The Mummy of Thuya

Yuya and Thuya are the parents of Queen Tiye, the beloved Great Royal Wife of king Amenhotep III. The pair were buried at the famous Valley of the Kings, within their tomb known as KV46, which was discovered in February of 1905 by by the British Egyptologist James E. Quibell, during excavations funded by the American millionaire Theodore M. Davis.

Yuya and Thuya came from Akhmim, a city in the modern Sohag Governorate of Upper Egypt. To the Ancient Egyptians it was known as Ipu, and the capital of the Ninth Nome of Upper Egypt. The couple were not of royal status, but were of noble origins. However, there are some Egyptologists who propose the idea that Thuya was a descendant of Queen Ahmose-Nefertari.

The couple had at least two children that we are aware of today, most notably Tiye, the Great Royal Wife of Amenhotep III, and a man called Anen, who held the title of “Chancellor of Lower Egypt”, as well as priestly titles such as; “Second Prophet of Amun”, and “Sem-Priest of Heliopolis”.

It is also proposed that King Ay may have been a son of Yuya and Thuya.

Thuya held many titles, mostly associated with the various religious cults she was involved in, she was adorned with titles such as, “Chief of the Entertainers” of both Min and Amun, and “Singer of Hathor”. This suggests she may have been a priestess, and certainly tells us she was a singer in the temples.

Thuya also held the title of “Superintendent of the Harem of the god Min of Akhmim, and Amun of Thebes“.

The Mummy of Thuya


The well-preserved mummy of Thuya shows a woman of around 50–60 years of age. She measures at 145cm tall (4ft 9.1). Thuya’s body was discovered laying serenely within her coffin, with a large linen shroud knotted at the back and secured by four bandages, leaving her feet and face exposed. Douglas Derry, accompanying anatomist Grafton Elliot Smith whilst examining the body of Thuya, discovered she was wearing gold foil sandals upon her feet. Thuya’s arms lay alongside her body with her hands flat. Her ears are double pierced. Her mummy has the inventory number CG 51191.

C.T. scanning of Thuya’s mummy show a smooth lateral curve of the spine, with its convexity to the left (thoracolumbar scoliosis), with a Cobb angle of 25 degrees.

Thuya is missing various teeth, with the right premolar and left first molar missing. Thuya also has a damaged, half broken second molar tooth on the left. The damage to Thuya’s teeth was more than likely pre-mortem, meaning it happened during her lifetime. There are multiple Egyptian mummies who tend to have abscesses and dental issues, including Ramesses II, also known as “Ramesses the Great”.

The damage to Thuya’s teeth and scoliosis, would fit with the estimated age range of her body at death. However, the C.T. scans did not reveal a possible cause of death for Thuya.

C.T. scans of Thuya revealed an “empty skull cavity”, as removal of the brain was common practice during the mummification process, thus no remnants of brain tissue remain. What was visible during the scan of Thuya’s head was the pieces of balled linen placed within the orbital sockets of Thuya’s eyes, to give her a realistic gaze and hide the “sunken eyes” of death.

The usual left “inguinal incision” (lowder abdomen, near to the groin), as seen upon other mummies, can also be seen on Thuya’s body. A resin soaked pack was placed by the embalmers within the incision which gapes at 33mm, however, no amulets or gold plating, which were usually placed as forms of spiritual protection are present near or within the wound.

Thuya’s heart remains within her chest cavity, and no other organs remain within her torso whatsoever. This was based upon Egyptian spriitual belief, that the soul resides in the heart, thus the heart had to remain within the mummy of the deceased to be judged. If, for any reason, the heart was damaged, other organs could remain in its place.

To maintain the realistic girth of the torso and to prevent collapse, Thuya’s torso is filled from front to back with resin soaked linen folds and wraps, as well as heterogeneous sawdust and/or soil. There is also an unknown embalming material within the rectum.

Thuya’s legs remain in place and are in great condition despite postmortem fractures on the left forefoot with missing distal parts of the toes. The golden sheet sandals remain upon her mummified feet.

Embalming of Thuya


As previously mentioned, both of Thuya’s eyes are packed with linen, presenting a “life-like” gaze to Thuya’s face. There is seemingly pigment upon the linen balls to give an appearance of an iris also.

The nose of Thuya is also packed with linen within the nasal passages, likely to prevent an eventual nose collapse during decomposition that the embalmers were trying to prevent taking place. This worked well, as to this day Thuya’s nostrils remain gaped and her nose is still prominent upon her face. This would certainly appease the spiritual ideas of the Egyptians, as with an open nose, Thuya would be able to have the breath of life breathed into her nostrils. Despite this, Thuya’s nose showcases a deviated septum to the right, which she could have had in life rather than caused by the embalmers.

Also noticeable is a crooked nose bridge, which could have been due to decomposition (nose collapse), embalmers stuffing the nasal passages or possibly just the shape of a broken “Roman nose” that Thuya had in life. It should be noted that the “hooked” aquiline nose was quite prominent among Egyptian mummies.

The coffin of Thuya was opened during a Channel 5 show “The Nile, Egypt’s Great River,” with historian Bettany Hughes. Both Bettany Hughes, and Egyptologist and Mummy Expert Salima Ikram spoke of the scent of perfumes and resins rising strongly in the air as soon as they got closer to Thuya’s open coffin.

Images below are stills from the show.

Thuya, being the mother of Tiye, is therefore the grandmother of king Akhenaten and great-grandmother of Tutankhamun.

Sources: Hawass, Z.A., Saleem, S.N. and D’Auria, S. (2016) Scanning the pharaohs: CT imaging of the New Kingdom Royal Mummies. Cairo: The American University in Cairo Press.