Maya (Egyptian)
Maya was a the Treasurer during the reign of Pharaoh Tutankhamun of the Eighteenth dynasty of Ancient Egypt.
Maya has often been portrayed as one of the suspects in the murder of King Tut, but is usually exonerated. Maya was the least likely, major court official to ascend to the throne on Tut's death; both the king's Vizier Ay, and Military general Horemheb did becomes pharaohs after Tut's death. It is also believed by egyptologists that Maya cared for Tut as a gift inscribed in his name was found in Tut's tomb, which Maya had restored after it was robbed.
Maya's tomb at Saqqara was initially discovered by Richard Lepsius in 1843, and its impressive reliefs were recorded in sketches. The location became lost over the following decades and remained so until an expedtion lead by Geoffrey Martin of the University of Pennsylvania rediscoverd the site in 1986. Some of the reliefs were damaged but upon reassembly almost all of the were complete.
Statues of Maya and his wife Merit have been on display in the National Museum of Antiquities in Leiden, Germany since 1823.