The magnificent Queen Tiye
Queen Tiye, the Great Royal Wife of Amenhotep II of the 18th Dynasty, Egypt. Dorothea Arnold (1996: 7) observes: “Amenhotep seems to have lived surrounded by powerful women…[who] played prominent roles in various ceremonies” and singles out the king’s royal wife, Queen Tiye; “… a powerful force in her husband’s reign, shown at the king’s side in monumental statues…she seems to have established a role for herself at both secular and religious ceremonies.” This is furthered by Joyce Tyldesley (1998: 24); “[Tiye] became the first consort to be regularly depicted beside her husband and the first queen whose name was consistently linked with that of the king on both official inscriptions and private objects.” Tiye became such an influential religious symbol in Amenhotep III’s reign that she was deified and a temple was built in Sedeinga, Nubia in her honour. Arnold (1998: 7) writes that Tiye was, ‘venerated as a living goddess.” Tyldesley(1998: 26) suggests that Amenhotep had ‘a deep affection for Tiye’ as the prominence he allowed her was ‘unprecedented’ and that he, “made a habit of linking her name to his on all possible occasions.”
This pre-eminence began with a collection of marriage scarabs (see previous post) that were sent throughout the empire to announce the marriage to Amnehotep III to a commoner, Tiye. Kozloff (2012: 100) refers to this sort of announcement as an unprecedented introduction of the new queen and that the scarabs were “solely dedicated to her”.
As her daughter-in-law, Nefertiti would certainly have come under the wing of the established stateswoman, Queen Tiye. Berman (1998: 7) goes as far as to state that Tiye “provided the model for Nefertiti in the reign of Akhenaten…” and Tyldesley (2018: 4) follows with, “Tiy…developed the role of the politically active consort and queen mother, with Nefertiti merely following her lead.” This accounts from the array of statues of Nefertiti in a range of non-traditional stances. Queen Tiye ‘effectively abandoned traditional queenly reticence and stood alongside rather than behind her husband…” (Tyldesley, 1998: 5) Kozloff (2012: 100) comments that, “No eighteenth dynasty woman was more lavishly attired than ….Tiy. Statues show her wearing exquisitely pleated linen robes, ornate jewellery and complex headdresses.” A precursor of Nefertiti’s famed blue crown?
Tiye certainly had a significant role to play during the role of her husband Amenhotep III, but also of her son’s rule at Amarna. She continues to beguile us from beyond the grave. She is one of the bodies found in KV35, a cache of mummies that intrigues and tantalises archaeologists as they try to determine the identity of the famed mummy of KV55. It seems that Queen Tiye still has stories to tell.
