Tyti was an

ancient Egypt Ancient Egypt () was a cradle of civilization concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in Northeast Africa. It emerged from prehistoric Egypt around 3150BC (according to conventional Egyptian chronology), when Upper and Lower E ...

ian queen of the 20th Dynasty. A wife and sister of

Ramesses III Usermaatre Meryamun Ramesses III was the second Pharaoh of the Twentieth dynasty of Egypt, Twentieth Dynasty in Ancient Egypt. Some scholars date his reign from 26 March 1186 to 15 April 1155 BC, and he is considered the last pharaoh of the New K ...

and possibly the mother of Ramesses IV.

Place of Tyti in the 20th Dynasty

It was once uncertain which pharaoh was her husband, but he can now be identified as

based on new evidence published in the 2010 issue of the ''

Journal of Egyptian Archaeology The ''Journal of Egyptian Archaeology (JEA)'' is a bi-annual Peer review, peer-reviewed international academic journal published by the Egypt Exploration Society. Covering Egyptology, Egyptological research, the JEA publishes scholarly articles, f ...

'' (JEA). Her titles show that she was the daughter, sister, wife, and mother of kings. In the past, some thought she was married to Ramesses X, and that both she and her husband were the children of

Ramesses IX Neferkare Setepenre Ramesses IX (also written Ramses) (originally named Amon-her-khepshef Khaemwaset) (ruled 1129–1111 BC) was the eighth pharaoh of the Twentieth Dynasty of Egypt. He was the third longest serving king of this Dynasty after ...

, and their son was

Ramesses XI Menmaatre Ramesses XI (also written Ramses and Rameses) reigned from 1107 BC to somewhere between 1078 BC and 1068 BC and is generally considered the tenth and final pharaoh of the Twentieth Dynasty of Egypt and as such, the last king of the Ne ...

but another theory by Jehon Grist placed her earlier in the 20th dynasty and identifies her as a daughter-wife of

and the mother of

Ramesses IV Usermaatre Heqamaatre Setepenamun Ramesses IV (also written Ramses or Rameses) was the third pharaoh of the Twentieth Dynasty of the New Kingdom of Ancient Egypt. He was the second son of Ramesses III and became crown prince when his elder br ...

, based on the similarities in style of her tomb and those of princes who lived during this period. However, judging from the age of their child this would mean that Ramesses married his daughter before he ascended the throne, and father-daughter marriages occurred only between pharaohs and their daughters. Tyti is depicted with a type of crown that is, according to one theory, an attribute of princess-queens (19th dynasty princess-queen Nebettawy was shown with this crown, and 18th dynasty Sitamun wore an earlier version of it). The crown consists of a vulture cap topped by a modius decorated by a number of floral crests. Now, however, new scholarly research printed in the 2010 issue of ''JEA'' clearly establishes that Queen Tyti was in fact Ramesses III's wife based on certain copies of parts of the tomb robbery papyri (or Papyrus BM EA 10052)—made by Anthony Harris—which discloses confessions made by Egyptian tomb robbers who broke into Tyti's tomb and emptied it of its jewellery. Tyti is named as a queen of pharaoh Ramesses III which means that she was most likely King

's own mother since

Ramesses VI Ramesses VI Nebmaatre-Meryamun (sometimes written Ramses or Rameses, also known under his princely name of Amenherkhepshef C) was the fifth ruler of the Twentieth Dynasty of Egypt. He reigned for about eight years in the mid-to-late 12th centur ...

is known to be the son of another queen of Ramesses III named Iset Ta-Hemdjert. Even the Egyptologist Aidan Dodson who doubted Grist's theory on the identity of Tyti's royal husband now accepts this new evidence since it comes from newly deciphered notes of this tomb robbery papyrus made by Anthony Harris. Given her place as the wife of Ramesses III, Leblanc has conjectured that Tyti is the mother of

Khaemwaset Prince Khaemweset (also translated as Khamwese, Khaemwese or Khaemwaset or Setne Khamwas) (c. 1281 BCE - 1225 BCE) was the fourth son of Ramesses II and the second son by his queen Isetnofret. His contributions to Egyptian society were remembered ...

Amenherkhepshef Amenherkhepshef (also Amenherkhepshef D to distinguish him from earlier people of the same name) was an ancient Egyptian prince and a son of Ramesses VI with Queen Nubkhesbed. He lived in the mid 12th century BCE during the Twentieth Dynasty of ...

and Ramesses-Meryamun. This is based on similarities with regard to their decorative programs.Demas, Martha, and Neville Agnew, eds. 2012. Valley of the Queens Assessment Report: Volume 1. Los Angeles, CA: Getty Conservation Institute
Getty Conservation Institute, link to article
/ref> Queen Tyti of Egypt

Tomb QV52

Tyti's tomb is designated QV52 in the

Valley of the Queens The Valley of the Queens is a site in Egypt, in which queens, princes, princesses, and other high-ranking officials were buried from roughly 1560 BC to 1130 BC. Pharaohs were buried in the Valley of the Kings. The Valley of the Queens was known an ...

and her titles were: ''King's Daughter; King's Sister; King's Wife; King's Mother; God's Wife,''Dodson & Hilton, p.194 ''Lady of the Two Lands.'' The tomb had been described by Champollion (tomb 3), Lepsius (number 9), Wilkinson (number 12) and

Hay Hay is grass, legumes, or other herbaceous plants that have been cut and dried to be stored for use as animal fodder, either for large grazing animals raised as livestock, such as cattle, horses, goats, and sheep, or for smaller domesticate ...

(number 2). The tomb consists of a corridor, side chambers, a hall and an inner (burial) chamber.Porter, Bertha and Moss, Rosalind, Topographical Bibliography of Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphic Texts, Statues, Reliefs and Paintings Volume I: The Theban Necropolis, Part 2. Royal Tombs and Smaller Cemeteries, Griffith Institute. 1964, pg 756-8 The corridor has a doorway that opens up to a further stretch of corridor which has been described as an antechamber. The walls are decorated with deities that form pairs with one on the north wall and the other on the south wall. After a seated winged goddess Ma’at, we find the gods

Ptah Ptah ( ; , ; ; ; ) is an ancient Egyptian deity, a creator god, and a patron deity of craftsmen and architects. In the triad of Memphis, he is the husband of Sekhmet and the father of Nefertem. He was also regarded as the father of the ...

(South) and

Thoth Thoth (from , borrowed from , , the reflex of " eis like the ibis") is an ancient Egyptian deity. In art, he was often depicted as a man with the head of an African sacred ibis, ibis or a baboon, animals sacred to him. His feminine count ...

(North) who represent the underworld, then Ra- Harakhti and

Atum Atum (, Egyptian: ''jtm(w)'' or ''tm(w)'', ''reconstructed'' ; Coptic ''Atoum''), sometimes rendered as Atem, Temu, or Tem, is the primordial God in Egyptian mythology from whom all else arose. He created himself and is the father of Shu and ...

who are solar deities, followed by Imset and

Hapy Hapy can refer to: * Hapi (Nile god), an Egyptian river god * Hapy, an Egyptian funerary deity See also * Apis (deity) In ancient Egyptian religion, Apis or Hapis, alternatively spelled Hapi-ankh, was a sacred bull or multiple sacred bulls An ...

and by

Duamutef The four sons of Horus were a group of four deities in ancient Egyptian religion who were believed to protect deceased people in the afterlife. Beginning in the First Intermediate Period of Egyptian history ( 2181–2055 BC), Imsety, Hapy, Duamut ...

and Qebehsenuef, the

Four Sons of Horus The four sons of Horus were a group of four ancient Egyptian deities, deities in ancient Egyptian religion who were believed to protect deceased people in the ancient Egyptian afterlife beliefs, afterlife. Beginning in the First Intermediate Peri ...

. The parade of deities is concluded by

Isis Isis was a major goddess in ancient Egyptian religion whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. Isis was first mentioned in the Old Kingdom () as one of the main characters of the Osiris myth, in which she resurrects her sla ...

and

Nephthys Nephthys or Nebet-Het in ancient Egyptian () was a goddess in ancient Egyptian religion. A member of the Great Ennead of Heliopolis in Egyptian mythology, she was a daughter of Nut and Geb. Nephthys was typically paired with her sister Isis ...

. The decorations in the hall consist of protective deities. Included are for instance the gods Herymaat and Nebneru ("Lord of Terror"). Herymaat represents the rebirth of Queen Tyti. The doorways to the side chambers (or annexes) are decorated with guardians that are reminiscent of the

Book of the Dead The ''Book of the Dead'' is the name given to an Ancient Egyptian funerary texts, ancient Egyptian funerary text generally written on papyrus and used from the beginning of the New Kingdom of Egypt, New Kingdom (around 1550 BC) to around 50 BC ...

. The entrance to the final chamber is decorated with the

. Imset and Duamutef on the south side of the entrance and Hapy and Qebehsenuef on the north side. The decorations or the side chambers include netherworld gods, images of Canopic chests and the Souls of Pe and Nekhen. One of the side chambers also includes a scene showing the Queen as a (male) Iunmutef priest. In the inner chamber the Queen again appears before several deities. The rear wall contains a scene depicting

Osiris Osiris (, from Egyptian ''wikt:wsjr, wsjr'') was the ancient Egyptian deities, god of fertility, agriculture, the Ancient Egyptian religion#Afterlife, afterlife, the dead, resurrection, life, and vegetation in ancient Egyptian religion. He was ...

. He is seated on a throne and assisted by

Neith Neith (, a borrowing of the Demotic (Egyptian), Demotic form , also spelled Nit, Net, or Neit) was an ancient Egyptian deity, possibly of Ancient Libya, Libyan origin. She was connected with warfare, as indicated by her emblem of two crossed b ...

and

Serket Serket /ˈsɜːrˌkɛt/ (Ancient Egyptian: ''srqt'') is the goddess of protection against the venomous stings and bites of scorpions in Egyptian mythology. She was primarily worshiped in Lower Egypt during the Predynastic Period (c. 6000 – c ...

. The tomb was reused during the Third Intermediate Period. A pit was dug in the Inner Chambers and excavations have yielded a variety of funerary items, including sarcophagi and personal items. Ernesto Schiaparelli Ernesto Schiaparelli (; 12 July 1856 – 14 February 1928) was an Italian Egyptologist. Biography Schiaparelli was born on 12 July 1856, in Biella. He found Queen Nefertari's tomb in Deir el-Medina in the Valley of the Queens (1904) and exc ...

Place of Tyti in the 20th Dynasty

Tomb QV52

References

External links