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KV46: Yuya & Thuya

King's Valley - The Valleys - The Places

The most intact discovered Tomb in the Valley of the Kings before Pharaoh Tutankhamun’s Tomb was discovered in 1922.

 

Tomb to the parents of a Queen, parents of a Pharaoh, Grandparents of a Pharaoh and Great Grandparents to another Pharaoh and his Queen.

The Noble Yuya and his wife, the Lady Thuya.

Their Tomb being situated within the Valley of the Kings proves how respected and special this couple were to Pharaoh Amenhotep III, his Great Royal Wife, Queen Tuya, and their extended Royal Court.

The Tomb itself is not particularly large and it is undecorated inside, but it was the preservation inside that gives it the notoriety it garners still today. As with many of the other Tombs in the Valley, their Tomb was robbed not long after it was sealed, and again when close Tombs were being built, but the Robbers did not take all the Funerary Furniture as they were not thought to be worth enough to sell on the risky black market. See the image above which shows the Chair found inside their Tomb.

Surpassing that was the state of preservation of the Mummies of the Noble Yuya and Lady Thuya themselves.

Noble Yuya’s Mummy

  • A rectangular wooden Sarcophagus
  • Shaped Lid of a vaulted Per Nu Shrine
  • 3 Nestled Coffins inside the Sarcophagus
  • The Coffins were gilded and silvered
  • His Death Mask was left in situ by Tomb Robbers
  • His Mummy still had a large Gold and Lapis Lazuli Necklace in situ

Lady Thuya’s Mummy

  • This was disturbed than that of her husband: perhaps the Robbers believed that being a woman she would have more jewellery buried among her mummy wrappings
  • Wooden Sarcophagus
  • 3 Nestled Coffins inside the Sarcophagus
  • Her Death Mask was left in situ by Tomb Robbers
  • She still has on Golden Sandals inside her Mummy Wrappings

Other Tomb Furniture included:

  • Separate Canopic Chests for each Yuya and Thuya
  • Separate Beds
  • 18 boxes of dried food
  • Book of the Dead for Noble Yuya: 40 Chapters long and measured 9.7 meters in length
  • Caskets, Vases, Wig Baskets and Boxes
  • Cushions and Wigs
  • Sandals, Reed Matting and Cloth
  • Shabti’s and models of tools which the Shabti’s would need for their work in the Afterlife
  • Over 50 Large Natron Vases
  • Chariot

Tomb Design

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