View source for Tey

{{Short description|Egyptian queen and Great Royal Wife of Pharaoh Kheperkheprure Ay}}{{about|Tey, the Egyptian queen|other uses}}
{{Infobox monarch
| name               = Tey
| title              = [[Great Royal Wife]]<br>[[Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt|Eighteenth dynasty queen]]
| image              = Tey.jpg
| caption            = Queen Tey as depicted at the chapel at Akhmim (from Lepsius, ''Denkmäler'')
| full name          = 
| date of burial     = 
| spouse             = [[Ay (pharaoh)|Ay]] 
| issue              = 
| native_lang1       = [[Egyptian language|Egyptian]] name
| native_lang1_name1 = <hiero>ti-i-i-B7</hiero>
| dynasty            = [[Eighteenth dynasty of Egypt|18th Dynasty]]
| religion           = [[Ancient Egyptian religion]] 
}}

'''Tey''' was the Great Royal Wife of [[Ay (pharaoh)|Kheperkheprure Ay]], who was the penultimate [[pharaoh]] of Ancient [[Egypt]]'s [[Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt|Eighteenth Dynasty]]. She also had been the [[wet nurse]] of [[Nefertiti]].<ref name="D157">{{Dodson}}, p.157</ref>

Her husband, Ay filled important administrative roles in the courts of several pharaohs – [[Amenhotep III]], [[Akhenaten]], and [[Tutankhamen]] – before ascending the throne following the death of Tutankhamen, as the male line of the royal family became extinct. He is believed to be connected to the royal family, probably a brother of Queen [[Tiye]] (wife of Amenhotep III). Some researchers theorize that he even may have been the father of Nefertiti.

==Family==
[[File:Royal couple-MAHG 12440-IMG 9578-detail Tey.JPG|thumb|Reproduction of a Portrait of Tey, on display at [[Musée d'Art et d'Histoire (Geneva)|Musée d'Art et d'Histoire of Geneva]]. Detail of a statue of the royal couple of king Ay and Queen Tey, the fragment depicting Tey being a reproduction of a piece now located at the Hermitage in Saint-Petersburg (inv 18477).]]
Tey was Ay's wife. In inscriptions at [[Amarna]], Tey is called "Nurse of the Great Royal Wife."  It has been theorized that this title meant she was stepmother to Nefertiti as Ay's second wife.<ref>Dodson & Hilton, pp.36,147</ref> Ay and Tey are never explicitly called Nefertiti's father or mother. Thus, if Tey was Ay's only wife, neither were parent to Nefertiti.<ref>Jacobus Van Dijk, [http://www.jacobusvandijk.nl/docs/BACE_7.pdf Horemheb and the Struggle for the Throne of Tutankhamun], ''BACE'' 7 (1996), p.32</ref> However, if they are the parents of Nefertiti, [[Mutbenret]] was most likely Ay and Tey's daughter. Further, [[Nakhtmin]], Ay's intended successor, might be their son.<ref>Dodson & Hilton, pp.151-153</ref>

Additionally, Tey may have had a sister named Mutemnub and brother-in-law named Nakhtmin. On a statue currently in the [[Brooklyn Museum]], a dignitary named Ay is called [[Second Prophet of Amun]], high priest of [[Mut]], and Steward of Queen Tey. His parents are recorded as Nahtmin and Mutemnub, sister of Queen Tey. The inscription is usually interpreted to mean that she was this Tey's sister.<ref>Dodson & Hilton, p.155</ref>
[[File:Ay-Tey-Reward.jpg|thumb|Ay and Tey are depicted in Amarna tomb 25 as receiving gifts from Akhenaten and Nefertiti (from Lepsius, ''Denkmäler'')]]
[[File:Ay-and-Tey.jpg|thumb|Ay and Tey as depicted in WV23 (from Lepsius, ''Denkhmäler'')]]

==Amarna==
Tey is depicted in her husband's unused Amarna tomb,<ref name="D157" /> prepared while he was an administrator to [[Akhenaten]]. Her prominence in the decoration is exceptional, but her positions as nurse and tutor of the Great Wife (Nefertiti), and [[khekeret-nisut| King's Royal Ornament]] fully justify it.<ref>{{cite book |last1=de Garis Davies |first1=N. |title=The Rock Tombs of El Amarna Volume VI: The Tombs of Parennefer, Tutu, and Ay |date=1908 |publisher=Egypt Exploration Society |isbn=0-85698-161-3 |page=21 |edition=2004 Reprint}}</ref> A reward scene is depicted on the North Wall, East Side. Aye and Tey are shown before the window of appearances. Akhenaten is shown in a [[Khepresh]] crown and Nefertiti in her well-known blue crown (in this case decorated with three uraei). [[Meritaten]], [[Meketaten]], and [[Ankhesenpaaten]] are shown in the window of appearances as well. The elder two daughters seem to be throwing rewards to Aye and Tey, while Ankhesenpaaten stands on the pillow before [[Nefertiti]] and is caressing her chin.<ref>[[N. de Garis Davies|Norman De Garis Davies]], ''The Rock Tombs of el-Amarna, Parts V and VI: Part 5 Smaller tombs and boundary stelae & Part 6 Tombs of Parennefer, Tutu and Ay'', Egypt Exploration Society (2004)</ref>

==Great Royal Wife==
When [[Ay (pharaoh)|Ay]] assumed the throne after the death of Tutankhamen, Tey became his [[Great Royal Wife]] and then held the titles Hereditary Princess (''iryt-p`t''), Great of Praises (''wrt-hzwt''), Lady of The Two Lands (''nbt-t3wy''), Great King’s Wife, his beloved (''hmt-niswt-wrt meryt.f''), and Mistress of Upper and Lower Egypt (''hnwt-Shm’w T3-mhw'').<ref>Grajetzki, ''Ancient Egyptian Queens: a hieroglyphic dictionary'', Golden House Publications. p.63-64</ref>

Queen Tey is depicted in the [[WV23|tomb WV23]] in the [[Valley of the Kings]], used for [[Ay (pharaoh)|Ay]] after he had become king. She appears behind Ay in a scene where Ay appears to be pulling lotus flowers from a marsh. The images are rather severely damaged. 

Tey may have been buried with her husband in WV23. Fragments of female human bones found in the tomb may be Tey's.<ref>J. Tyldesley, ''Chronicle of the Queens of Egypt'', 2006, Thames & Hudson</ref>

Tey is also depicted in a rock chapel dedicated to fertility god [[Min (god)|Min]] in [[Akhmim]].<ref name="D157" />

Tey also is mentioned on a wooden box inscribed for "The true scribe of the king whom he loves, troop commander, overseer of cavalry, and Father of the God, Ay." The text mentions: "The much-valued one, the sole one (unique) of Re, appreciated by the Great Royal Wife, the mistress of the house, Tey."<ref>Roeder, G.: ''Aegyptische Inschriften aus den Staatlichen Museen zu Berlin''. - Bd.II - Leipzig: 1924. - p.267-268</ref>

A colossal statue at Akhmim was likely carved in Tey's likeness, but was later reinscribed for [[Meritamen]], a daughter-wife of [[Ramesses II]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Dodson |first=Aiden |title=Amarna Sunset: Nefertiti, Tutankhamun, Ay, Horemheb, and the Egyptian Counter-Reformation |publisher=The American University in Cairo Press |year=2009 |isbn=978-1-61797-050-4 |publication-date= |pages=103}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}

{{Queens of Ancient Egypt}}
{{Amarna Period Navigator}}

[[Category:Queens consort of the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt]]
[[Category:14th-century BC Egyptian women]]
[[Category:Ay]]