Amenhotep III and Queen Tiye Enthroned Beneath a Kiosk, Tomb of Anen by Nina M. Davies

This is a copy, but it is now the only record that exists.

Nina M. Davies painted this meticulous rendering of Pharaoh Amenhotep III and Queen Tiye in the early twentieth century. It records a wall painting from the Tomb of Anen, an 18th Dynasty site. At first glance it reads as a perfect ancient work. The royal couple sits beneath a decorated kiosk, the pharaoh in an elaborate crown, Queen Tiye beside him at nearly equal scale. Hieroglyphic cartouches name them across the upper field.

Davies and her husband, Norman de Garis Davies, spent decades in Egypt copying tomb paintings. They worked in an era when many sites were crumbling from exposure, salt damage, and early excavation methods. The originals were disappearing. Their copies, done in precise line and color, were acts of preservation. The painted tomb this scene came from has since been badly damaged. In some cases, the Davies copy is all that remains.

What you are looking at is a record that outlived its source. The fragile wall in the Tomb of Anen is gone, but this painting, made by a careful hand with watercolor and patience, keeps a pharaoh and his queen intact.

When does a copy become the real thing.