KV 46
Yuya and Thuyu
Entryway A
See entire tombThe entrance consists of a stairway of fifteen steps descending steeply to corridor B. The final step is not as wide as those preceding it.
Gate B
See entire tombThe gate was originally blocked with stone, covered with plaster, and stamped with the official necropolis seal (a jackal and nine captives). The soffit and threshold slope downward from front to back.
Corridor B
See entire tombOn the walls of this sloping corridor are black dots spaced at 40 cm (16 inch) intervals that divide the walls into squares. These were probably intended for finishing the walls, but this was never done.
Gate C
See entire tombA stairway begins at the front of the gate and continues through stairwell C.
Stairwell C
See entire tombA steep stairwell descends the length of the corridor. Long recesses are cut along the left (north) and right (south) walls. On the walls are black dots spaced at 40 cm (16 inch) intervals, dividing them into squares. The ceiling was unfinished.
Gate J
See entire tombWhen discovered, this gate was also found blocked.
Burial chamber J
See entire tombThe chamber is roughly rectangular, with a sunken area at its rear end. It lies a meter (three feet) below the floor level of the front of the chamber. The ceiling of the chamber was unfinished.
Chamber plan:
RectangularRelationship to main tomb axis:
PerpendicularChamber layout:
Flat floor, no pillarsFloor:
One levelCeiling:
Flat
About
About
KV 46 is located in the southeast branch of the main Wadi. The tomb consists of a staircase entryway (A), a corridor (B) leading to a stepped descent (C), and a burial chamber (J). The walls of the tomb were neither smoothed, plastered nor decorated.
Noteworthy features:
This non-royal tomb was found with much of its burial equipment intact.
Site History
KV 46 belonged to Yuya and Thuyu, parents of Tiy, wife of Amenhetep III. According to differences in embalming techniques, Yuya and Thuyu died at different times. It has been suggested that three tomb robberies took place. The first occurred shortly after the official closure of the tomb, since perishable products, like ointments, were removed, and seals of containers were removed in order to inspect their contents. A second and third robbery may have taken place during the excavation of KV 3 and KV 4, based on the evidence of sealings that were found. The entrance of the tomb was filled with debris from these two tombs. The tomb was thereafter inaccessible until 1905 when Quibell discovered it.
Dating
This site was used during the following period(s):
Exploration
Conservation
Conservation History
A metal gate has been installed in gate B and a rubble retaining wall has been constructed around the top of the entrance stairs.
Site Condition
The walls of the tomb are rough and no plaster or decoration was applied to their surface.
Hieroglyphs
Thuyu
Queen's Father Thuyu
Twiw
Yuya
Queen's Mother Yuya
ywiA
Articles
Anatomy of a Tomb: Ancient and Modern Designations for Chambers and Features
Funerary Equipment
Bibliography
Davis, Theodore M., Gaston Maspero, Percy Newberry and Howard Carter. The Tomb of Iouiya and Touiyou (= Theodore M. Davis' Excavations, Biban el Moluk, 3). London, 1907.
Fekri, Magdi Mohammed. Une nouvelle enquête sur les tombes civiles et enonymes de la Vallée des Rois. In: Zahi Hawass, (ed.), Egyptology at the Dawn of the Twenty-First Century: Proceedings of the Eighth International Congress of Egyptologists, Cairo, 2000. Two vols. Cairo: American University in Cairo Press, 1003. Pp. 180-184.
Helck, Wolfgang. Königsgräbertal. Wolfgang Helck, Eberhart Otto and Wolfhart Westendorf (eds.). Lexikon der Ägyptologie. 7 vols. Wiesbaden, 1972-1992. 3: 522.
Lilyquist, Christine. Descriptive Notes from the Valley. In: Elizabeth Goring, Nicholas Reeves and John Ruffle (eds.), Chief of Seers: Egyptian Studies in Memory of Cyril Aldred. London: Kegan Paul, (1997): 201-206.
Porter, Bertha and Rosalind Moss. Topographical Bibliography of Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphic Text, Reliefs, and Paintings. I, 2. The Theban Necropolis: RoyalTombs and Smaller Cemeteries. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1964. Pp. 562-564.
Quibell, J. E. Report on Work Done in Upper Egypt during the Winter 1904-1905. Annales du Service des Antiquités de l’Égypte 7 (1906): 8-9.
Quibell, J. E. The Tomb of Yuaa and Thuiu (=Cataloque générale des antiquités égyptiennes du Musée du Caire. Cairo (with a few volumes published elsewhere), 43). Cairo, 1908.
Reeves, Carl Nicholas. Valley of the Kings: The Decline of a Royal Necropolis (= Studies in Egyptology). London: KPI, 1990. Pp. 148-153.
Thomas, Elizabeth. The Royal Necropoleis of Thebes. Princeton: privately printed, 1966. P. 143.
