View source for Thuya

{{Short description|Ancient Egyptian noblewoman of the Eighteenth Dynasty}}
{{for multi|the genus of coniferous trees|Thuja|the decorative burled wood from the western Mediterranean region|Tetraclinis}}
{{Infobox person
| name                      = Thuya
| image                     = Egyptian Museum (337).jpg
| image_size                = 180px
| alt                       = Thuya's mask
| caption                   = Gilded cartonnage mask of Thuya in the [[Egyptian Museum]], [[Cairo]]
| birth_name                = 
| birth_date                = <!-- {{birth date|YYYY|MM|DD}} -->
| birth_place               = 
| death_date                = <!-- {{Death date and age|YYYY|MM|DD|YYYY|MM|DD}} (death date then birth) -->
| resting_place             = 
| resting_place_coordinates = <!-- {{coord|LAT|LONG|display=inline,title}} -->
| other_names              = Thuyu, Tjuyu
| occupation                = 
| years_active              = 
| spouse                    = [[Yuya]]
| children                  = [[Tiye]] and [[Anen]], possibly [[Ay (pharaoh)|Ay]] 
| parents                   = 
| relations                 = [[Akhenaten]] (grandson) 
}}

{{Hiero|Thuya|<hiero>V13-w-i-w</hiero>|align=right|era=egypt}}

'''Thuya''' (sometimes transliterated as '''Touiyou''',<ref name="Davis 1907">{{cite book |last1=Davis |first1=Theodore M. |last2=Maspero |first2=G.|last3=Newberry |first3=Percy E. |title=The Tomb of Iouiya and Touiyou |date=1907 |publisher=Archibald Constable and Co. |location=London |isbn=0-7156-2963-8 |url=https://archive.org/details/tombofiouiyatou00davi/page/n5/mode/2up |pages=XXV-XXX}}</ref> '''Thuiu''',<ref name="Quibell 1908">{{cite book |last1=Quibell |first1=J. E. |last2=Smith |first2=Grafton Elliot |title=Tomb of Yuaa and Thuiu |date=1908 |publisher=Le Caire Impremerie De L'Institut Francais D'Archeologie Orientale |url=https://archive.org/details/tombofyuaathuiu00quib|pages=I-VII}}</ref> '''Tuya''',<ref name="Rice who's who">{{cite book |last1=Rice |first1=Michael |title=Who's Who In Ancient Egypt By Michael Rice By Samy Salah |date=1999 |publisher=Routledge |location=London |page=223 |edition=2004 |url=https://archive.org/details/WhosWhoInAncientEgyptByMichaelRiceBySamySalah |access-date=28 February 2022 |language=English}}</ref> '''Tjuyu''' or '''Thuyu''') was an Egyptian noblewoman and the mother of queen [[Tiye]], and the wife of [[Yuya]]. She is the grandmother of [[Akhenaten]], and great grandmother of [[Tutankhamun]].

== Biography ==
Thuya is believed to be a descendant of Queen [[Ahmose-Nefertari]], and she held many official roles in the interwoven religion and government of [[ancient Egypt]]. She was involved in many religious cults; her titles included 'Singer of [[Hathor]]' and 'Chief of the Entertainers' of both [[Amun]] and [[Min (god)|Min]].<ref>Tyldesley, Joyce.  ''Chronicles of the Queens of Egypt''. Thames & Hudson, 2006. p.116</ref> She also held the influential offices of ''Superintendent of the [[Harem]]'' of the god [[Min (god)|Min]] of [[Akhmin]] and of Amun of [[Thebes, Egypt|Thebes]].<ref>Cyril Aldred: Akhenaten, King of Egypt Thames and Hudson, 1989. p.96</ref>  She married [[Yuya]], a powerful [[ancient Egyptian]] courtier of the [[Eighteenth dynasty of Egypt|Eighteenth Dynasty]].  She is believed to have died in around 1375 BC in her early to mid 50s.

== Children ==
Yuya and Thuya had a daughter named [[Tiye]], who became the [[Great Royal Wife]] of Pharaoh [[Amenhotep III]]. The great royal wife was the highest Egyptian religious position, serving alongside of the pharaoh in official ceremonies and rituals.

Yuya and Thuya also had a son named [[Anen]], who carried the titles Chancellor of Lower Egypt, Second Prophet of Amun, sm-priest of Heliopolis and Divine Father.<ref>Rice, Michael (1999). Who's Who in Ancient Egypt. Routledge, p.20</ref>

They also may have been the parents of [[Ay (pharaoh)|Ay]],<ref>Rice, p.222</ref> an Egyptian courtier active during the reign of pharaoh [[Akhenaten]] who became pharaoh after the death of Tutankhamun. However, there is no conclusive evidence regarding the kinship of Yuya and Ay, although certainly, both men came from [[Akhmim]].<ref>David, Anthony, E. and Rosalie David. A Biographical Dictionary of Ancient Egypt. London: Seaby, 1992. p.167</ref>

== Tomb ==
{{Main|Tomb of Yuya and Thuya}}
[[File:Jewellry Box from Yuya and Thuya’s tomb.jpg|thumb|left|210px|A jewellry box from Yuya and Thuya's tomb]]
[[File:Mummy of Tjuyu.jpg|thumb|The mummy of Thuya]]
[[File:Egyptian Museum, Coffin of Thuya from the Tomb of Yuya and Thuya.jpg|thumb|The Second Coffin of Thuya in the [[Egyptian Museum]].]]
Thuya was interred in tomb KV46 in the [[Valley of the Kings]], together with her husband Yuya, where their largely intact burial was found in 1905. It was the best-preserved tomb discovered in the Valley before that of [[Tutankhamun]], Thuya's great-grandson.<ref name="reeves wilkinson 174 178">{{cite book |last1=Reeves |first1=Nicholas |last2=Wilkinson |first2=Richard H. |title=The Complete Valley of the Kings: Tombs and Treasures of Egypt's Greatest Pharaohs |date=2010 |publisher=Thames & Hudson |location=London |isbn=978-0-500-28403-2 |pages=174–178 |edition=Paperback reprint}}</ref> The tomb was discovered by a team of workmen led by archaeologist [[James Quibell]] on behalf of the American millionaire [[Theodore M. Davis]].<ref name="Davis 1907"/><ref name="Quibell 1908"/> Though the tomb had been robbed in antiquity--and all the jewels in the jewellry boxes being stolen--much of its contents were still present, including beds, boxes, chests, a chariot, and the sarcophagi, coffins, and mummies of the two occupants.<ref name="Quibell 1908"/>

Thuya's large gilded and black-painted wooden sarcophagus was placed against the south wall of the tomb.<ref name="Quibell 1908"/> It is rectangular, with a lid shaped like the sloping roof of the ''per-wer'' shrine of Upper Egypt, and sits on ornamental sledge runners, their non-functionality underscored by the three battens attached below them.<ref name="Ikram Dodson mummy">{{cite book |last1=Ikram |first1=Salima |last2=Dodson |first2=Aidan |title=The Mummy in Ancient Egypt: Equipping the Dead for Eternity |date=1998 |publisher=Thames and Hudson |location=London |isbn=0-500-05088-0 |page=259 |edition=Hardcover}}</ref> Ancient robbers had partially dismantled it to access her coffins and mummy, placing its lid and one long side on a bed on the other side of the tomb; the other long side had been leaned against the south wall. Her outer gilded anthropoid coffin had been removed, its lid placed atop the beds, and the trough put into the far corner of the tomb; the lid of her second (innermost) coffin, also gilded, had been removed and placed to one side although the trough and her mummy remained inside the sarcophagus. Quibell suggests this is due to the robbers having some difficulty in removing the lid of this coffin.<ref name="Quibell 1908"/>

===Mummy===
Thuya's mummified body was found covered with a large sheet of linen, knotted at the back and secured by four bandages. These bands were covered with resin and opposite each band were her gilded titles cut from gold foil. The resin coating on the lower layers of bandages preserved the impression of a large [[usekh collar|broad collar]].<ref name="Quibell 1908 Smith">{{cite book |last1=Quibell |first1=J. E. |last2=Smith |first2=Grafton Elliot |title=Tomb of Yuaa and Thuiu |date=1908 |publisher=Le Caire Impremerie De L'Institut Francais D'Archeologie Orientale |url=https://archive.org/details/tombofyuaathuiu00quib|pages=68–73}}</ref> The mummy bands that had once covered her wrapped mummy were recovered above the storage jars on the far side of the room.<ref name="Quibell 1908"/>

The first examination of her body was conducted by Australian anatomist [[Grafton Elliot Smith]]. He found her to be an elderly woman of small stature, {{convert|1.495|m|ft}} in height, with white hair. Both of her earlobes had two piercings. Her arms are straight at her sides with her hands against the outside of her thighs. Her embalming incision is stitched with thread, to which a [[carnelian]] barrel bead is attached at the lower end; her body cavity is stuffed with resin-soaked linen. When Douglas Derry, (who later conducted the first examination of Tutankhamun's mummy) assisting Smith in his examination, exposed Thuya's feet to get an accurate measurement of her height, he found her to be wearing gold foil sandals. Smith estimated her age at more than 50 years based on her outward appearance alone.<ref name="Quibell 1908 Smith"/> CT scanning has estimated her age at death to be 50–60 years old. Her brain was removed, though no embalming material was inserted, and both nostrils were stuffed with linen. Embalming packs had been placed into her eye sockets, and subcutaneous filling had been placed into her mid and lower face to restore a lifelike appearance;<ref name="saleem hawass packing">{{cite journal |last1=Saleem |first1=Sahar N. |last2=Hawass |first2=Zahi |title=Subcutaneous Packing in Royal Egyptian Mummies Dated From 18th to 20th Dynasties |journal=Journal of Computer Assisted Tomography |date=February 2015 |volume=39 |issue=3 |pages=301–306 |doi=10.1097/RCT.0000000000000205|pmid=25695867 |s2cid=26076919 }}</ref> embalming material had also been placed into her mouth and throat. Her teeth were in poor condition at the time of her death, with missing molars.<ref name="Hawass Saleem Tjuyu">{{cite book |last1=Hawass |first1=Zahi |last2=Saleem |first2=Sahar N. |title=Scanning the Pharaohs: CT Imaging of the New Kingdom Royal Mummies |date=2016 |publisher=The American University in Cairo Press |location=Cairo |isbn=978-977-416-673-0 |pages=71–74}}</ref> Heavy wear and abscesses had been noted in earlier x-rays.<ref name="Harris Weeks">{{cite book |last1=Harris |first1=James E. |last2=Weeks |first2=Kent R. |title=X-Raying the Pharaohs |date=1973 |publisher=Macdonald and Company (Publishers) Ltd. |location=London |pages=141–142}}</ref> The scan revealed that she had mild [[scoliosis]] with a [[Cobb angle]] of 25 degrees. No cause of death could be determined.<ref name="Hawass Saleem Tjuyu"/> Her mummy has the inventory number CG 51191.<ref name=Habicht>{{cite journal |last1=Habicht |first1=M.E|last2=Bouwman |first2=A.S|last3=Rühli |first3=F.J |date=25 January 2016 |title=Identifications of ancient Egyptian royal mummies from the 18th Dynasty reconsidered |journal=Yearbook of Physical Anthropology |volume=159 |issue=S61 |pages=216–231 |doi=10.1002/ajpa.22909 |pmid=26808107|doi-access=free }}</ref>

==Archaeological items pertaining to Thuya==
<gallery>
File:Thuya.jpg|Statue of Thuya, now in the [[Louvre]]
File:Outer Coffin of Thuya 2023.jpg|The large outer coffin of Thuya in the [[Egyptian Museum]]
</gallery>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://www.thebanmappingproject.com/sites/browse_tomb_860.html KV 46 (Yuya and Thuyu) - Theban Mapping Project] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080927041306/http://www.thebanmappingproject.com/sites/browse_tomb_860.html |date=2008-09-27 }}
* [http://anubis4_2000.tripod.com/mummypages1/18B.htm The Theban Royal Mummy Project - View 18th Dynasty Mummies from the Theban Royal Necropolis]

[[Category:15th-century BC births]]
[[Category:14th-century BC deaths]]
[[Category:15th-century BC Egyptian women]]
[[Category:14th-century BC Egyptian women]]
[[Category:Officials of the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt]]
[[Category:14th-century BC Egyptian people]]
[[Category:Ancient Egyptian mummies]]
[[Category:Egyptian Museum]]
[[Category:Ancient Egyptian priestesses]]