What is "tyti"

Tyti was an ancient Egyptian queen of the 20th dynasty. It was uncertain which pharaoh was her husband, but he can now only be Ramesses III based on new evidence published in the 2010 issue of the Journal of Egyptian Archaeology (JEA). Her titles shown that she was the daughter, sister, wife and mother of kings. According to one theory she was married to Ramesses X, both she and her husband were the children of Ramesses IX, and their son was Ramesses XI. But another theory by Jehon Grist placed her earlier in the 20th dynasty and identifies her as a daughter-wife of Ramesses III and the mother of Ramesses IV, based on the similarities in style of her tomb and those of princes who lived during this period. However, judging from the age of their child this would mean that Ramesses married his daughter before he ascended the throne, and father-daughter marriages occurred only between pharaohs and their daughters. Tyti is depicted with a type of crown that is, according to one theory, an attribute of princess-queens (19th dynasty princess-queen Nebettawy was shown with this crown and 18th dynasty Sitamun wore an earlier version of it), but it is weak evidence.

Now, however, new scholarly research printed in the 2010 issue of JEA clearly establishes that Queen Tyti was in fact Ramesses III's wife based on certain copies of parts of the tomb robbery papyri (or Papyrus BM EA 10052)—made by Anthony Harris—which discloses confessions made by Egyptian tomb robbers who broke into Tyti's tomb and emptied it of its jewellery. Tyti is named as a queen of pharaoh Ramesses III which means that she was most likely king Ramesses IV's own mother since Ramesses VI is known to be the son of another queen of Ramesses III named Iset Ta-Hemdjert. Even the Egyptologist Aidan Dodson who doubted Grist's theory on the identity of Tyti's royal husband now accepts this new evidence since it comes from newly deciphered notes of this tomb robbery papyrus made by Anthony Harris.

Given her place as the wife of Ramesses III, Leblanc has conjectured that Tyti is the mother of Khaemwaset, Amenherkhepshef and Ramesses-Meryamen. This is based on similarities with regard to their decorative programs.