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Amenhotep III and his Mother, Mutemwia, in a Kiosk by Nina M. Davies

Nina M. Davies · 1390-01-01

This is not a 3,400-year-old Egyptian painting. It is a 1939 copy by Nina M. Davies, made with egg tempera on paper, and it is now the only complete color record of a tomb wall that has since disintegrated.

Look at the kiosk ceiling. Those alternating red, blue, black, and white bands are not decorative guesswork. Nina traced them one by one from a crumbling Theban tomb, matching the 18th-Dynasty palette with a fidelity that makes this a primary source for Egyptologists today. The hieroglyphic cartouches above the figures are not just labels, they are protective spells and legal declarations of Amenhotep III's cosmic role, preserved because she copied them exactly.

In 1939, as war loomed, Norman de Garis Davies remained in Egypt while his wife Nina sailed for England, carrying a rolled cargo of full-scale tomb facsimiles. The paintings recorded by the Davieses had already survived millennia; now they faced looters, bombs, and neglect. Many originals perished. Nina's copies became the record.

The queen mother Mutemwia faces her son. Her blue sheath dress is made of Egyptian blue, the world's first synthetic pigment. Amenhotep wears the tall khepresh crown with its uraeus cobra, a mark of solar divinity Nina rendered with absolute clarity. A copy, yes. But one that now outranks the ruin it recorded.

Details

Norman stayed in Egypt. Nina was sent to London alone.
Norman stayed in Egypt. Nina was sent to London alone.
She carried a priceless cargo with her.
She carried a priceless cargo with her.
A full-scale copy of a 3,400-year-old tomb wall.
A full-scale copy of a 3,400-year-old tomb wall.
The original was already crumbling. Nina had traced every band of color.
The original was already crumbling. Nina had traced every band of color.
Her cargo reached the British Museum. The original wall did not survive.
Her cargo reached the British Museum. The original wall did not survive.
Transcript

In 1939, war split the Egyptologists in two. Norman stayed in Egypt. Nina was sent to London alone. She carried a priceless cargo with her. A full-scale copy of a 3,400-year-old tomb wall. The original was already crumbling. Nina had traced every band of color. Her cargo reached the British Museum. The original wall did not survive. A mother securing her son's claim to the throne. Saved by a woman who knew exactly what mattered.