Tuya (queen)

Tuya (also called Tuy or more rarely Mut-Tuya or Muty; in transliteration from hieroglyphic, Twy, Twjȝ, or Twyȝ, as well as Mwt-Twjȝ, ; in cuneiform texts from the Hittite correspondence, Tūya, SALTu-u-ia. ) was the wife of Pharaoh Seti I of the Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt and mother of Tia, Ramesses II, and possibly Henutmire.

She was the daughter of Raia (Rʿjȝ), Lieutenant in the Chariotry, by his wife Ruya or Tuya (the name is partly broken: [R/T]wjȝ). Seti I and Tuya's daughter Tia (Ṯjȝ) was married to a high-ranking civil servant who was also called Tia (Ṯjȝ), the son of Amenwahsu (Jmn-wȝḥ-sw). The vast majority of Tuya's attestations as queen date to the reign of her son, making it less than completely certain that she bore the title of King's Great Wife during the reign of her husband. On the other hand, as mother of king's only known son, she might well have become Seti's chief queen, unlike another spouse, the royal daughter Tanodjmy.

As the mother of Ramesses II, Tuya enjoyed a privileged existence of a respected king's mother. Ramesses dedicated a monumental structure within his mortuary temple, the Ramesseum, to his mother, and also constructed a fine new tomb for her in the section of the Valley of the Queens that he developed for the burials of the women in his family. Following the peace treaty between Egypt and Hatti in Year 21 of Ramesses II (1259 BC according to the "Low Chronology"), Tuya sent congratulatory letters to the Hittite great king Ḫattušili III and to his queen Puduḫepa, whom she addressed as her symbolic "brother" and "sister," respectively. However, by the time of the inauguration of Ramesses II's temple at Abu Simbel in Year 24 (1256 BC), Tuya appears to have been dead.

Monuments and inscriptions

 * Statue, Vatican Museum no. 28 with figure of Henutmire. The inscription identifies Queen Tuya as: Mother of the King of South and North Egypt, Queen Mother of the King of South and North Egypt (even of) the Horus-Falcon, Strong Bull, Lord of Both Lands, Usermaatre Setepenre, Lord of Crowns, Ramesses II, given life like Re; The God's Wife and Great Royal Wife, Lady of Both Lands, Tuya, may she live.


 * At the Ramesseum, fragments of North Side-Chapel of Queen Mother Tuya were found. Ramesses II had this chapel dedicated to his mother. A scene in this chapel records the name of Tuya's father and mother.


 * The Ramesseum contains scenes of the Divine Birth of the Pharaoh.


 * A statue and base block, found in Tanis but originally from Piramesse. Her titles are given as Hereditary Princess, Chief of the Harem, greatly favoured, God's Wife and Queen Mother, Great Royal Wife, etc.


 * In Abydos Tuya's name appears on fragments of a limestone statue and in texts in Ramesses II's temple.


 * In the Ramesseum Tuya's name appears on fragments of a colossus and in scenes on the main (central) doorway into the great hypostyle hall.


 * A statue inscribed with the name and titles of Tuya was found at Medinet Habu, but likely originated from the Ramesseum.


 * Queen Tuya appears on two of the collosi flanking the entrance to the temple at Abu Simbel.


 * A sandstone lintel from Deir el-Medina records the names of Ramesses II and Tuya.


 * A jamb now in Vienna (Inv. 5091) shows Ramesses II followed by Tuya, making an offering to Osiris.


 * A carved alabaster canopic jar stopper in the form of her head, today resides in the collection of the Luxor Museum.


 * ̈Stela found at Kafr el-Gebel (3 km south of Giza), showing her together with the overseer of the treasury Tia and his wife Tia (a daughter of Tuya).

Death and burial
Tuya likely died in or soon after Year 22 of Ramesses' reign and was buried in an impressive tomb on the north side of the main wadi of the Valley of the Queens (QV80). In her tomb, Tuya "was stripped of the first part of her name to become plain Tuya for eternity; the loss of the prefix Mut- suggests that her death had ended in an almost divine earthly status."

In popular culture
Because the Pharaoh of the Exodus is popularly identified as Ramses II, Tuya often appears in adaptations of the Book of Exodus:

Queen Tuya has been first portrayed by actress Irene Martin in Cecil B. DeMille's The Ten Commandments, as one of Bithiah's maidservants famous for quoting "Bithiah could charm tears from a crocodile."

In The Prince of Egypt she is the loving adoptive mother of Moses, voiced by Helen Mirren. However, she is only credited as "The Queen."

She is portrayed by Sigourney Weaver in the 2014 Ridley Scott film Exodus: Gods and Kings.

In 2015, in the Brazilian television series Os Dez Mandamentos, Queen Tuya is played by actress Angelina Muniz.