Egyptian Pharaohs

Tiye

the Great Royal Wife

Tiye was an Egyptian queen active in the 14th c. BC during the New Kingdom period from the state of 18th Dynasty. Died of natural causes.

Historical Note

Commoner-born great wife of Amenhotep III, mother of Akhenaten, grandmother of Tutankhamun. Held real political power — foreign kings wrote to her by name in the Amarna letters. Her tiny carved head from Medinet el-Ghurab is one of the most arresting faces in Egyptian art.

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