MAIA NURSE TUTANKHAMON
Maia’s tomb was discovered in 1996 by the French Egyptologist Zilvie, and is located in the Bubasteion in Sakkara.
The grave was made for the Lady MAIA NURSE TUTANKHAMON, nurse of Tutankhamun.
But due to the discovery of an ostrcon we are probably dealing with the grave of this
Princess Merit-Aton the eldest daughter of King Akhnaton and Queen Nefertete.
This ostracon has the text “Mistress of Women”. This indicates that she had a much higher title than nurse of Tutankhamun.
It is known that after the death of her mother, Merit-Aton married her father and took her mother’s place
and also lived in the Northern Palace. Which also gave her the title of Queen.
Merit-Aton is therefore also the half-sister of Tutankhamun.
And in the Royal Family Tomb at Tell-el-Amarna there is an image in one of the three unfinished
rooms known as the Alpha, Beta and Gamma rooms, from the death of the second
Daughter of Akhnaton and Nefertete, Meket-aton.
The parents are standing next to the bed on which their deceased daughter lies, next to them stands Merit-Aton with a baby in her arms, which has long been suspected to be Tutankhamun.
After the coronation of Tutankhamun and the subsequent move to Memphis, her name will also have been changed from Merit-Aton to Maia.
The grave was reused as a cemetery for cats in Late and Greco-Roman times.
But walls of stone had been built through the tomb for the scenes and texts.
Only after these walls were removed could one see what they were dealing with. And because the walls stood in front of the paintings, they are well preserved.
