Gilded Coffin and Funerary Mask of Tjuya
By STAN PARCHIN
May 7, 2010
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| Egyptian, New Kingdom, Dynasty 18 (ca. 1390-1353 B.C.). Gilded Coffin of Tjuya. Gilded wood, obsidian, calcite and colored glass. L. 218.5 cm; W. 67.5 cm; H. 100.8 cm. Thebes, Valley of the Kings, Tomb of Yuya and Tjuya (KV 46). Egyptian Museum, Cairo. |
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| Egyptian, New Kingdom, Dynasty 18 (ca. 1390-1353 B.C.). Gilded Coffin of Tjuya. Gilded wood, obsidian, calcite and colored glass. L. 218.5 cm; W. 67.5 cm; H. 100.8 cm. Thebes, Valley of the Kings, Tomb of Yuya and Tjuya (KV 46). Egyptian Museum, Cairo. |
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| Egyptian, New Kingdom, Dynasty 18 (ca. 1390-1353 B.C.). Gilded Funerary Mask of Tjuya. Gilded cartonnage, obsidian, calcite, faience and colored glass. H. 43.1 cm; W. 31.1 cm; D. 29.5 cm. Thebes, Valley of the Kings, Tomb of Yuya and Tjuya (KV 46). Egyptian Museum, Cairo. |
Yuya and Tjuya were the parents of Queen Tiye, the Great Royal Wife of Pharaoh Amenhotep III (r. 1390-1353 B.C.) and the grandmother of Tutankhamun (r. 1332-1323 B.C.). Commoners of high social rank from Akhmim, they were possibly foreigners by birth. Yuya's titles included Master of the Horse, Commander of Chariotry and Overseer of the Cattle of Min, the Egyptian goddess of fertility. Tjuya was Chief Lady of the Harem and a priestess of Amun, Hathor and Min. Because of the couple's royal alliance, they were buried in the Valley of the Kings. Partially plundered in antiquity, the tomb was discovered with their well-preserved mummies by archaeologist James Quibell in 1905. His find yielded Tjuya's magnificent Gilded Coffin and Funerary Mask (both ca. 1390-1352 B.C.) as well as other works on display in Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs. The ritual objects' elaborate designs attest to Yuya and Tjuya's importance at Amenhotep III's flourishing imperial court.
Gilded Coffin of Tjuya
Tjuya was interred within two nested anthropoid coffins inside a shrine-shaped stone sarcophagus upon a sledge. Their placement in the back of the tomb suggests that she predeceased her husband. The outer coffin's remarkable lid, thrown aside by ancient thieves, and its trough are covered almost entirely in reddish gold. Tjuya's broad smiling face is framed by a fashionable tripartite wig. Its eyes are made of obsidian, calcite and blue glass inlays. Each of the colorful floral collar's fasteners is shaped like the god Horus' falcon head. Tjuya's empty clenched fists are crossed over her chest in the standard position of Osiris, the god of the afterlife. A simple inlaid bracelet adorns her right wrist.
The glistening lid's external imagery features the sky goddess Nut and her extended wings, numerous magical incantations and many of Tjuya's titles. Depicted on the trough are Thoth (the god of wisdom), Anubis (associated with embalming) and Horus' four sons. At the coffin's head and feet are the goddesses Nephthys and Isis, protectors of Tjuya's mummy. Two djed pillars representing stability appear beneath the latter deity.
Gilded Funerary Mask of Tjuya
Discovered broken in half and since restored, Tjuya's lifelike Gilded Funerary Mask was placed over her head, shoulders and upper chest, its faint charming smile resembling the slight grin of her coffin lid's likeness. Made of cartonnage (linen stiffened with plaster), its narrow almond-shaped eyes are inlaid with obsidian, calcite and green faience. The eyebrows and cosmetic lines are composed of dark blue glass in imitation of lapis lazuli. Traces of a lotus blossom can be seen in the effigy's floral diadem or headband. Sections of the mummy's resin-covered shroud remain attached to the mask, thus obscuring parts of its striated wig and collar. The original appearance of Tjuya's Gilded Funerary Mask was meant to simulate that of a costly solid gold one reserved for a royal burial.
Sources
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Hawass, Zahi. Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs (exh. cat.). Washington, D.C.: National Geographic Society, 2005, 25-28, 128-131.
Hornung, Erik and Betsy M. Bryan (eds.), et al. The Quest for Immortality: Treasures of Ancient Egypt (exh. cat.). Washington, D.C.: National Gallery of Art, 2002, 119-123.
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