Akhenaten (Part 10): Queen Tiye’s Retirement

By 1351 BCE, regnal year 12, Akhenaten’s mother Tiye had been a royal lady for fifty years. Now in semi-retirement, living away from the political spotlight, Tiye’s public visibility was much lower than previously. Nevertheless, many artifacts survive to record her later life; and in year 12, the Queen returned to the forefront, when she visited her son in his new city…

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Tiye’s Visit to Amarna

120. Tiye visit Amarna (Davies 3 plate viii)b
Tiye and Akhenaten come to the maru (“viewing place”); before them, Huya (the Queen’s steward) opens the doors; behind, Baketaten (the Queen’s last daughter) follows her mother and elder brother (Tomb of Huya: Davies 1905).
120. Tiye banquet Huya (Arnold 1996 fig 110)
Tiye (right) enjoys a banquet with Akhenaten and Nefertiti (left); royal daughters accompany both sets of parents. Between the groups, Huya (centre-right0 receives a cooked bird from a servant (Tomb of Huya: Davies 1905).
120. Tiye face Gurob front view Arnold 1996 Art-edit
The “Ghurob Head,” probably depicting Tiye (Berlin Museum).
120. Tiye face Gurob side view Arnold 1996 Art fig 26
Profile of the Ghurob Head (Berlin Museum).
120. Tiye face Berlin g_o_teje_03
The Ghurob Head with its Hathor crown restored (Berlin Museum).
120. Tiye as Hathor menat pendant bronze MFA semna sudan
A menat pendant (musical instrument), depicting Tiye as Hathor (Boston MFA).
120. Taweret statues (Wilkinson 185)
Taweret, “the Great,” a mother goddess (left); Tiye as Taweret (right) (Wilkinson 2003).

Kohl tubes with the names of Amunhotep III and Tiye, faience (Wikipedia; Kozloff and Bryan 1992).

120. Kohl jar faience MMA
Kohl Jar with the names of Amunhotep III and Tiye (Metropolitan Museum of Art).
120. Tiye Amunhotep III Amarna (BM)
Stela depicting Amunhotep III and Tiye, from Amarna (British Museum).
120. Misc Objects (Queens of Egypt) (5)
Faience book plate/tag from Amarna, with names of Amunhotep III and Tiye (British Museum).

Bibliography

Dorothea Arnold “Artistic Revolution” in Dorothea Arnold (ed.) The Royal Women of Amarna: Images of Beauty from Ancient Egypt (1996): 7-17. Free download.

John Baines, “The Dawn of the Amarna Age,” in David O’Connor and Eric Cline (eds.), Amenhotep III: Perspectives on His Reign, 1998.

Lawrence M. Berman, “Overview of Amenhotep III and His Reign,” in David O’Connor and Eric Cline (eds.), Amenhotep III: Perspectives on His Reign, 1998.

Betsy M. Bryan, “Antecedents to Amenhotep III,” in David O’Connor and Eric Cline (eds.), Amenhotep III: Perspectives on His Reign, 1998.

Eric H. Cline, “Amenhotep III, the Aegean, and Anatolia,” in David O’Connor and Eric Cline (eds.), Amenhotep III: Perspectives on His Reign, 1998.

Benedict G. Davies, Egyptian Historical Records of the Later Eighteenth Dynasty, vols. IV, V, V, 1992, 1994, 1995.

Aidan Dodson, Amarna Sunrise, 2012.

Rita Freed, Yvonne Markowiz, Sue D’auria (eds.), Pharaohs of the Sun: Akhenaten, Nefertiti, Tutankhamun, 1999.

Green, “The Royal Women of Amarna: Who Was Who,” in Dorothea Arnold (ed.) The Royal Women of Amarna: Images of Beauty from Ancient Egypt (1996): 7-17. Free download.

Raymond Johnson, “Monuments and Monumental Art Under Amenhotep III: Evolution and Meaning,” in David O’Connor and Eric Cline (eds.), Amenhotep III: Perspectives on His Reign, 1998.

Barry Kemp, City of Akhenaten and Nefertiti: Amarna and Its People, 2012.

Arielle P. Kozloff & Betsy M. Bryan (eds.), Egypt’s Dazzling Sun: Amunhotep III and His World, 1992.

Arielle P. Kozloff, “The Decorative and Funerary Arts During the Reign of Amenhotep III,” in David O’Connor and Eric Cline (eds.), Amenhotep III: Perspectives on His Reign, 1998.

William J. Murnane, Texts from the Amarna Period in Egypt, 1995.

William Flinders Petrie, Illahun, Kahun & Ghurob, 1894.

Lana Troy, Patterns of Queenship in Ancient Egyptian Myth and History, 1986.

Christiane Ziegler, Queens of Egypt: from Hetepheres to Cleopatra, 2008.

James M. Weinstein, “The World Abroad: Egypt and the Levant in the Reign of Amenhotep III,” in David O’Connor and Eric Cline (eds.), Amenhotep III: Perspectives on His Reign, 1998.

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  1. KRISTIN THOMPSON
    Reply
    February 1, 2020,

    The bibliography should include Christian Bayer’s magnificent volume, TEJE: EINE IKONOGRAPHISCHE STUDY (Ruhpolding: Verlag Franz Philipp Rutzen, 2014).

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