Gilukhipa was daughter of Shuttarna II, king of Mitanni. For political reasons, she was sent to Egypt to join Amenhotep III in marriage. The Egyptian pharaoh made a special issue of commemorative scarabs on the occasion of his marriage to Gilukhipa, where he recorded that the princess was escorted by 317 ladies-in-waiting, women from the Mitanni king's royal palace. Gilukhipa became known as the "Secondary King's Wife," meaning she was secondary to Amenhotep III's other wife, Queen Tiye.