It also suggests that Tiy was revered as a sacred, religious individual, because the statue was found within the temple of Mut, a bisexual goddess who was worshipped as the mother of all creation.
Betsy Bryan, a professor of Egyptian art and archaeology at Johns Hopkins, found the statue and is still excavating at the Mut temple. Initially, Bryan thought the statue depicted another queen, Henuttawy, since a back pillar suggested the object was carved around 1000 B.C.
"The statue, however, when it was removed, revealed itself as a queen of Amenhotep III, whose name appears repeatedly on the statue's crown," said Bryan.
She added, "Tiy was so powerful that, as a widow, she was the recipient of foreign diplomatic letters sent to her from the king of Babylonia in hopes that she would intercede with her son (Akhenaten) on behalf of the foreign interests. Some indications, such as her own portraits in art, suggest that Tiy may have ruled briefly after her husband's death, but this is uncertain."
Tiy was the daughter of Yuaa, a priest of an Egyptian fertility god, Min. He likely was a "foreigner" from Syria. Less is known about her mother, Tuaa, but it is believed that Tuaa was of royal descent, probably from the royal family of Mittani, which was a kingdom in northern Syria.
Tiy married Pharaoh Amenhotep III when she was 12 years old. Her husband, who consulted her regarding state affairs and official policies, acknowledged her intelligence and ambition. The pharaoh supposedly showered Tiy with gifts during her lifetime.
Their son, Akhenaten, began his reign as Amenhotep IV, but later changed his name when he rejected polytheism and chose to worship only one god, Aten, that represented the sun.
Many people thought Akhenaten's beliefs were heretical. The scandal lingered over his successor, King Tutankhamun, the famous boy king who died mysteriously.
Tiy was one of several wives, but Amenhotep III made her his "Great Royal Wife" and chief queen.
Lisa Schwappach-Shirriff, curator of the Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum in California, said that Tiy was "the head honcho of the harem, and the power behind Amenhotep's throne."
Schwappach-Shirriff told Discovery News that it is significant that the statue was found buried within a temple.
"It shows that she indeed had strong religious ties because she was found in a temple, and not just in a public forum," she explained. "The ancient Egyptians believed that such statues were alive, so she was buried in sacred ground and was meant to reside in the temple with the gods."
Women at the time could not serve as priestesses, but both Bryan and Schwappach-Shirriff think the emerging evidence, such as this statue, indicate women may have been more central to certain Egyptian religions than previously thought.
