I am the daughter of Tushratta, king of Nakurira in Mitanni and his queen, Juni. I was born around Year 21 of the reign of the Egyptian Pharaoh Amenhotep III, (ca. 1366 BC). Fifteen years later, My father Tushratta married me of to Pharaoh Amenhotep (his second marraige to a Mittani Princess - the first being GilaKhepa my aunt) to cement their two states alliances in Year 36 of Amenhotep reign. Tiye, wisely used me as a way of cementing the friendship. But Amenhotep died two years later (1350 BC), after serving thirty-eight years on the throne. His harem was inherited by his son and heir Amenhotep IV. 
Again, it was through the diplomacy of Tiye that i joined the harem of Akhenaton. Little is known about me as was many of the lesser wives or concubines i was scarcely poorly documented in the historical record in contrast to Akhenaten's first (and chief) wife, Nefertiti. My identification with Nefertiti has been proposed as a solution for both my uncertain fate, and Nefertiti's uncertain past. In inscriptions, i am given the titles of "The Favorite", and "the greatly beloved", but never described as "heiress" or "chief wife", which suggests that she i myself was not of royal Egyptian blood. My full titles read, "The wife and greatly beloved of the King of Upper and Lower Egypt, Living in Truth, Lord of the Two Lands, Neferkheperrure Waenre, the Goodly Child of the Living Aten, who shall be living for ever and ever, Kiya.
There is considerable evidence to indicate that a temple was built specifically for her in Amarna, the Maru-Aten, also known as the "sun shade temple" (though the temple was later usurped for one of Akhenaten's daughters, Meritaten, who replaced Kiya's name with her own).
My father, Tushratta was king of the Mitanni at the end of the reign of Amenhotep III and throughout the reign of Akhenaten. He was especially generous with gifts to his "brother", the pharaoh. Once he sent a slave boy and girl along with treasures he had captured from the Hittites, and another time he sent thirty women skilled in music, needlework, and other Asiatic arts. The marriage of Amenhotep III with his daughter Tadukhipa was the occasion for another orgy of mutual gift-giving, and his complaints about Amenhotep's failure to live up to his promises carried over into the reign of Akhenaten. Many of the Amarna letters were written by my father Tushratta. The first letter from him, and from Naharin in general, to be received at Akhetaten recounts the events that led to his coming to the throne, and asks for friendship and support from Pharaoh Amenhotep III. 
This dates his accession to about Year 33 of Amenhotep III. The rest of his letters to Amenhotep III primarily dealt with the lengthy negotiations for my marriage. After Amenhotep's death, his correspondance with Akhenaten was mostly complaints about the failure of the new king to live up to his father's promises of gifts. Tushratta claimed that Amenhotep III had promised him, among other things, two statues of solid gold. When those gifts, reduced in both quantity and quality, arrived in Naharin during the early months of Akhenaten's sole reign, the statues were found to be wooden, simply overlain with gold.
Tushratta also wrote to Queen Tiye, another sign of her importance in the ruling house of Egypt. In one letter, Tushratta replies to the Dowager Queen's request that he continue sending his embassies to her son, the new pharaoh. In two others, he advises Akhenaten to consult his mother. Apparently he was so vexed about the broken promises that he tried every possibility open to him, including asking the Queen Mother to plead his case, and referring Akhenaten to her to confirm that the old king had indeed promised him those two golden statues.
~ ANCIENT MITANNI ~
If ever the cliché "forgotten empire" could be applied to an ancient state, it must be Mitanni, which is, in fact, hardly more than a name and a handful of archaeological and linguistic hypotheses. Yet, we can combine several types of information, and where they confirm each other, we can probably be confident that we are not extremely far from the historical truth.
The Egyptian king Thutmose III (1479-1425) often campaigned in this area, and during his eighth campaign, the pharaoh defeated the ruler of Mitanni and his local allies. The Egyptians reached the Euphrates, built ships, and ravaged the banks all the way from Karchemiš to Emar, towns that belonged to Mitanni. However, the Egyptians, who captured many Mediterranean ports, were unable to gain control of the Syrian interior. Eventually, friendly relations were established by pharaoh Tuthmose IV (1401-1391) and Artatama I of Mitanni.
Around 1500 BCE: Rise of the Mitanni kingdom under king Shaushatar, who soon attacks and loots Ashur in Assyria. First half 15th century: Mitanni goes to several wars against Egypt, to gain control over more of Syria. Around 1360: King Tushratta is assassinated. Following this, there are dynastic struggles that weakens Mitanni to an extent that leaves the country powerless and open for conquest by the Hittite kingdom. The Mitanni province is renamed to Hanigalbat. Around 1300: The area of Mitanni is captured by Assyria. Some decades later, Mitanni is turned into just a province in the Assyrian kingdom.
My sources for my website:
~Avatar image courtesy of Lena Wennberg
~Entrance image is courtesy of
Art.com
~Background set courtesy of
Majestic Websets
~Mitanni images courtesy of
Mesopatamian Museum
~Akhenaten image courtesy of
Winifred Brunton
