Yassib

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Yassib was a mercenary soldier from the tribes of the Sinai Peninsula. He was a warrior alongside Nebamun to kidnap Princess Nebetah.

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Yuya

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Yuya was a powerful Egyptian courtier and a military leader during the 18th dynasty of Egypt and the father of Queen Tiye (wife of king Amenhotep III.). He was the husband of Thuya, an Egyptian noblewoman (who was associated with the royal family and held high offices in the governmental and religious hierarchies). 

Yuya came from the town of Akhmin, where he probably had estates, and he was a key military advisor of Amenhotep III. Yuya held the titles of ‘Master of the Horse’, ‘His Majesty’s Lieutenant Commander of Chariotry’, ‘Priest of Min’, and ‘Overseer of cattle of Min, Lord of Akhmin’.

Some scholars suggest that Yuya might have been of foreign origins based on the variety of his name and his immense knowledge about horses. The specialists in mastering horses and chariotry at that time came from the northern lands, such as Mittani, and Yuya was the king’s ‘Master of the Horse’.

When Yuya and Thuya died (in their mid-fifties), the pharaoh ensured they were buried in style in a prime location in the Valley of the Kings. 

Their tomb (KV46 in Thebes) was discovered in 1905. The mummies of Yuya and Thuya are examples of the mastery of mummification. They wear cartonnage masks covered with gold leaf, which are (with many other beautiful artefacts) in the Museum of Cairo. Experts believe the tomb was probably looted three times—once shortly after it was sealed and twice more during the creation of nearby tombs. Portable artefacts like jewellery and precious oils were taken. But even the loot the thieves left behind includes fascinating traces of one of Egyptian history’s most fabulously wealthy eras.