 private tombs and on a large number of objects which are datable from the reign of [[Thutmose III]] to the end of the [[20th Dynasty]].<ref name="Shaw" /><ref>{{cite book |last=Grimal |first=Nicolas |author-link=Nicolas Grimal |date=1992 |title= A History of Ancient Egypt |location= Oxford |publisher= Blackwell Books|isbn=978-0-631-17472-1}}</ref>{{rp|201–2}}

In the tomb of Tetyky ([[TT15]]), the queen is depicted wearing a brow ornament with two [[uraei]] instead of a double gazelle.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Dils|first=Peter|date=1989|title=Review of Patterns of Queenship in ancient Egyptian Myth and History|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/40000714|journal=Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt|volume=26|pages=242–244|doi=10.2307/40000714|jstor=40000714|issn=0065-9991|url-access=subscription}}</ref><ref name="gitton81" />{{rp|11}}  According to Eaton-Krauss, this is the "earliest occurrence of the double [[uraeus]], which is a standard part of queenly regalia thereafter."<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Eaton-Krauss|first=M.|date=1998|title=Four Notes on the Early Eighteenth Dynasty|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3822217|journal=The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology|volume=84|pages=205–210|doi=10.2307/3822217|jstor=3822217|issn=0307-5133|url-access=subscription}}</ref>

Michel Gitton acknowledges [[N. de Garis Davies|Norman de Garis Davis]]' estimate that Ahmose-Nefertari is depicted with dark complexion ([[Black people|black]]) four times more often than light complexions (red and yellow).<ref name="gitton81">{{cite book|last1=Gitton|first1=Michel|year=1981|title=L'épouse du dieu, Ahmes Néfertary : documents sur sa vie et son culte posthume|edition=2|publisher=Université de Franche-Comté|location=Besançon|isbn=978-2-251-60172-4}}</ref>{{rp|74–5}} He indicates that his own survey suggests a much lower figure although he could not provide a general figure as he could not himself verify the colors on site. He also noted there are other cases in which she is shown with a pink, golden, dark blue, or dark red skin color.<ref name="gitton81" />{{rp|74–5}} As observed by Gardiner, in some instances Ahmose-Nefertari's skin is blue,<ref name="gardiner">{{cite book|last=Gardiner|first=Alan H.|title=Egypt of the Pharaohs: an introduction|publisher=Oxford University press|year=1961|location=Oxford|author-link=Alan Gardiner}}, p.175</ref> a popular color symbolizing fertility, birth, rebirth and life and usually used to depict water and the heavens.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|last=Wilkinson, Richard H.|title=Symbol & magic in Egyptian art|isbn=0-500-23663-1|location=New York, N.Y.|oclc=30536926}}</ref>

In 1981 Gitton called the issue of Ahmose-Nefertari's black color "a serious gap in the Egyptological research, which allows approximations or untruths".<ref name="gitton81" />{{rp|2}} He pointed out that there is no known depiction of her painted during her lifetime (she is represented with the same light skin as other represented individuals in tomb TT15, before her deification); the earliest black skin depiction appears in tomb TT161, circa 150 years after her death.<ref name="gitton81" />{{rp|11–12, 23, 74–5}}<ref name="dh" />{{rp|125}} Barbara Lesko wrote in 1996 that Ahmose-Nefertari was "sometimes portrayed by later generations as having been black, although her coffin portrait gives her the typical light yellow skin of women."<ref>The Remarkable Women of Ancient Egypt, by Barbara S. Lesko; page 14; B.C. Scribe Publications, 1996; {{ISBN|978-0-930548-13-1}}</ref>

Highlighting Ahmose-Nefertari and her son's deification as patrons of Deir el-Medina as well her worship as 'Mistress of the Sky', 'Lady of the West' and goddess of resurrection, [[Joyce Tyldesley]] indicates in 2006 that frequently in this setting she was depicted with black skin which symbolizes "fertility and rebirth rather than decay".<ref name="Tyldesley" />{{rp|90}} Sigrid Hodel-Hoenes states in 2000 that her black skin color can be attributed to her role as deified patron of Deir el-Medina, the color black being a reflection of "fertile earth and of the Netherworld and death"<ref>Hodel-Hoenes, S & Warburton, D (trans), ''Life and Death in Ancient Egypt: Scenes from Private Tombs in New Kingdom Thebes'', Cornell University Press, 2000, p. 268.</ref>{{rp|268}} In 2011, Graciela Gestoso Singer states that her black or blue skin color is "a reference to her position as the mother of Egypt" and indicative of her role as a goddess of resurrection, since black is the color of death, the underworld, rebirth and fertility, as well as the fertile land of Egypt.<ref name="gestoso"/> In 2003, Betsy Bryan wrote in ''The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt'' that "the factors linking Amenhotep I and his mother with the necropolis region, with deified rulers, and with rejuvenation generally was visually transmitted by representations of the pair with black or blue skin – both colours of resurrection."<ref>Betsy Bryan; pg 213; The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt; edited by Ian Shaw; OUP Oxford, 2003; {{ISBN|978-0-19-280458-7}}</ref> In 2004 [[Aidan Dodson]] and Dyan Hilton recognized in a later depiction of the queen, "the black skin of a deity of resurrection" in connection to her role as a patron goddess of the Theban necropolis.<ref name="dh" />{{rp|125}} In 2009 Eleni Vassilika, noting that in a wooden statuette of the queen (now at the [[Museo Egizio]]) the face is painted black but the arms and feet are light in color, argued that the reason for the black coloring in that case was religious and not genetic.<ref>{{cite book |last=Vassilika |first=Eleni |title=I capolavori del Museo Egizio di Torino |date=2009 |publisher=Fondazione Museo delle antichità egizie di Torino |isbn=978-88-8117-950-3 |location=Florence |language=it}}</ref>{{rp|78–9}} In 2014, Margaret Bunson wrote that "the unusual depictions of Ahmose-Nefertari in blue-black tones of deification reflect her status and cult."<ref>Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt; by Margaret Bunson; Pg 17, Infobase Publishing, 2014; {{ISBN|978-1-4381-0997-8}}</ref>  In a wooden votive statue of Ahmose-Nefertari, currently in the Louvre museum, her skin was painted red,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.louvre.fr/en/explore/the-palace/a-royal-setting-for-egyptian-antiquities|title=The deified former queen Ahmose Nefertari, protectress of royal tomb workers|website=www.louvre.fr}}</ref> a color commonly seen symbolizing life or a higher being, or elevated status.<ref name=":0" />

Early 20th century archaeologists made observations on Ahmose-Nefertari's likely phenotype and genealogy, and also on the probable symbolic meaning of her most frequent representation in black or purplish black skin tones.{{efn|In the early 20th century, [[Flinders Petrie]] spoke of "a [[Black people|black]] queen",<ref name="NYPL">{{cite web | url=http://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47d9-590c-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99 | title= (still image) Neues Reich. Theben [Thebes]: Der el Medînet [Dayr al-Madînah Site]: Stuckbild aus Grab 10. [jetzt im K. Museum zu Berlin.], (1849 - 1856)|author=Digital Collections, The New York Public Library |access-date=August 19, 2020 |publisher=The New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox, and Tilden Foundations}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Petrie|first=Flinders|title=A history of Egypt Vol. II The XVIIth and XVIIIth dynasties|year=1896}}</ref>{{rp|9}} Ahmose-Nefertari, who was the "divine ancestress of the [[Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt|XVIIIth dynasty]]". He described her physically as having "an [[aquiline nose]], long and thin, and was of a type not in the least [[prognathous]]". He also stated that "a possibility of the black being symbolic has been suggested".<ref>The Making of Egypt; by William Matthew Flinders Petrie; Sheldon Press; 1939; pg 155</ref>  In 1925, [[N. de Garis Davies|Norman de Garis Davies]] observed that the tone of the queen's depicted skin is not always coal-black, but also "a purplish black, reached by painting black over red". He added that, "it might only indicate a very dark complexion, such as now often occurs in Egypt".<ref name=":3">{{Cite book|last=Davies|first=Norman de Garis|title=The tomb of two sculptors at Thebes|year=1925}}</ref>{{rp|33}} In 1940, [[Alan Rowe (archaeologist)|Alan Rowe]] believed that the queen's black skin tone on some depictions could be traced to African ancestry.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Rowe|first=Alan|date=1940|title=Newly-Identified Monuments in the Egyptian Museum Showing the Deification of the Dead together with Brief Details of Similar Objects elsewhere|journal=Annales du service des antiquités de l'Égypte|volume=40|pages=39}}</ref>{{rp|39}}  Supposing the queen to be Kamose's daughter, [[Alan Gardiner]] wrote in 1961 of the paintings of Ahmose-Nefertari that she was "depicted for some unaccountable reason with a black countenance, but also sometimes with a blue one; if she was a daughter of Kamose she will have had no black blood in her veins."<ref name="gardiner" /> The prevailing view is in fact that Ahmose-Nefertari is the daughter of Seqenenre Tao<ref name="dh" /> who has been described as presenting "tightly curled, woolly hair", with "a slight build and strongly Nubian features"<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Yurco|first=Frank J.|date=1989|title=Were the ancient Egyptians black or white?|url=http://cojs.org/were_the_ancient_egyptians_black_or_white-_frank_j-_yurco-_bar_15-05-_sep-oct_1989/|journal=Biblical Archaeology Review|volume=15|pages=24–29}}</ref> including untreated dark brown skin,<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Smith|first1=Grafton Elliot|title=Catalogue general des antiquites egyptiennes du Musee du Caire : nos. 61051-61100 |date=2000 |publisher=Duckworth |isbn=0-7156-2959-X |pages=1 |oclc=611883032}}</ref>{{rp|1}} and as more similar to his wife, his descendants and their wives than to later rulers.<ref name="Edward. 1973"/>{{rp|122, 126, 128}} }} In 1974, [[Cheikh Anta Diop]] described her as "typically negroid."<ref name="Mokhtar 1990 1–118">{{cite book|last=Mokhtar|first=G.|title=General History of Africa II: ''Ancient Civilizations of Africa''|year=1990|publisher=University of California Press|location=Berkeley, CA|isbn=978-0-520-06697-7|pages=1–118}}</ref>{{rp|17}} In the controversial book ''[[Black Athena]]'', [[Martin Bernal]] intimated that members of the royal family to which Ahmose-Nefertari belonged may have originated from [[Nubia]], and, according to him, [[Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt|18th dynasty]] pharaohs could generally be referred to as black.{{efn|Bernal stated that: "many of the most powerful Egyptian dynasties which were based in Upper Egypt - the [[Eleventh Dynasty of Egypt|11th]], [[Twelfth Dynasty of Egypt|12th]], [[Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt|18th]] - were made up of pharaohs whom one can usefully call black." In the same work, he added that, "It is generally, and reasonably, agreed today that if the members of the royal family of the [[Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt|18th Dynasty]] were foreign, they were [[Nubia]]n." According to him, "from their portraits they would seem to have been Blacks."<ref name=":1">[[Martin Bernal]] (1987), ''Black Athena: Afroasiatic Roots of Classical Civilization. The Fabrication of Ancient Greece, 1785-1985, vol. I''. New Jersey, Rutgers University Press</ref>{{rp|384}} }}  Bernal's work has been embraced by Afrocentrists, but rejected by mainstream Egyptologists.{{efn|Citing [[Mary Lefkowitz]]'s controversial work,<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Conyers |first=James L. |date=1996 |title=Book Reviews : Not Out of Africa: How Afrocentrism Became an Excuse to Teach Myth as History, by Mary Lefkowitz. New York: A New Republic of Books, 1996 |journal=Journal of Black Studies |volume=27 |pages=130–131|doi=10.1177/002193479602700110 |s2cid=144731242 }}</ref>{{rp|130}} historian Christina Riggs states that  "Black Athena was embraced by Afrocentrists and postcolonial studies even as archaeology, Egyptology and classical scholarship rejected much of Bernal's evidence and, implicitly or explicitly, his central thesis."  She adds that the "dichotomy mirrors the separate spheres these subjects occupy in professional life, since Afrocentrism and mainstream Egyptology rarely meet"<ref>{{Cite book |first=Christina |last=Riggs |title=Unwrapping ancient Egypt |date=5 June 2014 |isbn=978-0-85785-507-7 |pages=130 |publisher=Bloomsbury Academic |oclc=900413753}}</ref>{{rp|130}} The work and Afrocentrism broadly is discussed in the Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt. Edmund S. Meltzer states that "Afrocentrist claims have recently received a detailed and sympathetic discussion by Martin Bernal in his controversial work Black Athena, and in the late 1980s and 1990s Afrocentric issues are being addressed by mainstream Egyptologists".<ref>{{cite book|last1=Meltzer|first1=Edmund|chapter=Egyptology|title=Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt|pages=448–458|year=2001|publisher=Oxford Press|location=Oxford|isbn=978-0-19-510234-5|volume=1}}</ref> Rene van Wanselm states that "Afrocentrism is one of the most influential but disputable off-shoots on the burgeoning tree of pseudo-Egyptology, and the most recent and manipulative in this respect in Martin Bernal's Black-Athena thesis, which claims that Greece was twice "colonized" from Egypt and that, consequently, the Greek civilization originates from "black" Egyptians".<ref>{{cite book|last1=van Wanselm|first1=Rene|chapter=Interpretation of Evidence|title=Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt|pages=175–178|year=2001|publisher=Oxford Press|location=Oxford|isbn=978-0-19-510234-5|volume=2}}</ref>  Lefkowitz and Rogers wrote that, as a consequence of his lack of scholarly method, "Bernal's work has been almost universally rejected by Egyptologists, archaeologists, linguists, historians, and other scholars best acquainted with the material evidence. Most regard it as beyond the boundaries of legitimate scientific inquiry."<ref>''Black Athena Revisited'', edited by [[Mary R. Lefkowitz]] & Guy MacLean Rogers; pg 292; UNC Press Books, 2014; {{ISBN|978-1-4696-2032-9}}</ref>{{rp|292}} Their work has been characterized as favoring speculation over eye witness accounts<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Keita |first=Maghan |date=2000 |title=The Politics of Criticism: Not Out of Africa and Black Athena Revisited |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1353/jwh.2000.0043 |journal=Journal of World History |volume=11 |issue=2 |pages=340 |doi=10.1353/jwh.2000.0043 |s2cid=154649525 |issn=1527-8050|url-access=subscription }}</ref>{{rp|340}} and Lefkowitz's scholarship in particular as ethnocentric, pedestrian and as representing a singular view.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Gerhart |first1=Gail M. |last2=Howe |first2=Stephen |date=1999 |title=Afrocentrism: Mythical Pasts and Imagined Homes |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/20049430 |journal=Foreign Affairs |volume=78 |issue=4 |pages=149 |doi=10.2307/20049430 |jstor=20049430 |issn=0015-7120|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Conyers |first=James L. |date=1996 |title=Book Reviews : Not Out of Africa: How Afrocentrism Became an Excuse to Teach Myth as History, by Mary Lefkowitz. New York: A New Republic of Books, 1996 |journal=Journal of Black Studies |volume=27 |pages=130–131|doi=10.1177/002193479602700110 |s2cid=144731242 }}</ref>{{rp|130–131}} Lefkowitz work is discussed in the OEAE by Ann Macy Roth where she described the work as "an uneven but cumulatively devastating collection of critiques of Bernal's arguments".<ref>{{cite book|last1=Roth|first1=Ann Macy|chapter=Afrocentrism|title=Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt|pages=29–32|year=2001|publisher=Oxford Press|location=Oxford|isbn=978-0-19-510234-5|volume=1}}</ref>}}

==References==
===Notes===
{{notelist}}

===Citations===
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{commons category-inline}}
*[http://ib205.tripod.com/ahmose_nefertari.html Ahmose Nefertari] Image of her coffin and short bio.
*[http://members.tripod.com/anubis4_2000/mummypages1/Early18.htm#Ahmose-Nofretari Mummy of Ahmose-Nefertari] by Max Miller.
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20070307081552/http://www.philae.nu/akhet/Queens.html "Women in ancient Egypt"]
*[http://www.guide2womenleaders.com/womeninpower/Womeninpower000.htm "Women in Power BCE 4500-1000"]
*[http://www.civilization.ca/civil/egypt/egcgov4e.html "Royal Women"]
*[http://libmma.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/compoundobject/collection/p15324coll10/id/82622/rec/1 Hatshepsut: from Queen to Pharaoh], an exhibition catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art (fully available online as PDF), which contains material on Ahmose-Nefertari (see index)
{{Queens of Ancient Egypt}}
{{Ancient Egyptian religion footer}}
{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ahmose-Nefertari}}
[[Category:16th-century BC Egyptian people]]
[[Category:16th-century BC Egyptian women]]
[[Category:Ancient women regents]]
[[Category:Queens consort of the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt]]
[[Category:Wives of Ahmose I]]
[[Category:Deified female monarchs]]
[[Category:Deified ancient Egyptian people]]
[[Category:Ancient Egyptian race controversy]]
[[Category:Regents of Egypt]]
[[Category:People from Thebes, Egypt]]
[[Category:16th-century BC regents]]
[[Category:Female regents in Africa]]