Statue of Thutmose IV and his mother Tiaa

In this seated statue of King Thutmose IV, he and his mother Tiaa are embracing each other. His mother was a secondary wife of his father Amenhotep II. Hieroglyphs on both sides of the chair give the names and titles for King Thutmose IV and his mother Tiaa. She was “the Great Royal Wife and Mother of the King.”

These titles were reserved for the first lady. Thutmose IV elevated his mother to be the Great Royal Wife after he became king.

“Tiaa is the only known wife of Amenhotep II, and her name is known to us only because she was the mother of the next king, Thutmose IV. She received the title of Great Royal Wife during her son’s reign; in her husband’s lifetime it was borne only by Amenhotep’s mother Merytre-Hatshepsut.”

Tiaa is not depicted on any monuments built by her husband, only on those which were completed by her son. During the reign of Thutmose IV she rose to more prominence; along with the title of Great Royal Wife she also received the titles King’s Mother and God’s Wife. On many statues she and Thutmose’s first chief wife Nefertari accompany the king.”

— The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt, by Ian Shaw (#aff)

New Kingdom, 18th Dynasty, reign of Thutmose IV, ca. 1401-1391 BC. Black granite, from Karnak. Now in the Egyptian Museum, Cairo. JE 36336