A rare scene from the tomb of Queen Nefertari in the Valley of the Queens
The scene from the book “Prayers of Ra” is one of the rarest scenes that mixed Osiris and Ra into one entity, “Ra – Osiris”.
The scene shows Osiris in his usual classical form as a mummified body, topped by a ram’s head, topped by a sun disk, which symbolises “Ba-Ra”, meaning (the spirit of Ra).
The text accompanying this scene says: “He is Ra who lives in Osiris… He is Osiris who dwells in Ra.”
He also says: “It is a mysterious secret that is difficult to understand… It is Ra… It is Osiris.”
This scene symbolizes the human being, that being imprisoned in a mortal body of flesh and blood (symbolized by the mummy wraps), that person who suffers from the disease, pain and death, while carrying within him the seed of the divine light “Ra” that grants him immortality.
In this context, the ancient Egyptian artist adapted the above-mentioned typical scene and represented Isis and Nephthys surrounding the image of “Osiris – Ra” as a composite figure from the body of a mummy evoking Osiris, and the head of a ram with a solar disk representing (Ra), and the mummy of “Osiris – Ra” could not cross Isis and Nephthys, as the first mourners in the world mourning for Osiris.. the full resurrection of this god depends on them and is not complete except in their presence, so they were solar and Osiris.
Without text on the scene says
First column from the left: Osirhotep im Ra (Osiris is satisfied with Ra)
Second column: Ra Buhotep im Osiris (Ra at peace with Osiris)
The third column on the right behind Isis: Sa ankh geded vas sen neb ha s (Wish her life, stability, prosperity and health) – here the wish belongs to the soul of Nefertari, the owner of the tomb