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.), meaning "the admirable one" or "one who is admirable", 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. It is worth noting that Tuya is called King's Ornament (ḫkr.t-nswt) in the Ramesseum. The meaning of this title is similar to that of a court lady-in-waiting. Obsomer believes that, since according to Troy's compilation this title was no longer held by queens after the Eleventh Dynasty, Tuya's title was very likely in fact "mistress of the King's Ornaments" (ḥnwt ḫkr.t-nswt), the first part of which is broken off and has not survived. However, Queen Tiye of the Eighteenth Dynasty very clearly held this title; therefore Tuya was very likely also a King's Ornament. In Tuya's case, this was probably a title she held during the reign of Horemheb and retained honorifically thereafter. Although during the reign of Seti I it cannot be proven that Tuya held any...