Kiya

Attribution: tutincommon

20 - 11 BC

Wife of Pharoah Akhenaten

Relationship	People
Partners	Akhenaten

After the disappearance of Akenhaten's famous Great Royal Wife, Nefertiti, the Egyptian king married Kiya. She never acquired the title of Great Royal Wife, and indeed the name Kiya is thought to have been a pet name or a contraction of a foreign name. Very little is known about the mysterious second spouse of Akenhaten, other than the fact that she was named 'The Favourite' and 'The Greatly Beloved' but never given any regal title, which suggests that she may not have been of Egyptian blood. Some think she may have been Mitanni Princess Tadukhepa, daughter of King Tushratta. Others believe she may have been the daughter of Aye and Tye. But there is no evidence to confirm either way.

Like Nefertiri before her, Kiya too disappeared mysteriously from view. The exact date of her disappearance is not known but it is thought she fell out of favour with Akenhaten's court, and was last mentioned in records in the year 11AD. There is some evidence to suggest that Kiya was the mother of king Tutankhamun and possibly of Smenkhare.