About this item
- An ancient Egyptian Tarot themed deck with a difference - Nefertari's Tarot has a background of goil foil to the themed
- illustrations on the cards. This deck is stunning, and the actual cards look even better than the digital images.
Specifications
Name
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Nefertari's Tarot
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Creators
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Silvana Alasia
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Publisher
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Lo Scarabeo 2000
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Deck Type
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Tarot Deck
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Cards
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78
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Major Arcana
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22
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Minor Arcana
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56
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Deck Tradition
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Ancient Egyptian
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Card Size
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2.60 x 4.72 in. = 6.60cm x 12.00cm
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Card Language
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English, French, German, Italian, Spanish
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Card Back
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Unknown
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Companion Material
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Little white booklet in English.
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Reviews
Nefertari, according to the booklet, was known as the bride of Ramses II, Pharaoh of the XIX dynasty in ancient Egypt. The tarot deck named for her is, of course, Egyptian in art and symbology. It is a 78 card deck, and has scenes on all cards, not only the major arcana.
This deck is also the luxury version of the Tarot of the Sphinx. Both decks by Silvana Alasia have the same ancient-looking artwork, but differ in base colours. The Sphinx deck uses blue borders and a white scene background; Nefertari's has black borders and gold foil instead.
The effect of all the textured gold foil is very visually sumptuous. The aged-look Egyptian people and scenery evoke the mystery and luxury of life in the height of civilised Egypt. You need to see the cards in person to truly understand their lustre, as digitally scanned images do not catch the light in the same way and the cards look much duller.
The cards themselves are rectangular, with slightly rough edges. I found it more difficult to shuffle with the deck, which I think it is due to the gold foil, but it isn't a huge problem. All cards are printed with the number of the card centrally placed at the top of the card, and the suit or title printed in four languages around it; English, German, French and Spanish and the Italian title at the bottom. The backs of the cards are black, with the eye of horus repeatedly printed; half facing one way, half facing the other so the cards are reversible.
The little white booklet that is packed with Nefertari's Tarot cards is thin, the card meanings are specific, brief, and very blunt. (King of Wands: 'Friendly man; honest and scrupulous country gentleman. Honesty, news of an unexpect inheritance.' Four of Swords: 'Vigilance, retirement, loneliness, the lonely retreat, exile; grave and coffin.'). Newcomers to tarot may want a thicker book of potential meanings and explanations, but more experienced tarot users should be able to work with the art and refer back to the booklet only occasionally.
Noone's tarot collection is complete without a copy of Nefertari's Tarot. It is excellent for Egyptologists, but even if you aren't a fan of ancient Egypt you have to admit the cards are stunning.
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