Valley of the Kings - KV46
tomb of Yuya and Tjuyu - XVIIIth Dynasty

The tomb of queen's Tiji parents was discovered 5 February 1905 by James E. Quibell. The entrance stair (A) leads into a wall-cut corridor (B) some 1.76 m wide and 2.05 m high. A second corridor with stairs (C) and niches is somewhat unusual in that the roof is roughly rounded rather than squared. This and the similiar roughness of the quality of the irregularly shaped burial chamber (D) have been blamed on the quality of the stone. In the tomb were founded more objects, funerary equipments: chariots, shabties, canopic jars and chests, beds, chairs, vessels, amulets, boxes and etc.


A - entrance stair
B - first corridor
C - second corridor with stairs and niches
D - burial chamber
E - unfinished pit

 

Gilded cartonage mask of Tjuyu.

The two mummies were in an extraordinary state of preservation; that of Yuya, in particular, is a fine example of the ancient embalmers' craft. Yuya and Tjuyu died at separate times and were interred in KV46 on two separate occasions and is difficult to establish who died first. The tomb was plundered in antiquity. The mummies had been disturbed within their coffins, while promising-looking boxes had their lids ripped off. Several items found in the corridor were in the process of being carried off by the thieves when they were apprehended. Tjuyu's mummy had been covered with a sheet, some boxes refilled with a jumble of items, and the hole made by the robbers to gain access to the burial chamber roughly blocked again with stones.
 

Sarcophagus of Tjuyu

Sarcophagus of Yuya

 

Mummy of Yuya, enclosed in gilded cartonnage framework.

Mummy of Tjuyu.

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