1998 Spring Vol 3 No 1

13 Pages·2015·2.2 MB·English

Volume 3 Number 1
May 1998
© 1998 The Amarna
Research Foundation
Linda Anderson -Editor
A word from the President ...
•
.r-
----------------~ Cambridge University in the U.S. (In order to
maintain tax exempt status) designated for
OFFICIAL NOTICE
the McDonald School of Archeology, Amarna
Project, in Cambridge, England.
The Annual Meeting of Last fall, while on
The Amarna Research our extended trip to
Shortly thereafter, along with grateful thanks,
Foundation for 1998 will Akhetaten, Barry
vvereceived pictures of Gwil Ovvenand his
be held August 15, 1998 Kemp told me
wife in the courtyard of Kings College, with
at twelve noon at Gwilym Ovven, his
the 213rds inflated 18foot blimp, provided to
7350 Coronado Court, photographer, had a
them courtesy of you. Since then vvehave
Boulder, Colorado project in mind that
received pictures of the blimp over Amarna,
80303. TARF might be
where it is apparently quite a success.
interested in
The Agenda will be: supporting. They
It occurred to me that vvehave not provided
1. Call to Order needed a balloon to
you with information on how your money has
2. Treasurers Report Bob Hanawalt be used for aeriel
been spent. This is entirely my fault and will
3. Membership Report • TARF President pictures of
be corrected shortly via the" Aten Sunspots."
4. Nominating Akhetaten.
I made a personal resolution early in the
Committee Report
formation of this organization that the
5. Election of the • I met with Gwil to discuss this crying need...
Akhetaten Sun would not become an
r90ard of Trustees the last photos of note had been taken by the
instrument for fund raising, nor for financial
L. ":Iection of Officers ~ Egyptian Air Force in the late 1930's. Gwil
reporting. We all know that is important, but I
7. President's Report • said the expedition had made several
frankly, get tired of the amount of space
8. Old or New Business attempts at aerial photography using a kite,
allotted to it in non-profit publications.
9. Adjournment • but the results were less than satisfactory.
Our By-laws state that Itold Gwil Iwould approach the TARF Board
nominations may not of Trustees with the matter. Idid and they
come from the floor, but decided there was no question that this was a
must be directed good project for TARF to support. Jack
through the Nominating Elliott, Board member, took responsibility for
Committee at least 15 contacting several balloon companies here in
days in advance of the the States. He gathered information on the
Annual Meeting. The best approach for the situation, as vvellas,
Chairman of the price quotes. The final conclusion was that a
Nominating Committee helium balloon in a traditional "Zeplin" shape
is Dr. William Petty, would be the best platform for such an
7110 South Old Farm undertaking. The TARF Board authorized the
Road, Littleton, CO funding of the project. The balloon was
80123. ordered and sent through the Friends of
Gwil Owen, expedition photographer, and wife Els
grapple with partly-filled blimp - trial run inEngland.
-
FIELD DIRECTOR'S REPORT - Barry Kemp
Amarna Expedition --September/October 1997
The expedition ran betvveen September 9th corresponding wall lay to the north.
and October 9th, the period actually worked
at Amarna being from September 17th to A small excavation was also carried out over
October 6th. The team comprised Barry the south-west corner of the palace. The
• Kemp, Neal Spencer, Emma Duncalf, Martha corner itself was found to have been marked
I- Hawting and Margarita Nikolakaki-Kantrou. by a stone block, over which the brickwork
• The Antiquities Organization was ably had been laid. From this a narrow wall, one
• represented by Inspector of Antiquities Aly brick in thickness, ran vvestwards, beyond the
• EI-Bakry, to whom many thanks are due, as limits of the excavation. It istempting to see
• also to Mahmoud Hamza, Samir Anis and it fulfilling the same purpose as the similar
their COlleagues in the Minia Inspectorate, as wall at the main gateway, and enclosing an
• vvellas to the Supreme Council of Antiquities area of ground in front of the palace.
for granting permission for the work to take
place. The opportunity was also taken to sink a large
trench into the fields on the axis of the palace
The principal task was to continue the and at a distance of approximately 70 metres
• programme of architectural recording and from its front. The trench measured 15 by .......
• conservation at the North Palace. Most of metres and was set at an angle to the axis in
• the funding was provided by the generosity of order to increase the chances of locating any
~ The Amarna Research Foundation. The part features which might be parallel to it. Inthe
~ chosen for detailed re-examination was the event, the trench descended through dark
· front entrance to the palace, which now lies alluvial soil until a pale creamy-grey clay layer
• close to the edge of the cultivation. Itwas was reached. This sloped steadily downwards
first cleared by the Egypt Exploration Society towards the river, between 1.10 and 1.90 m
• in the 1920's. beneath the present level of the fields. It had
;. a flat even surface and seems to be the
- To begin with, a grid of five-metre squares natural desert. A shallow pit cut into it
• was laid out across the gateway and the revealed no cultural material. On the surface
• ground inside and outside. By the end of the of the pale clay, hovvever, lay a few fragments
_ season ten squares had been cleared. of red brick, one of them extensively rounded
• by water erosion. During the course of the
The gateway had been digging the soil produced sherds, a mixture of
flanked by two narrow recent, Byzantine and Eighteenth Dynasty.
pylons of mud brick However, the lowest material, below 1.10 rn,
which protruded only produced only a single sherd. This absence
on the outside face of of cultural material around the junction .~
the enclosure wall. betvveen river soil and desert clay is strikin;
They were 3.50 metres The provisional interpretation is that, in the
wide, the space New Kingdom, the ground in front of the North
betvveen them being Palace was desert, sloping towards the Nile
3.60 metres. Originally but permanently above the level of the
the gateway had been inundation. At a later date (early centuries
floored with limestone AD?) the rising bed of the Nile began to bring
slabs. One of these progressively the inundation over the desert
still remains, tilted at a and to deposit alluvium. In the earliest stages
Western Gateway of North Palace
steep angle into a pit. the movement of the waters scoured away the
The gateway must sandy desert cover and whatever
have been raised in level, for to front and archaeological material there had been.
back are narrow parallel walls which must Eventually cultivation began on the alluvial
have formed the edges to shallow ramps. To soil, perhaps bringing once again a settled
the south of the southem ramp on the outside population to the area.
a second parallel wall ran outwards for a
much longer distance, beyond the limits of The conservation programme took the form of
the excavation. The old plan implies that a repairs to the brick walls of the Garden Court,
2
begun last season, in March and April of 1997.
Two teams of builders vvereemployed, as vvell
as a team of brickmakers. The builders
worked their way along the rooms on the east
and west sides of the central garden, and also
along the south wall and the outer face of the
west wall. Wherever the base of awall was
eroded the old bricks vverereplaced with new
courses. Many of the sides of the doorways North Palace - Garden Court
were rebuilt. depression of questionable use in front of
reconstructed walls with channelling.
A distinctive problem at the North Palace is
the deep channelling of walls caused bythe
loss of timber beams originally inserted and
now eaten away. Our method here is to fill
these channels with pieces of brick and with
mud mortar recessed slightly from the face of
the brickwork. When dry a strip was painted
o
along it with a wood stain specially formulated
o for outdoor use, which forms a hard plastic
o 0 layer over the mortar. An appearance of
o aging can be given by throwing dust a the
0
o 0 surface and then lightly brushing it away. The
result is quite effective. At the expedition
o
0
house many pieces of carved stone from the
o
0 Small Aten Temple were copied in facsimile,
o 0 for inclusion in the planned publication of the
o 0 temple.
o
Editor s Book Review
Linda Anderson
Ancient Egypt - Anatomy of a Civilization
North Palace - Garden Court site plan
by Barry Kemp
hatched walls are those repaired during 1997
© 1989 and reprinted almost yearly
In Room 1the bottom two steps of In Barry's own words, "The nature of the
_.,._ the staircase were replaced. Along ancient Egyptian state and it's vvealth of
the south wall, the bottom parts of devices -- myth, symbol, and institution -- to
the stone pilasters which ended the manipulate the minds and to direct the lives of
colonnade were rebuilt with new its people are at the centre of this book."
limestone blocks.
He sets the country's backdrop: culturally,
geographically, economically, historically.
North Palace - Garden Court Within one section titled Egypt in microcosm:
stair before and after reconstruction the city of EI-Amama Barry discusses
Akhenaten and his religious reform (in view of
later religions, including Christianity and
Islam); change of art style and the portrayal of
the royal family; and in-detail development of
Akhentaten as a complex city complete with
community needs for workers and royality:
water supplies, housing, agricultural spaces.
3
MEET YOUR HONORARY TRUSTEE:
BARRY KEMP
,eo
rank which recognises that its holder likes to
Ie Iovvemy interest in Egyptology to the
do research and offers a degree of prestige
• disruptions of the Second World War. It
behind which one can shelter from many an
took my father to Egypt, where he drove a
administrative burden.
• truck in the Royal Engineers regiment of the
British army. During a period of leave he
Partly because Iteach a fairly broad course,
made an excursion to Luxor with some fellow
have dabbled in several different aspects of
• soldiers. A packet of tiny snapshots of the
Egyptology. From early on I have been driven
• now familiar scenes eventually arrived by
by a dissatisfaction with the way the subject is
post at our home, along with some luridly
put together. Texts and art are held in too
• coloured postcards of Tutankhamun's
high a veneration. Archaeology counts for
treasures. I remember the items had
little unless it provides more. Believing that
,eo somehow become stained and fragranced
VYe are well into the era of diminishing returns
• from spilt perfume. That was an essential
for the former, Ilook to archaeology as the
part of their exotic character which remained
way forwards towards a more broadly-based
• dormant until, many years later, when a
understanding of ancient Egyptian society. By
school history project set me writing about
Barry Kemp is also a this I mean archaeology in its modern guiSf .........
ancient Egypt. There were not, in those
Fellow of the British as a mode of explaining the structure and
• days, the lavishly illustrated books that now
Academy, Fellow of broad workings of society as much as with the
• abound. Weigall's A Short History of Ancient
Wolfson College,
business of excavation. At first Itoyed with
Cambridge, and a '. ~was all my local library could provide,
the idea of excavating a multi-period town
Corresponding Member of but itwas enough. Together with my father's
mound, to try to follow the changing fortunes
the German • pictures it fired my imagination. As a
of a provincial society. In the 1970's Ivisited
Archaeological Institute. • schoolboy I began to develop an interest in
and evaluated several such sites, but shied
• local archaeology also and took a small part
away. At that time, Ifelt that Iwould not be
·.. in excavations and Saturday volunteer work
able to gather the range of expertise and the
in the Birmingham Museum.
resources needed to explore the
superimposed periods on a suitably significant
• Iwon a place at the University of Liverpool,
scale. Even now, few expeditions in Egypt
• for a four-year intensive course in
are able to do this satisfactorily.
Egyptology, under the magisterial guidance
• of H.W. Fairman. The four years were
Whilst preparing a seminar paper in 1970,
• mostly devoted to Egyptian language (and
which attempted to reconstruct a model of the
also to Coptic). Although I have come to see
interaction between institutional and private
• that too great a devotion to language studies
economies in the New Kingdom, I suddenly
• has badly warped the study of Egypt's past, I
saw that Amarna, in its single-period sirnplic]
am grateful for those years. The proper
and huge scale, offered a test bed for
,. integration of texts and archaeology, the
exploring how archaeological evidence of all
• theme I have tried to build my career around,
kinds could be better employed. By
• demands that language study be an essential
coincidence, Iworked again for the
part of one's education.
Pennsylvania-Yale expedition not long
afterwards. This time in Amenhotep Ill's town
After graduation came a start on a doctoral
and palace at Malkata, and so Icame into
dissertation: the study of what remained of
contact with the domestic archaeology of the
the records of John Garstang's unpublished
late 18th Dynasty. Fieldwork at Amarna was
excavation of a thousand tombs at Abydos
the next logical step.
between 1906 and 1909. I never finished it,
though it gave me a lasting interest in that
On the re-opening of provincial Egypt to
sadly mutilated site where, for two seasons, I
foreign expeditions after the dark years
was later able to work as an assistant on the
following the 1967 Middle East war, I
Pennsylvania-Yale expedition. Within a year
approached the Egypt Exploration Society
Iwas appointed to ajunior teaching post at
with a request to re-start their connection with
Cambridge University, where I have stayed.
the site. A partnership was borne that has
Thirty-five years later, I hold the post of
continued ever since. My goal has remained
Reader in Egyptology, an English university
4
the broad integration of all kinds of evidence village blacksmith made a series of iron cages
for understanding better the life of an ancient to which, when stacked one upon another, the
city. Evidence is obtained over the whole site column panels could be attached.
and encompasses the results of the work of
the past as well as what we find now. I have Surrounded by a dense but rickety scaffolding
also become sensitive to the dereliction that a and with the aid of a portable welder lent by a
hundred years of archaeology has wreaked. friendly building company in Cairo (Keminco),
Through the conservation work that we have Simon spent two months in the Spring of 1994
started (and with the help of TARF), Iam creating from the cages a rigid tower, carefully
trying to put some of that right. It has, all too braced and vertically true. One by one, the
predictably, turned out to be an immensely panels were welded on to it. Simon's column
slower and larger task than imagined, and is now stands as a
one that will easily take me to the end of my landmark to help visitors
career. But Iwould not have it otherwise. to orientate themselves
at Amarna. It also gives
them a measure, of the
otherwise lost, vertical
scale of Akhenaten's
Amarna Contributor:
monuments.
Simon Bradley
Simon's other
contributions to date
A major contributor to the current building continue the theme of
works at Amarna isthe sculptor Simon making it easier to
Bradley. Brought up in the West Midlands of comprehend Amarna's
England, Simon is a graduate of the ruined building.
prestigious Royal College of Art in London, Wherever the roofs of
Reconstructed column
where he trained as a sculptor. Although he houses and palaces
Simon Bradley bases- Garden Court
remains a sculptor at heart, he also enjoys the were held up by
challenge of working in a range of materials to columns, the columns stood on fat stone
create three-dimensional forms on a large bases. More often than not these are lost,
scale. Itcomes as no surprise to find that though their positions are usually known
some of his work has been on film sets. exactly. Putting new ones in their place is an
effective way of bringing back a little much-
His involvement at Amarna began in 1991, needed life to the drab brickwork. Simon has
when he agreed to work on designs prepared so far created two column-base moulds, of
by architect Michael Mallinson to recreate one different diameters, one for the private house
of the colossal columns which had stood at Q44.1 and another for the North Palace.
the front of the Small Aten Temple sanctuary. Skillfully made from latex, with a rigid glass-
Many huge broken pieces still littered the fibre casing for support, the moulds can be
ground and provided templates for the design. used by our local builders for turning out
Working in the winter-cold stables of a stately convincing column bases from a mixture of
home in south-east England, he began by ground-up stone and white cement.
making a full-length segment of the whole
column in three-quarters of a ton of modeling Egypt's lure has, for the moment, again taken
clay. From this model he took a series of Simon from his peaceful cottage in a Suffolk
moulds in glass-fibre which were later shipped coastal village to Hurghada, where he is
to Egypt and taken to a factory near Ismailiya carving in limestone a large replica Egyptian
where casts were made in glass-fibre statue for a visitor centre which explains
reinforced concrete. The real challenge, Egypt's ancient Red Sea connection. It is
hovvever, was yet to come: how to assemble much to be hoped that his talents can be
a kit of heavy pieces to make a truly vertical brought to bear again on Amarna as we seek,
and symmetrical column twenty-seven feet step by step, to help the city to communicate
tall? Simon's ability to think big and in terms with its visitors.
of structural stability saved the day, as did
another of his many skills: welding. To
designs which he drew up on the spot, a
Reconstructed column
Small Aten Temple 5
YUYA & TUYA
From the "Valley of the Kings" to the Cairo Museum
©1998 text by David Pepper - photos by Jill Taylor
th
In analyzing the impact of the Amarna Period, many On the 20 of December in 1904, Theodore M. Davis, a
modern writers focus on its decline. We are told that millionaire from Newport, Rhode Island, funded the work
after Akhenaten had died, his advisor, Aye, steered the of Chief Inspector, James E. Quibell, in a small wadi at
young boy-king, Tutankaten, away from the teachings of the entrance to the Valley of the Kings. Quibell cleared
Aten's priests, and back towards the worship of the god debris between two tombs that had been known for quite
Amun. The young king is seen abandoning the capital some time: KV3, the tomb of a son of Rameses III, and
city of Akhetaten, moving back to Waset (Thebes), KV4. which bears the name of Rameses XI.
changing his name to Tutankamun, and ending the "age
of enlightenment" of the Aten. These writers consider Early in February, 1905, steps leading downward to a
Amarna "an experiment gone wrong," at best. "sealed" door were found under the debris.
Unfortunately, a robber's hole was apparent in the upper
Other scholars see the Amarna Period as a renaissance 18 inches of both the exterior, and another interior,
of new ideas and new art forms. They look to earlier doorway.
regimes for the origins of the worship of the Aten, citing
evidence of this religion during the reign of Akhenaten's Upon entering the burial chamber Davis comments:
father, Amenhotep III, and even much earlier. These "[It] was as dark as dark could be, and extremely
analysts see the Amarna age as a righteous rebellion hot. Our first quest was the name of the owner
against the powerful priesthood and bureaucracy of of the tomb. as to which we had not the slightes
Amun. knowledge or suspicion. We held up our
candles, but they gave so little light and so
Still others look for a foreign element at pharaoh's court, dazzled our eyes that we could see nothing but
proposing that Akhenaten's grandfather, Yuya, was the glitter of gold. In a moment or two. hovvever,
influential in this regard. They see the worship of the I made out a very large wooden sarcophagus.
Aten as a symbol of Egypt's acceptance of cosmopolitan known as a funeral sled. Itwas about six feet
ideas and the religions of her colonies. high and eight feet long, made of wood covered
with bitumen, which was as bright as the day it
Which one is right? If itwas the was put on. Around the upper part of the coffin
latter, who was this Yuya? What was a stripe of gold foil, about 6 inches wide, and
is known about him? Was he covered with hieroglyphs. On calling M.
really a foreigner? Isthere any Maspero's attention to it, he immediately handed
me his candle, which together with my own I held
before my eyes close to the inscription so that he
could read them. In an instant he said, "loulyal"
[1]
So who was this Yuya? And why were he and his wife
Tuya buried in the King's Valley?
Yuya was probably born sometime around the time
Amenhotep IIwas crowned as pharaoh. That is. about
1427 BC [2]. By the time Amenhotep II died, around
1401 BC, Yuya had married a girl with the common
Yuya's Mummy Mask Egyptian name of Tuya and at least two children had
been born to them, the oldest - a son named Anen, and
the youngest - a girl named Tiye.
evidence that he
worshipped the Aten? II Yuya's daughter Tiye must have been about 2 years old
Did he influence Tuya's Mummy Mask when Thutmosis IV came to the throne, and as her
Akhenaten's beliefs? parents were important officials, she probably associated
Was he really the with the king's young son, Amenhotep III. After a 10year
instigator of the Amarna Period? rule, Thutmosis IV died and his son, Amenhotep III, was
still only a boy of 12 years of age. By then, Yuya's
To answer these questions, VYe must start with the daughter Tiye would have been about the same age.
discovery of Yuya's tomb in 1905. The young pharaoh's court at this time would have been
under the influence of Thutmosis IV's widow Mutemweya
6
and her advisors, of which Yuya was certainly one.
Recorded on his coffins and other objects from his tomb
In the first year of his are Yuya's some 40 titles including Father of the God,
reign, the young King Master of the Horse, Deputy of his Majesty in the
Amenhotep III was Chariotry, Hereditary Noble and Count, Ears and Mouth
married to Yuya's of the king, etc. etc. [4]
daughter, Tiye. So as
royal father-in-law it is Yuya's canopic jars were contained in a lidded wooden
likely that Yuya had box on a sled, which was also coated with black pitch and
quite a lot of influence decorated with gilded bands of inscriptions, plus standing
on the young king. figures of funerary deities, including Isis and Nepthys on
the front panel.. The canopic jars themselves were made
Was Yuya a foreigner? of Calcite (Egyptian
The ancient Egyptian Alabaster) with portrait
scribes seemed to have lids. The viscera inside
had a great deal of the canopic jars were
trouble spelling Yuya's placed in mummiform
name. Some wrappings, surmounted
Amentotep III & Queen Tiye II Egyptologists have by a gilded cartonage
suggested this mask.
indicates that his name
was of foreign origin, and may have been difficult to When found the
render into Egyptian. His name is spelled eleven mummies of both Yuya
different ways on his funerary equipment from his tomb: and Tuya were still in
their innermost coffins.
Yuya was buried inside three nested wooden coffins The robbers had
which were set in a sledge-sarcophagus. The sled was removed the lids of each Canopic Jars
just a canopy in the form of a box which had no bottom, sarcophagus, and the
and the sarcophagi inside it rested directly on the floor. tops of the three inner
The completed canopy was too large to be brought into coffins that it contained.
the tomb, and it had to have been assembled in place.
Arthur Weigall in The Glory of the Pharaohs wrote:
Three nested coffins always signified a member of the "First above Yuaa and then above his wife the
highest court officials. Like the sled, the outermost coffin electric lamps were held, as one looked down
was coated in black pitch banded with gold foil strips and into their quiet faces (from which the bandages
decorated with standing figures of funerary deities. This had been removed by some ancient robber),
was a fashion that was popular be~n the reign of there was almost the feeling that they would
Thutmosis III and the end of the 18 Dynasty. presently open their eyes and blink at the light."
The stem features of the old man commanded
Yuya's middle coffin is covered with silver leaf with one's attention, and again and again our gaze
inscriptions and figures of the gods detailed in gold. was turned from this mass of vvealth to this
When found the silver gilding was still bright, but it sleeping figure in whose honor it had been
blackened within two days upon exposure to external air. placed here." [5]
[3]
Weigall also stated in The Life and Times of Akhenaten
The innermost coffin is entirely covered on the outside in that:
gold leaf with inlays of semi-precious stones and colored "One must picture him as a tall man, with a fine
glass. Inside, it is covered in silver, incised with shock of white hair; a great hooked nose like that
inscriptions and reliefs. Like the middle coffin, the inner of a Syrian; full strong lips; and a prominent,
coffin is decorated on the lid in low relief with figures of determined jaw. He has the face of an
Nekhbet, and Nut. This coffin shows signs of alterations ecclesiastic, and there is something about his
in ancient times. Yuya's name may perhaps been too mouth which reminds one of the late pope, Leo
often misspelled, or alternatively, the coffin may have XIII. One feels on looking at his well-preserved
been originally made for a different owner. features, that there may be found the originator
7
of the great religious movement which his A possible third robbery may have occurred during the
daughter and grandson carried to execution." [6] time of construction of KV4, Rameses XI. The temporary
This last comment referring, of course, to the worship of blocking put up by the priests of Rameses Ill's time was
the Aten, by the Pharaoh Akhenaten. once again removed, and a staff and scarab dropped
near the main entrance. Since debris from KV4 then
buried the doorway opening. this seems to be the latest
During the robbery, the bodies had been stripped of
possible date of any robbery.
much of their mummy cloth, and the scraps thrown down
beside each mummy as the jevvels and amulets vvere
Many valuable items vvereleft behind by the thieves,
pulled off. It is probable that many small objects vvere
hovvever.
plundered, since few vverefound in the burial. A
comparison to intact burials of nobles from this time
There are two
period shows that a significant number of objects may
magnificent coffer
have been taken. [7]
chests, raised on four
legs, decorated with
The lack of perfume jars and cosmetics probably mean
covetto cornices and
that the tomb was robbed soon after the burial. In tombs
the "Life, Stability, and
known to have been robbed years after the burial, empty
Povver"hieroglyphic
perfume jars vverecast away when their contents were
signs. Both chests have
found to have dried up. Of the vessels in Yuya's &
the cartouche of Yuyc~
Tuya's tomb that vvereleft - two jugs and a large jar -
two had their sealed linen coverings ripped off in son-in-law, Amenhotep
III, and one is also
antiquity to establish what they held, while the lid of the
inscribed with daughter
third had been cast off and broken. Lucas determined
Queen Tiye's name.
that one jug had held castor oil, and the other a dark red
substance, while the large jar had been filled with natron.
Three wooden chairs
To the thieves, these were clearly commodities of little Coffer chest of Amenhoteplll
vverealso found among
value, and hence were rejected. and Queen Tiye
the furniture of Yuya
and Tuya. Two are
These ancient thieves, like their modern counterparts,
inscribed with the name
preferred untraceable items, like recyclable metals such
of their grand-daughter, Sitamun. The smallest chair is
as gold and silver. InYuya's and Tuya's case, a wooden
that of a child.
handled sistrum had been stripped of its metal loop and
shakers. Noteworthy, too, is the almost total absence of
This chair has been nick-named the "Ibex" chair, for it
garments and linen.
has figures of crouching Ibex on either side under the
arms. The feet of the chair are modeled as lion's paws,
While it is not known exactly when Yuya's and Tuya's
as was fashionable at the time, and on the back of the
tomb was plundered, there is evidence that it may have
chair are three figures of goddesses standing on gold
been entered two or three times. The first time was
signs. In the center is the god Bes. On either side are
probably shortly after the interment, evidenced by the
images of the goddess of music, Tauret, in
lack of perfume oil containers.
hippopotamus-headed form. This chair was found with a
linen seat cushion. filled with down.
The second time was probably
several hundred years later during
Also found was a slightly larger
the construction of KV3 for one of
chair of grand-daughter Sitamun's.
the sons of Rameses III. No doubt
Like the story of the three bears,
the whereabouts of KV46 became
someone had been siHing in the
known to the Ramesside tomb
excavators. Quibell published two chair, probably the young princess
Sitamun, as gold was rubbed off
seal impressions of Rameses III in
and patched again in several
his catalog of objects from KV46, the
places. The seat was originally of
tomb of Yuya & Tuya, but it is not
plaited string, which had worn
known if they vvereintrusive, or put
through and was replaced by a
there deliberately by the priests who
rectangular board painted yellow.
tidied-up some of the damage in the
tomb, and roughly re-blocked the
robbers' openings. Sitamun's chairs: "Ibex" chair on left
8
On the inside back of the middle-sized chair is a scene The first ancient Egyptian chariot ever found was in
representing Yuya's daughter, Queen Tiye, and two Yuya's tomb. The chariot bears no name, but it probably
princesses on a papyrus boat in a marsh. The queen belonged to Yuya, as one of his titles was "Deputy of his
wears a crown of double feathers and a long wig, and she Majesty in the Chariotry." It is in nearly perfect condition:
is seated on a chair in the boat, under which a cat sits the framework of the body, the wheels, and the pole are
with its tail erect. The queen is identified by her name in intact, and even the leather-work which was stripped
a cartouche with her title 'The Great Royal Wife." In from the chariot's sides was found and could be put back
front of the queen in the prow of the boat stands the in place. It is doubtful if this chariot had ever been used,
young princess offering her mother as it's leather tires are hardly scratched.
a bunch of lotus flowers. She wears
a crown of lotus, and her name The funeral papyrus found in Yuya's tomb is a good
Sitamun is placed inside a specimen of the 18th Dynasty Book of the Dead. Now
cartouche behind her. cut up into 34 sheets, the roll measured almost 10
meters, and it contains some 40 chapters, one of which is
The largest and most elaborate of unknown from any other source (8). The quality of
the chairs has a duplicate scene Yuya's papyrus is in accordance with the high rank of its
showing the princess receiving an owner. The copying of papyri must have been a
offering of a gold necklace. The profitable industry in the 18th Dynasty. They were of
inscription above the princess says, various lengths, probably in proportion to the price paid
"the eldest daughter of the king for them. They were written beforehand, with blank
whom he loves, Sitamun." The text spaces left in many places, usually at the beginning of
above the offering-bearer says, the chapters for the name and titles of the deceased.
Sitamun's Chair "offering of gold from the lands of The second copyist then had to insert the owner's name
the south." into the blank spaces of varying length, which show a
different hand. In some places there was only room for
In a corner of the tomb chamber, two wooden "Osiris" Yuya's name, but in others the blank spaces were filled
beds were found - one for each of the tomb's owners. with his name and some of his titles.
Osiris beds are ceremonial in nature. Grains of barley
were sprinkled upon an earth and sand-filled frame As usual, the text begins on the right side, which
outlining a figure of Osiris. This small plantation was symbolizes the east, and iswritten towards the left, or
carefully watered until the grains germinated and grew to West, which symbolizes man's march through life.
a height of about 8 inches, at which time itwas pressed
flat by the whole bed being wrapped in a sheet of linen
and allowed to dry before itwas deposited in the tomb.
In addition to the ritual Osiris beds, three beds intended
for people were also found in the tomb. One bedstead
had its headboard finished in golden gilt, the second was
finished in silver, and the third in painted relief. The
headboards of these beds were decorated with various
combinations of Bes and Tauret.
Thirteen wooden Ushabti boxes were
found in the tomb. They were upright-
style boxes, rectangular in shape, with
arched lids and painted decoration,
mummiform
figures, and
inscriptions.
The boxes
contained
14 Ushabti's
with Yuya's Here is a family tree of Yuya's clan. As you can see by
name, and the bold boxes, which enclose the names of the
Ushabti boxes four with pharaohs, Yuya was closely related to the kings of Egypt.
Tuya's.
Ushabtis
9
It is believed that Yuya was the grandfather of [2] The dates used are from The Atlas of Ancient Egypt,
Amenhotep IV, who changed his name to Akhenaten, by Baines & Malek, Facts On File Publications, 1980.
shown here. He was surely the most "unique" of all the [3] The description of artifacts are from The Tomb of
Egyptian pharaohs. louiya and Touiyou, by Theodore M. Davis, Archibald
Constable and Co. Ltd., London, 1907, and can also
Now how much did Yuya be found in Tomb of Yuaa and Thuiu, by James E.
influence his son-in-law and Quibell, Catalogue Generate des Antiquities
grandson? Did Yuya foster the ~gyptiennes Du Musee Du Caire, Cairo, 1908.
belief in a single all-powerful god, [4] All 40 titles are listed in Stranger in the Valley of the
the Aten? We may never know. Kings, by Ahmed Osman, Souvenir Press, London,
1987.
But what we do know isthat [5] The Glory of the Pharaohs, by Arthur Weigall,
Yuya's great-grandson, Thomton, Butterworth Limited, London, 1923.
Tutankamun, reinstated the old [6] The Life and Times of Akhenaten, by Arthur Weigall,
religious beliefs, and once again London, 1910.
placed Amun as the most [7] Valley of the kings, by C.N. Reeves, Kegan Paul
powerful of the Egyptian gods. International, London, 1990.
[8] Described in detail in Funeral Papyrus of louiya,
During the reign of King Tut's Archibald Constable &Co, London, 1908.
grandfather, the sun king
Amenhotep "I, Yuya included
among his titles, "the mouth and
ears of the King," that is to say, In Search of Nefertiti: Richard Harwood
his agent and advisor.
So why vvereimpressive artifacts given for Yuya's and
Tuya's burial? As a general rule, Idon't like tours. I have to admit that
Was it because Yuya was a confidant of the up-front. They usually go only to the standard places, see
King? the standard monuments, and inevitably have one or
more complaining members who are less interested than
Was it because Yuya and Tuya were parents of their companions.
the king's chief wife, Tiye.
That opinion changed dramatically last fall when Iwas
Was it because Yuya and Tuya were one of thirteen members of The Amarna Research
grandparents of pharaoh's daughter Sitamun? Foundation who participated in a fascinating tour of
Egypt. Organized by TARF and led by Dr. William D.
Or, was it because Yuya and Tuya were Petty, TARF Treasurer (who very conveniently is also
grandparents of pharaoh's son, and future king the President of Museum Tours, Inc., so the price and
himself, Amenhotep IV? arrangements couldn't be beat!), the 15-day tour was
Itwas probably for all these reasons, this non-royal loaded with wonderful and unusual sites in Lower, Midc'
couple vvereallowed to be buried in the final resting place and Upper Egypt.
of the gods, "The Valley of the King's".
Several of the tour members had been to Egypt at least
So next time you are at the Cairo Museum, don't just once before. For others, it was the first time. We came
rush upstairs and turn right to gaze at King Tut's from across the United States: New York to California,
treasures, but turn left instead, and take a little time to North Carolina to Colorado. We were teachers, bankers,
examine the artifacts from that "other" almost intact tomb authors, business people, museum administrators and
- the Tomb of Yuya and Tuya. office staff. But the common threads that ran through
the group vverea good, general knowledge of Egyptology;
a particular interest in the Amama Period; and the
ENDNOTES: enthusiastic willingness to sample new sites and
experiences.
[1] Finding Pharaoh's In-Laws, by Dennis C. Forbes,
Amama Letters, Volume One, KMT Itwould be hard to tire of the vvell-known sites of the
Communications, 1991. Cairo area, and we took in: the Giza Plateau, Memphis,
Saqqara, the Cairo Museum. Off the beaten path, and
10