Yuya

Yuya (left), suspected of being foreign, compared with his Egyptian wife Tuya (right). Both were found in the same tomb.

Yuya (sometimes transliterated as Iouiya) also known as Yaa, Ya, Yiya, Yayi, Yu, Yuyu, Yaya, Yiay, Yia, Yuy(Osman p. 113), and possibly Joseph(Osman p. 3) and Yussef,(Osman p. 42) was a powerful Egyptian courtier of the Eighteenth dynasty of Egypt (circa 1400 BCE). Scholars have narrowed the date of his birth to between 1453 and 1438 BCE and that of his death to between 1393 and 1378 BCE.(Osman p. 56)

Contents

1 Career
2 Yuya and Joseph
3 List of Honors
4 Footnotes
5 References
6 External links
7 See also

Career

Yuya served as a key adviser for Pharaoh Amenhotep III (father of Akhenaten), who married Yuya's daughter Tiye.(Osman p. 15) Amenhotep III probably knew Yuya and his family well, as Yuya was likely appointed to his position under Amenhotep's father, Thutmose IV.(Osman pp. 49-50) Yuya is the only person in Egyptian history known to have been granted the title "Beloved Father of Pharaoh" other than Joseph.

Yuya married Tjuyu, an Egyptian noblewoman descended from Ahmose Nefertari, and was the father of Tiye, who became Amenhotep's Great Royal Wife.(Osman p. 15) Some scholars speculate that they also may have been the parents of Ay, an Egyptian general active during the reign of Yuya's grandson Pharaoh Akhenaten, and who eventually became pharaoh himself, as Kheperkheprure Ay. That Ay was Yuya's son is just one of many theories debated among archaeologists.

Together with his wife, Yuya was buried in the Valley of the Kings, in KV46, where their largely unpillaged remains were found in 1905.(Osman p. 8)

Yuya and Joseph

The second and inner coffins of Yuya's mummy.

Yuya's facial features, as observed on his mummy, have led some archaeologists to postulate that he was actually Asiatic in origin. Some scholars have gone so far as to connect Yuya with the biblical story of Joseph, a son of Jacob and Rachel. They point out, inter alia, that the hieroglyph for "ya" is extremely similar to that for "sef", and thus that the name should in fact be read "Yusef."^{[[Citing sources citation needed]]}

The Egyptian Language has the sounds j (if hard), s, and f.(Collier and Manley p. 3) It however lacks the o sound, our only evidence that Egyptian ever had this sound is from the Greeks, and the e traditionally placed between consonants, and turning w's to u are completely a fabrication of the Western tongue and do not bear relation to the actual pronunciation.(Collier and Manley p. 4)

This view is opposed by Biblical literalists who note that the book of Exodus in the Torah states that the Israelites brought Joseph's bones out of Egypt. Thus, since Yuya's body was found in Egypt in the Valley of the Kings, they claim that it is impossible that he is indeed Joseph. Those who do not accept the total historical accuracy of the Bible respond that Joseph may have been a composite of more than one individual,^{[[Citing sources citation needed]]} or that the part about his body's removal to Canaan may have been a later insertion.(Osman p. 3)

Mainstream Egyptologists do not take these speculations seriously, noting that what we know of Yuya's family suggests that they did not come from Asia, but from the regional nobility^{[[Citing sources citation needed]]} of Akhmim, in Upper Egypt.http://amscresearch.com/_wsn/page4.html

The claim about the hieroglyphs in Yuya's name being misread is also rejected by mainstream archaeology. The "ya" in his name is, in fact, two hieroglyphs, not one; and there is no single hieroglyph for "sef" in Egyptian. Hieroglyphs for "set" or "seth" look like a throne seat and a shoulder knot respectively, and do not in any way resemble a combination of a reed leaf and a vulture used for "ya".

An excavation assistant beside the 2.75 meter outer coffin shortly after exacation.

List of Honors

Yuya was given the following honors:(Osman pp. 14-5)

Father of the Holy Father
The holy father of the Lord of the Two Lands (the pharaoh is known as the Lord of the Two Lands)
Master of the Horse
Deputy of His Majesty in the Chariotry
Bearer of the Ring of the King of Lower Egypt
Seal-bearer of the King of Lower Egypt
Hereditary Noble and Count
Overseer of the Cattle of Min, Lord of Akhmim
Overseer of the Cattle of Amun
Favorite of the Good God
Confidant of the King
Confidant of the Good God
Mouth of the King of Upper Egypt
Ears of the King of Lower Egypt
Prophet of the God Min
Unique Friend
First of the Friends
Prince
Great Prince
Great of Love
Plentiful of Favors in the House of the King
Plentiful of Favors under his Lord
Enduring of Love under his Lord
Beloved of the King of Upper Egypt
Beloved of the King of Lower Egypt
Beloved of the Lord of the Two Lands
Beloved of God
Possessor of Favor under the Lord of the Two Lands
Praised of the Good God
Praised of his God
Praised of his Lord
Praised of his Lord Amun
Praised of the King
Praised of the Lord of the Two Lands
Praised One who came forth from the Body Praised
One Made Rich by the King of Lower Egypt
One Made Great by the King of Lower Egypt
One Made Great by the Lord Who Does Things
First among the King's Companions
The Wise One
He Whom the King Made Great and Wise, Whom the King Has Made His Double.

Footnotes

References

Collier, Mark and Manley, Bill. How to Read Egyptian Hieroglyphs: Revised Edition. Berkeley, University of California Press, 1998.
Osman, Ahmed. The Hebrew Pharaohs of Egypt. Rochester: Bear and Company, 1987.
Winsten, Joseph. Moses Meets Israel: The Origins of One God. Rumford Inc., 1999.

	Notable Ancient Egyptians
Old Kingdom Rulers: Narmer \| Hor-Aha \| Djoser \| Sneferu \| Khufu \| Khafra \| Menkaura \| Pepi II
Middle Kingdom Rulers: Mentuhotep II \| Mentuhotep IV \| Senusret III \| Amenemhat III \| Sobekneferu
New Kingdom Rulers: Hatshepsut \| Thutmose III \| Amenhotep III \| Akhenaten \| Tutankhamun \| Ramesses I \| Seti I \| Ramesses II
Other Rulers: Shoshenq I \| Piye \| Taharqa \| Psammetichus I \| Ptolemy I \| Cleopatra VII
Consorts: Tetisheri \| Ahmose-Nefertari \| Ahmose \| Tiy \| Nefertiti \| Ankhesenpaaten \| Nefertari \| Mark Antony
Court officials: Imhotep \| Weni \| Ahmose, son of Ebana \| Ineni \| Senemut \| Yuya \| Maya \| Yuny \| Manetho \| Pothinus