Thuya: The powerful grandmother behind Akhenaten and Tutankhamun – the secret of ancient Egyptian royalty that left the world breathless.

Thuya is believed to be a descendant of Queen Ahmose-Nefertari and played many official roles in the intertwined religion and government of ancient Egypt. She was involved in many religious cults; her titles included ‘Singer of Hathor’ and ‘Head of Animation’ for both Amun and Min. [4] He also held the influential positions of Superintendent of the Harem of the god Min for Akhmin and for Amun of Thebes. She married Yuya, a powerful ancient Egyptian courtier of the 18th Dynasty. He is believed to have died around 1375 BC. C., when he was between 50 and 50 years old.

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 and served alongside the pharaoh in official ceremonies and rituals.

Yuya and Thuya also had a son named Anen, who bore the titles of Chancellor of Lower Egypt, Second Prophet of Amun, Little Priest of Heliopolis, and Divine Father.

They could also have been Ay’s parents,[7] 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 Yuya and Ay’s ancestry, although both men certainly come from Akhmim.[8]

Thuya was buried in tomb KV46 in the Valley of the Kings, along with her husband Yuya, where her burial was found virtually intact in 1905. It was the best preserved tomb discovered in the Valley before that of Tutankhamun, Thuya’s great-grandson. [9] The tomb was discovered by a team of workers led by archaeologist James Quibell on behalf of American millionaire Theodore M. Davis. Although the tomb had been looted in ancient times, much of its contents were still present, including beds, boxes, chests, a chariot, and the sarcophagi, coffins, and mummies of the two occupants.

Thuya’s large gilded and black-painted wooden sarcophagus was placed against the south wall of the tomb. It is rectangular, with a lid shaped like the sloping roof of the Upper Egyptian per-wer sanctuary, and sits on ornamental skates, the lack of functionality of which is underlined by the three tablets placed beneath them.[10] The ancient thieves had partially dismantled it to access their coffins and mummy, placing its lid and one long side on a bed on the other side of the tomb; the other long side was leaning against the south wall. Its outer golden anthropoid coffin had been removed, its lid placed on top of the beds and the trough placed in the far corner of the tomb; The lid of his second coffin (the innermost one), also gilded, had been removed and placed to one side, although the trough and his mummy remained inside the sarcophagus. Quibell suggests that this is because the thieves had some difficulty removing the lid of this coffin.[2]

Thuya’s mummified body was found covered with a large linen sheet, knotted at the back and secured with four bandages. These bands were covered with resin and in front of each band were their golden titles cut from gold sheets. The layer of resin on the lower layers of the bandages preserved the impression of a large, wide neck.[11] The mummy bands that once covered his wrapped mummy were retrieved from atop the storage jars across the room.

The first examination of his body was performed by Australian anatomist Grafton Elliot Smith. He discovered that she was an older, short woman, 1,495 meters (4.90 feet) tall, with white hair. Both of her earlobes were pierced twice. Your arms are straight at your sides with your hands against the outside of your thighs. Its embalming incision is sewn with thread, to which a carnelian barrel bead is attached at the lower end; its body cavity is filled with resin-soaked linen.

When Douglas Derry (who later performed the first examination of Tutankhamun’s mummy), assisting Smith in his examination, exposed Thuya’s feet to obtain an accurate measurement of his height, he discovered that he was wearing golden sandals. Smith estimated his age at over 50 based solely on his outward appearance. CT scans have estimated his age at the time of death to be 50 to 60 years old. His brain was removed, although no embalming material was inserted and both nostrils were stuffed with linen. Embalming packets had been placed in his eye sockets and subcutaneous filler had been placed in his mid- and lower face to restore a realistic appearance;[12] Embalming material had also been placed in his mouth and throat. His teeth were in poor condition at the time of his death and he was missing molars.[13] Previous x-rays had shown severe wear and abscesses.[14] Scans revealed he had mild scoliosis with a Cobb angle of 25 degrees. No cause of death could be determined.[13] His mummy bears the inventory number CG 51191.[15]