Now in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo.
Tiye is believed to have been originally buried in Akhenaten's royal tomb at Amarna alongside her son and granddaughter, Meketaten, as a fragment from the tomb not long ago was identified as being from her sarcophagus. Her gilded burial shrine (showing her with Akhenaten) ended up in KV55 while shabtis belonging to her were found in Amenhotep III's WV22 tomb.
Her mummified remains was found adjacent to two other mummies in an opposite side chamber of Amenhotep II in KV35 by Victor Loret in 1900. The two other mummies were a young boy who died at around the age of ten, thought to be Webensenu or Prince Thutmose and another, younger unknown woman. All three were found together, lying naked side-by-side and unidentified in a small antechamber of the tomb. They had been extensively damaged by ancient tomb robbers. At first, researchers were unable to identify both female mummies and were instead given names with Tiye being labelled as the 'The Elder Lady' while the other woman was 'The Younger Lady'. Several researchers argued that the Elder Lady was Queen Tiye. Some noted that miniature coffins inscribed with her name were found at the tomb of her grandson, Tutankhamun, as memento from a beloved grandmother. There were also some scholars who were skeptical about this theory such as British scholars Aidan Dodson and Dyan Hilton, who once stated that "it seems very unlikely that her mummy could be the so-called 'Elder Lady' in the tomb of Amenhotep II."
By 2010, DNA analysis, sponsored by the Secretary General of the Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities Zahi Hawass, was able to formally identify the Elder Lady to be Queen Tiye. Also, the strands of her hair found inside Tutankhamun's tomb matched the DNA of the Elder Lady.
Tiye is believed to have been originally buried in Akhenaten's royal tomb at Amarna alongside her son and granddaughter, Meketaten, as a fragment from the tomb not long ago was identified as being from her sarcophagus. Her gilded burial shrine (showing her with Akhenaten) ended up in KV55 while shabtis belonging to her were found in Amenhotep III's WV22 tomb.
Her mummified remains was found adjacent to two other mummies in an opposite side chamber of Amenhotep II in KV35 by Victor Loret in 1900. The two other mummies were a young boy who died at around the age of ten, thought to be Webensenu or Prince Thutmose and another, younger unknown woman. All three were found together, lying naked side-by-side and unidentified in a small antechamber of the tomb. They had been extensively damaged by ancient tomb robbers. At first, researchers were unable to identify both female mummies and were instead given names with Tiye being labelled as the 'The Elder Lady' while the other woman was 'The Younger Lady'. Several researchers argued that the Elder Lady was Queen Tiye. Some noted that miniature coffins inscribed with her name were found at the tomb of her grandson, Tutankhamun, as memento from a beloved grandmother. There were also some scholars who were skeptical about this theory such as British scholars Aidan Dodson and Dyan Hilton, who once stated that "it seems very unlikely that her mummy could be the so-called 'Elder Lady' in the tomb of Amenhotep II."
By 2010, DNA analysis, sponsored by the Secretary General of the Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities Zahi Hawass, was able to formally identify the Elder Lady to be Queen Tiye. Also, the strands of her hair found inside Tutankhamun's tomb matched the DNA of the Elder Lady.
No comments:
Post a Comment