Tomb Hidden by History, Now ʀᴇvᴇᴀʟᴇᴅ: wᴇт Nurse of Tutankhamun May have been His Own Sister

The famous Egyptian boy king, Pharaoh Tutankhamun is believed to have been wᴇт-nursed by a woman named Maia—who may have been his sister. The tomb of this mysterious woman has been opened to the public for the first time since its discovery in 1996, ʀᴇvᴇᴀʟing ancient engravings and paintings.

The ᴛᴏᴍʙ in Saqqara, a necropolis located 20 kilometers (12 miles) south of Cairo, was discovered almost 20 years ago and is set to be opened to visitors for the first time. The tomb of the wᴇт nurse was uncovered by French Archaeologist Dr. Alain Zivie, Head of the French mission in Bubastis at Saqqara since 1996, who was there for the uɴvᴇιʟιɴԍ to journalists last week in Egypt

“Maia is none other than princess Meritaten, the sister or half-sister of Tutankhamun and the daughter of Akhenaten and Nefertiti,” Zivie said.

In a ministry press release , Egypt’s ᴀɴтιQuιтιᴇs minister Mamdouh el-Damaty described the grand uɴvᴇιʟιɴԍ of the tomb as being very important, and referred to a potsherd found within the ᴛᴏᴍʙ during cleaning. On the sherd was inscribed the title “Great one of the Harim,” and researchers believe that “Maia” wasn’t simply the private wᴇт nurse to Tutankhamun, but a woman of high status, and likely his eldest sister Maia (also known as Maya, Matia or Meritaten).

Experts point to one scene on the royal ᴛᴏᴍʙ at Tal Al-Amarna (Amarna) that features the burial of Meketaten, eldest daughter of Pharaoh Akhenaten. In the same scene “Merit Aten” is seen holding a baby and breastfeeding it, and it’s believed the baby is the future king, Tutankhamun, notes the press release.

Newscarz writes that Zivie’s conclusions on the brother-sister relationship were based on the carvings of Tutankhamun and Maia on the walls of Maia’s ᴛᴏᴍʙ.

“The extraordinary thing is that they are very similar. They have the same chin, the eyes, the family traits. The carvings show Maia sitting on the royal throne and he is sitting on her lap,” Zivie said.

History buried the ᴛᴏᴍʙ, but it is now ʀᴇvᴇᴀʟᴇᴅ
The richly-decorated ᴛᴏᴍʙ consists of three rooms, with a staircase descending to the burial chamber. DailyMail reports the first chamber is dedicated to the woman’s life, the second shows her burial rites with attendants bearing offerings. The third, and largest chamber contains four pillars decorated with images of the wᴇт nurse. The staircase leads to the burial site, which was largely undecorated.

CBC reports that when the ᴛᴏᴍʙ was found the scenes and original inscriptions had been covered up with stones and construction material during the time of the Greek and Roman civilizations so as to repurpose the area as a cat cemetery. Careful restoration ʀᴇvᴇᴀʟᴇᴅ the original art and messages.

Mysterious Maia

Maia is known for her titles as “ wᴇт nurse of the king”, “great one of the harim”, and “educator of the god’s body ” – an allusion to breastfeeding. Maia’s parentage is unknown, and not much is known about the woman herself except for inscriptions and images from her ᴛᴏᴍʙ. Tutankhamun is mentioned several times from ᴛᴏᴍʙ writings, and is seen sitting in her lap in images.

The discovery of the riches-filled ᴛᴏᴍʙ and the mummy of Tutankhamun by British Egyptologist Howard Carter in 1922 spurred worldwide fascination. DNA analysis in 2010 ʀᴇvᴇᴀʟᴇᴅ the boy king as the son of Akhenaten. Akehaten’s ᴛᴏᴍʙ shows carvings of the ᴅᴇᴀᴛʜ of a princess. Zivie says, “In these scenes there is a woman who is breast-feeding a baby, and this woman shown as a wᴇт nurse is princess Meritaten, the eldest daughter of Akhenaten.” Archaeologists still search for the mummy of Meritaten, and it’s wondered if it might rest in a secret chamber in Tutankhamun’s ᴛᴏᴍʙ. Hidden chambers are thought to exist in Tut’s ᴛᴏᴍʙ after recent scans ʀᴇvᴇᴀʟᴇᴅ anomalous readings. It’s also speculated that such chambers may contain the burial site of Nefertiti , whose body has never been found.