Tuja (19th dynasty)

Tuja in hieroglyphics

19th dynasty

Tuja
Twj3

Canopic lid of the Tuja, Luxor Museum

Tuja , also Mut-Tuja , (* 1325 BC?; † 1258 BC) was an ancient Egyptian queen and great royal wife (Hemet-nisut-weret) of Seti I in the 19th dynasty . She also held the title of Consort of Amun .

Origin and family

Tuja was the daughter of an officer of the chariot troops called Raia and his wife Ruia. Both are known from a relief block from Medinet Habu .

She was married to Seti I before his enthronement . With the coronation of her husband, she rose to become the Great Royal Wife and also carried the title of King and Mother of God .

Tuja and Sethos I have proven to have the following children: the sons Nebchasetnebet , who died in childhood, and the later Pharaoh Ramses II , as well as the daughter Tia . Henutmire was long considered another daughter of the two. However, she was actually a daughter of Ramses II raised to the rank of Great Royal Wife.

Its meaning

Tuja was co-regent of her son Ramses II, who gave her the title Courage -Tuja. Like Ramses himself, she was elevated to a divine status. In doing so, she reminded of the divine birth of her son, which is also indicated by the remains of a birth legend in Medinet Habu , which were used as spolia .

She must have lived in the 21st year of Ramses II's reign. In that year the ruler concluded a peace treaty with the Hittites and in the following years letters were exchanged between Ramses II and his court with the Hittite royal house. Tuja also wrote letters, but probably passed away the following year. Wine jugs from her grave date to the year 22. Tuja was buried in the Valley of the Queens in grave QV80 .

Monuments

To the north of the Ramesseum , Seti I had a double temple built, which was initially probably dedicated to Amenhotep I and his mother Ahmose-Nefertari . Ramses II later had it renewed and rededicated for his mother Tuja and his wife Nefertari . According to Dieter Arnold , it may be a Mammisi (birthplace). Only the floor plan of the small temple has survived, as it was destroyed by Pharaoh Hakoris in the late period .

Several statues of Tuja are attested. The two most famous and largest sculptures are to the side of the colossal royal statues in front of the Abu Simbel temple . From the time of Seti I. A statue head comes Qurna . According to Diodor , a statue of her is said to have flanked a Ramses colossus in the courtyard of the Ramesseum; more are now in the museums of Cairo (JE 37484), the Vatican (inventory no. 22678) and in the Louvre (E 27.132).

reception

The figure of Tuja appears in various period films, most of which are film adaptations of the story of Moses . In the cartoon The Prince of Egypt , the role is originally spoken by Helen Mirren . In Exodus: Gods and Kings (2014), Sigourney Weaver plays Tuja.

literature

Aidan Dodson , Dyan Hilton: The Complete Royal Families of Ancient Egypt. Thames & Hudson, London 2004, ISBN 0-500-05128-3 , p. 175.
Hourig Sourouzian: Tuja. In: Wolfgang Helck (Hrsg.): Lexikon der Ägyptologie (LÄ). Volume VI, Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 1986, ISBN 3-447-02663-4 , Sp. 796-797.
Joyce Tyldesley : The Queens of Ancient Egypt. Koehler & Amelang, Leipzig 2008, ISBN 978-3-7338-0358-2 , pp. 143-145.

Web links

Commons : Tuja - collection of images, videos and audio files

Notes and individual references

^ Aidan Dodson, Dyan Hilton: The Complete Royal Families of Ancient Egypt. Thames & Hudson, London 2010. p. 162.
^ Gabriele Höber-Kamel: Sethos I. - Renewer of creation. In: Kemet issue 2/2007. Kemet-Verlag, Berlin 2007, ISSN 0943-5972 , p. 5.
^ Thomas Schneider : Lexicon of the Pharaohs . Albatros, Düsseldorf 2002, ISBN 3-491-96053-3 , p. 270.
^ Heike C. Schmidt, Joachim Willeitner: Nefertari. Wife of Ramses' II (= Zabern's illustrated books on archeology , vol. 10 ). 2nd edition, von Zabern, Mainz 1997, ISBN 3-8053-1474-4 , p. 27
^ Rainer Stadelmann : Ramesseum. In: Wolfgang Helck (Hrsg.): Lexikon der Ägyptologie (LÄ). Volume V, Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 1984, ISBN 3-447-02489-5 , Sp. 91-92.
↑ Edith Bernhauer: Hathor pillars and Hathor pillars. Ancient Egyptian architectural elements from the New Kingdom to the Late Period. Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 2005, ISBN 3-447-05214-7 , pp. 79-80.
^ Dieter Arnold: Lexicon of Egyptian architecture. Albatros, Düsseldorf 2000, p. 212.
^ Richard H. Wilkinson: The world of temples in ancient Egypt. Theiss, Darmstadt 2005, p. 186.
↑ Hourig Sourouzian: Tuja. In: Wolfgang Helck (Hrsg.): Lexikon der Ägyptologie (LÄ). Volume VI, Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 1986, ISBN 3-447-02663-4 , Sp. 796-797.

personal data
SURNAME	Tuja
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Wife of Pharaoh Sethos I, mother of Pharaoh Ramses II
DATE OF BIRTH	around 1325 BC Chr.
DATE OF DEATH	1258 BC Chr.

[1] Aidan Dodson, Dyan Hilton: The Complete Royal Families of Ancient Egypt. Thames & Hudson, London 2010. p. 162.

[2] Gabriele Höber-Kamel: Sethos I. - Renewer of creation. In: Kemet issue 2/2007. Kemet-Verlag, Berlin 2007, ISSN 0943-5972 , p. 5.

[3] Thomas Schneider : Lexicon of the Pharaohs . Albatros, Düsseldorf 2002, ISBN 3-491-96053-3 , p. 270.

[4] Heike C. Schmidt, Joachim Willeitner: Nefertari. Wife of Ramses' II (= Zabern's illustrated books on archeology , vol. 10 ). 2nd edition, von Zabern, Mainz 1997, ISBN 3-8053-1474-4 , p. 27

[5] Rainer Stadelmann : Ramesseum. In: Wolfgang Helck (Hrsg.): Lexikon der Ägyptologie (LÄ). Volume V, Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 1984, ISBN 3-447-02489-5 , Sp. 91-92.

[6] Edith Bernhauer: Hathor pillars and Hathor pillars. Ancient Egyptian architectural elements from the New Kingdom to the Late Period. Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 2005, ISBN 3-447-05214-7 , pp. 79-80.

[7] Dieter Arnold: Lexicon of Egyptian architecture. Albatros, Düsseldorf 2000, p. 212.

[8] Richard H. Wilkinson: The world of temples in ancient Egypt. Theiss, Darmstadt 2005, p. 186.

[9] Hourig Sourouzian: Tuja. In: Wolfgang Helck (Hrsg.): Lexikon der Ägyptologie (LÄ). Volume VI, Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 1986, ISBN 3-447-02663-4 , Sp. 796-797.