Photo Credits:  Top left photo from private collection. Probably color-tinted composite of photos from Davis's The Tomb of Iouiya and Touiyou (London, 1907.) Bottom right photo of Yuya's innermost coffin by Matt Weatherbee on the Uncharted Traveler.website.

         
    Yuya's Mummy Mask--CG 51008

"[Yuya's mummy mask] is made of several layers of coarse linen, glued together and coated  with plaster. The inside is bitumened, the exterior is gilt. The wig is long, lined, and with bands at the ends. The face is finally modeled. The eyes, eyebrows and eye lashes are inlaid: the eyes are of white marble and obsidian, the eyelashes and brows are of blue glass."--Percy E. Newberry, The Tomb of Iouiya and Touiyou.   

At the time of its discovery, Yuya's mummy mask had been seriously damaged by ancient thieves, who had broken it into several sections. It was finally restored by conservator Samir Abaza and placed on display in the Egyptian Museum of Antiquities several years ago, next to the mummy mask of Tuyu, Yuya's wife. (For information on the restoration of this mummy mask, see the article by Dennis Forbes in KMT [7:2] 40-45.) Larger than the mummy mask of Tuyu. this mask displays some interesting stylistic features that tend to date it to the last years of Amenhotep III's reign. As Dennis Forbes points out, "It's exceptionally small nose and over-large eyes hint at the 'juvenalizing' style favored by the deified Amenhotep III during his last decade." (KMT [7:2] 42.) Photograph of mask in profile at left clearly shows the "juvenalizing" tendencies characteristic of artistic trends late in the reign of Amenhotep III. This would indicate that Yuya had lived to a very old age, past Year 30 of his royal son-in-law's tenure on the throne. Reeves also theorizes that the mask may have been made later than Tuyu's mummy mask (see below.) Because of this--and contra Quibell, Maspero, Weigall, et al--Reeves leaves open the possibility that Yuya may have died after his wife and was thus buried in KV 46 later than Tuyu. (However, see his comments on the canopic jars of Tuyu noted below.)

Photo Credits: At left: Yuya's restored mummy mask from Ikram and Dodson's Mummies in Ancient Egypt (Thames and Hudson, 1998.) Pl. XIX. At right: Yuya's mummy mask in profile, showing stylistic features common to Amenhotep III's last years of rule. (Photo by George B Johnson, from KMT [7:2] 43.)

Tuyu's Wooden Sarcophagus--CG 51005

"The sledge and sarcophagus are both of a coarse grained wood covered with pitch and decorated with figures and hieroglyphic legends in stucco gilt. In shape, the sarcophagus is rectangular, with a lid in the form of a projecting curved cornice and top of the common Egyptian box shape. Like the sarcophagus of Yuya, the joints are mortice- and tenon-pinned."--Percy E. Newberry, The Tomb of Iouiya and Touiyou.

    Unlike her husband's, Tuyu's sarcophagus was built with an inner bottom floor. But the sledge runners on which it sits rest on wooden cross-beams. As in the case of Yuya's sarcophagus, the sledge-like appearance of Tuyu's sarcophagus is also purely symbolic. Made of wood coated with black pitch, the lid of this sarcophagus was designed to resemble that of a per-wer shrine of Upper Egypt. Ikram and Dodson note that the cornice of the sarcophagus forms part of its lid--a feature which, they point out, also appears in the granite sarcophagus of Akhenaten, the grandson of Yuya and Tuyu. Gilded figures of Isis and Nephthys with upraised arms kneel on nub-signs at the foot and head end of the sarcophagus respectively, and gilded representations of protective deities identified by Maspero as "the four gods of the West" (i.e., the Four Sons of Horus) line the sides. Tuyu's sarcophagus was also decorated on the inside, where the figures of Isis and Nephthys appear once more along with texts from various chapters of the Book of the Dead.When discovered, the lid and one of the side panels of this sarcophagus had been removed by ancient thieves in order to facilitate the ransacking of Tuyu's mummy.

Photo Credit:  from private collection. Probably color-tinted print of photo from Davis's The Tomb of Iouiya and Touiyou (London, 1907.)

Tuyu's Outer and Inner Coffins--CG 51006-51007

"The outer coffin...is made of wood carved and covered with stucco gilt. It is mummiform in shape, the wig is long and the hair is represented by bands of incised lines. The features of the face are very finely modeled. The eyes, eyelashes, and eyebrows are inlaid; the eyes are of white marble and obsidian, the eyelashes and eyebrows of opaque violet glass." The inner coffin is also of wood covered with stucco gilt. Newberry remarks that the "broad necklace is very elaborate, and consists of fifteen rows of conventional flowers and petals and drop shaped beads, which are inlaid in colored glass."--Percy E. Newberry, The Tomb of Iouiya and Touiyou.

     Ikram and Dodson point out that Tuyu's outer coffin is unusual because it is entirely gilded--most outer coffin's from nested coffin sets of this period were of the "black" style and partly decorated with a coating of black pitch. The decorative symbolism employed on both coffins is traditional, with figures of Isis, Nephthys, and Nut surrounded by bands of texts designed to look like  mummy straps. These bands are inscribed with prayers  and invocations to the gods, and also give the names and titles of the deceased. The ornate necklace on the inner coffin is inlaid and decorated with kheper, djed, and sa signs. Like her husband's innermost coffin, Tuyu's also does not have hands.
    The excavators of KV 46 discovered that Tuyu's mummy lay only in her innermost coffin within the partly disassembled wooden sarcophagus. The coffin's lid had been removed and left next to the coffin basin on the floor. The lid and basin of Tuyu's outer coffin had been separated and discarded at two different locations in the burial chamber. The positions of the coffin and sarcophagus elements from Tuyu's funerary ensemble provide important clues to the number of robberies which occurred in the tomb. (See Tomb Raiders of KV 46 for more details.)

Photo Credits: (top left ) outer coffin face from Jack Reijnhoudt; (top right) face of inner coffin from Hans Ollermann; (lower left) full outer coffin from Andreas F. Voegelin; (lower right) from private collection, probably color-tinted composite of photos from Davis's The Tomb of Iouiya and Touiyou (London, 1907.)

Tuyu's Mummy Mask--CG 51009

"The mask is made of several layers of coarse linen glued together and coated with plaster. The inside is bitumened, the exterior is gilt. The wig is long, lined, and with bands at the ends; it is secured round the top of the head by a broad fillet composed of a band of lotus petals with a lotus flower and two buds on the forehead."--Percy E. Newberry, The Tomb of Iouiya and Touiyou.

    When discovered by Davis and Quibell, the face of this beautiful mummy mask was partly obscured by remnants of Tuyu's discolored linen shroud, which had probably gotten stuck to the gilded features by the oils and liquid resins used by the ancient priests to anoint the mummy. (Sections of this blackened adhering shroud still can be seen at the top and and along the sides of the wig.) Now cleaned, the lovely face of the youthful-appearing Lady Tuyu, Chantress of Hathor, Leader of the Harem of Amen, smiles back at us across a gulf of thirty-five centuries from what must be considered an undisputed masterpiece of ancient Egyptian portrait art.

Photo Credit: Salima Ikram and Aidan Dodson, Mummies in Ancient Egypt   (Thames and Hudson, 1998,) pl. XVIII.

Canopic Equipment
CG 51012--CG 51013

          Canopic chests of Yuya (top left) and Tuyu (top right). Both chests are made of wood coated with black pitch. The inscriptional bands and representations of the gods are gilded, and the over-all decorative scheme closely resembles that employed on the sarcophagi shown above. Images of Isis and Nephthys appear on the fronts of the chests. The goddesses Neith and Selket adorn the back panels. The sides of both chests are decorated with images of the Four Sons of Horus. The lids adopt the form of the per-wer shrine of Upper Egypt, and that on the chest of Tuyu is decorated with the double wedjet (representing the two eyes of Horus, i.e. the moon and the sun,) flanked by two recumbent figures of Anubis. Both chests contained four calcite canopic jars closed with human headed stoppers. These held the lungs, liver, stomach, and intestines of the deceased, which had been wrapped separately like miniature mummies and topped with small human-faced mummy masks. Tuyu's canopic jar and one of her mummified internal organs are depicted in the bottom photo at right. Reeves notes that stylistic differences between the canopic jars of Yuya and Tuyu indicate that Yuya's had been made earlier, providing further evidence that he had predeceased his wife. (However, see his comments on Yuya's mummy mask, given above.) Lid (on left in bottom photo) is from Yuya's canopic chest viewed from above.

Photo Credit: top photos from Theodore M. Davis, The Tomb of Iouiya and Touiyou (London, 1907), pl.s X, XVI. Bottom photo showing the lid of Yuya's canopic chest and Tuyu's canopic jar with embalmed viscera from James Edward Quibell's The Tomb of Yuaa and Thuiu. Catalogue Général du Musée du Caire 51001-51191 (Cairo: IFAO, 1908), pl. XVI.

Inlaid Wooden "Jewelry Coffer" --CG 51118

         Chest of inlaid wood decorated with gold, ebony, white and red-dyed ivory, and blue faience tiles. The sides are decorated at the bottom with gilded ankh, djed, and was symbols (for Life, Stability, and Power, respectively) set against a background of fine, stained red linen. The names of Tiye and Amenhotep III, the daughter and son-in-law of Yuya and Tuyu, appear on the sides. Lower photo: the dual cartouches of Nebmaatre-Amenhotep III also appear on the lid of the box above gilded representations of Heh, (the god of "millions of years," i.e. eternity) kneeling on nub signs. 

Photo Credit: (Top photo)  from Wonders of the Past (Wise & Co., 1937,)  facing page 330. This resembles Howard Carter's painting in Davis's The Tomb of Iouiya and Touiyou (London, 1907) but is actually a color-tinted photograph. (Lower photo) from the Egyptian Museum of Antiquities website.

Wooden Openwork Chair
CG 51111

Lion footed chair with figures of Bes (the god of health) and Taweret (the goddess of childbirth) standing on nub-signs on the back panel.

Photo Credits: Three views of wooden openwork chair from the National Gallery of Art.

         Another wooden coffer, bearing the name of Amenhotep III on the lid. It is decorated on the sides with the ankh, djed, and was symbols set against a backing of inlaid blue faience tiles. The top, made of two folding leaves, is decorated with two representations of the god Heh (the god of "millions of years," i.e. eternity) kneeling on nub-signs and bearing cartouches of Amenhotep III on their heads. 

Photo Credit: Wonders of the Past (Wise & Co., 1937,)  facing page 330. This resembles Howard
Carter's painting in Davis's The Tomb of Iouiya and Touiyou (London, 1907) but is actually a
color tinted photograph.

Chair Inscribed for Sitamen--CG 51113

         Gilded wooden chair presented to Yuya and Tuyu by their granddaughter Sitamen, daughter/wife of Amenhotep III. The modeled gesso and gilt decoration on the back panel of the chair consists of a winged sun disc with the place-name Edfu (capitol of the Horus nome of Upper Egypt, approximately 65 miles north of Aswan) on either side. Below this appears a scene showing a dual image of Sitamen receiving gifts of gold necklaces from female servants. The accompanying inscription above the seated princess gives her name: "The eldest daughter of the king whom he loves, Sitamen." The text inscribed above the servants describes the offering of gold from "the lands of the south." 
         In his book Tombs, Temples and Ancient Art, Joseph Lindon Smith humorously recounts how the Empress Eugenie, while visiting KV 46 during its clearance, unknowingly horrified the excavators by seating herself in this chair. Incredibly, the three-thousand year old wood remained strong enough to support the weight of the elderly Empress, and no damage was done to this priceless antiquity from the era of Amenhotep III. For close-up views of chair decoration, see James Edward Quibell's The Tomb of Yuaa and Thuiu. Catalogue Général du Musée du Caire 51001-51191 (Cairo: IFAO, 1908), pl.s XL (showing inner chair back), XLI (showing chair arm decoration), and XLIII (showing inner chair decoration.) 

Photo Credit: (Left) Enlargement of carved chair-arm decoration, perhaps in the likness of Sitamen
herself. Photo courtesy of Alexandre Herrero Pardo.(Right) From the Egyptian Museum of Antiquities.

In The Egyptian Museum of Antiquities, Cairo
Shabtis of Yuya and Tuyu
CG 51024-36  & CG 51037-40

          Fourteen shabtis inscribed for Yuya and four inscribed for Tuyu were discovered in KV 46. (One uninscribed shabti was also found in the tomb.) Each was inscribed with the shabti text from Chapter Six of The Book of the Dead--the magical spell for reanimating the statuettes in the Underworld. Yuya's shabtis were made of expensive wood, including ebony and cedar. Tuyu's were of wood plaited with gold and silver. Along with these were found fifteen painted shabti boxes and assorted miniature tools for the shabti work-force to use in the Underworld. These tools (CG 51034-63) consisted of tiny yokes, hoes, picks, and a brick-mold--this latter item being very unusual for inclusion in shabti tool kits (click here for photo of miniature tools from Davis's The Tomb of Iouiya and Touiyou [London, 1907,]  pl. XXI.)

Photo Credits: Photo of KV 46 shabti display at the Egyptian Museum of Antiquities, Cairo, Egypt, by Hans Ollermann.