Tomb KV46 in the Valley of the Kings is the tomb of Yuya and his wife Tjuyu, the parents of Queen Tiye, Anen, and possibly Ay. It was discovered in February 1905 by James E. Quibell under the sponsorship of Theodore M. Davis.
Layout
KV 46 consists of a 15-step staircase leading to a descending corridor, a further set of short stairs, a second corridor with stairs and niches, and a rectangular burial chamber, the western third of which is deeper than the rest of the floor. The walls of the tomb are not decorated and were not smoothed, possibly due to the poor quality of the limestone; the only markings on the walls are black dots apart on the smoother walls; they may be mason's marks.
Location and discovery
KV46 was discovered on 6 February 1905 in excavations undertaken by James Quibell on behalf of Theodore Davis. Davis' 1902-1903 excavation season had discovered the tombs of Thutmose IV and Hatshepsut in a small side valley and excavations resumed in this area on 17 December 1904. Finding that nothing had been uncovered upon his arrival in January 1905, excavations shifted to an as-yet unexplored area between the tombs of Ramesses III and Ramesses XI. Despite characterising the location as "most unpromising", excavation commenced on 25 January 1905. On 6 February Davis was shown the first step of the tomb cutting by his excited foreman and workers and by the evening of 12 February the door was completely exposed. The door and decorated lintel were cut into the solid rock and measured. The doorway had been blocked by stones cemented with mud plaster but was open for the top, indicating that the tomb had been opened and probably robbed in antiquity. Despite it being nearly dark, Davis and Arthur Weigall, the new Chief Inspector of Antiquities peered through the gap in the blocking. They saw a steeply declining corridor and Davis spotted a cane lying close to the door. Lacking a ladder, a small boy was lifted in to retrieve the item; he returned with a stone scarab and the yoke of a chariot in addition to the cane. That evening, Davis showed these items to Gaston Maspero who, intrigued both by the items and the identity of the tomb's owner, asked to be present at the entry into the tomb the next day.
Investigation
On 13 February, after taking down the blocking, Davis, Maspero, and Weigall entered the tomb. Quibell was not present as he was at Edfu acting as the official guide of the Duke of Connaught. After descending down the steep corridor, a blocked and plastered doorway stamped with seals was encountered; this too had been breached at the top in antiquity. On either side of the doorway were pottery bowls containing the remains of the mud plaster used to seal the blocking. Catching glimpses of gold glittering in the candlelight, the trio took down the top course of the blocking and entered the burial chamber. Davis describes the first moments:
The chamber was as dark as dark can be and extremely hot... We held up our candles, but they gave so little light and so dazzled our eyes that we could see nothing except the glitter of gold.
Looking to identify the owner of the tomb, they inspected a large wooden coffin on which Maspero read the name 'Iouiya'; in the excitement, Davis nearly touched the candles to the black resin surface. Realising how close they had come to a possible firey death, they made a hurried exit and returned with electric lights. The space was filled with a jumble of objects including sarcophagi, gilded and silvered coffin sets, canopic boxes, a chariot, beds, chairs and other items of furniture, and various vessels. The rifled but intact mummies of Yuya and Tjuyu were still lying in their coffins. The risk of robbery was felt to be very real despite the presence of guards, so the contents were planned, recorded, photographed, and packed for transport to the Egyptian Museum in Cairo as quickly as possible. On 3 March the entire contents of the tomb had reached the river; they were loaded onto a train the next day and arrived under armed guard into the museum.
Contents
Until the discovery of Tutankhamun's tomb in 1922, this was the richest and best preserved tomb found in the valley, and the first to be found with major items in situ. Differences in the embalming techniques used for Yuya and Tjuyu indicates that they died at different times and were placed in the tomb accordingly. KV46 was robbed in antiquity, most probably three times: a first time shortly after the closure of the tomb, and then twice during the construction of the adjacent tombs KV3 and KV4. During the first looting, only perishable products such as oil were removed. The second and third times however the looters took most of the jewellery and linen not associated with the mummies.
