| Banishment Stela / Maunier Stela | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Material | Diorite |
| Size | 127 cm (50 in) x 82 cm (32 in) |
| Writing | Egyptian hieroglyphs |
| Created | c. 1050 BCE |
| Discovered | c. 1860 Luxor |
| Discovered by | Henri Maunier |
| Present location | Louvre |
| Identification | C 256 |
The Banishment Stela or Maunier Stela (Louvre C 256 [1] ) is an ancient Egyptian stela issued in c.1050 BCE. It contains an amnesty decree of the 21st Dynasty High Priest of Amun Menkheperre.
The Banishment Stela was discovered in Luxor around 1860 by the then French Vice-Consul, Henri Maunier; it was carried to Paris in 1884 and exhibited at the Louvre where it still is. [2] The stela is made from diorite and measures 127 cm (50 in) in height and 82 cm (32 in) in width. The upper part is poorly preserved, and only a depiction of Menkheperre praying to the god Amun is still visible; the lower portion is in better condition and of the 23 lines of Egyptian hieroglyph text, only the first four are mostly lost. [2]
The stela mentions three dates, although it is not entirely clear what happened on them, or even to which reign(s) they belonged. These dates are (in the order in which they appear in the text, which is not necessarily their correct chronological order):
According to Von Beckerath, with date C, for reasons of space, the regnal year could only have been relatively low. Acceptable solutions would be: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 10, 11 or 20. [3]
The stela apparently reports that in the regnal Year 25 of an unknown pharaoh a revolt sparked in Thebes against the Priesthood of Amun. The revolt was suffocated in the same year, and the rebels were banished (date A) into the Kharga Oasis by decision of the oracle of Amun. Shortly after (date B) Menkheperre was installed as generalissimo and High Priest of Amun “by the god Amun himself”; in the early reign of another king (date C), Menkheperre again resorted to the oracle and obtained the recall and pardon of the exiles, just before issuing the stela to celebrate this act. [2] [4]
The king whose regnal Year 25 is reported on the stela (date A) could only have been the founder of the 21st Dynasty Smendes, who is generally assumed to have reigned for around 25–26 years. The king who was in charge when the stela was issued (date C) was one of his immediate successors, most likely the ephemeral and poorly known Amenemnisu, or alternatively but less likely, Psusennes I. [5]
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Thutmose IV was the 8th Pharaoh of the 18th Dynasty of Egypt, who ruled in approximately the 14th century BC. His prenomen or royal name, Menkheperure, means "Established in forms is Re." He was the son of Amenhotep II and Tiaa. Thutmose IV was the grandfather of Akhenaten.
Menkheperre Necho I was a ruler of the ancient Egyptian city of Sais. He was the first securely attested local Saite king of the 26th Dynasty of Egypt who reigned for 8 years (672–664 BCE) according to Manetho's Aegyptiaca. Egypt was reunified by his son Psamtik I.
Userkare Khendjer was a minor king of the early Thirteenth Dynasty of Egypt during the Middle Kingdom. Khendjer possibly reigned for four to five years, archaeological attestations show that he was on the throne for at least three or four years three months and five days. Khendjer had a small pyramid built for himself in Saqqara and it is therefore likely that his capital was in Memphis.
Menkheperre, son of Pinedjem I by wife Duathathor-Henuttawy, was the High Priest of Amun at Thebes in ancient Egypt from 1045 BC to 992 BC and de facto ruler of the south of the country.
Hedjkheperre Setepenre Takelot II Si-Ese was a pharaoh of the Twenty-third Dynasty of Ancient Egypt in Middle and Upper Egypt. He has been identified as the High Priest of Amun Takelot F, son of the High Priest of Amun Nimlot C at Thebes, and thus, the son of Nimlot C and grandson of king Osorkon II, according to the latest academic research. Based on two lunar dates belonging to Takelot II, this Upper Egyptian pharaoh is today believed to have ascended to the throne of a divided Egypt in either 845 BC or 834 BC. Most Egyptologists today, including Aidan Dodson, Gerard Broekman, Jürgen von Beckerath, M.A. Leahy, and Karl Jansen-Winkeln, also accept David Aston's 1989 hypothesis that Shoshenq III was Osorkon II's actual successor at Tanis, rather than Takelot II. As Aidan Dodson and Dyan Hilton write in their comprehensive book on the royal families of Ancient Egypt:
Takelot II is likely to have been identical with the High Priest Takelot F, who is stated in [the] Karnak inscriptions to have been a son of Nimlot C, and whose likely period of office falls neatly just before Takelot II's appearance.
Usermaatre Setepenamun Osorkon II was the fifth king of the Twenty-second Dynasty of Ancient Egypt and the son of King Takelot I and Queen Kapes. He ruled Egypt from approximately 872 BC to 837 BC from Tanis, the capital of that dynasty.
Sekhemkheperre Osorkon I was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh of the 22nd Dynasty. Osorkon's territory included much of the Levant.
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Hedjkheperre Setepenre Smendes was the founder of the Twenty-first Dynasty of Egypt and succeeded to the throne after burying Ramesses XI in Lower Egypt – territory which he controlled. His Egyptian nomen or birth name was actually Nesbanebdjed meaning "He of the Ram, Lord of Mendes", but it was translated into Greek as Smendes by later classical writers such as Josephus and Sextus Africanus. According to the Story of Wenamun from c. 1000 BC, Smendes was a governor of Lower Egypt during the Era of the Renaissance under the reign of Ramesses XI, however, Egyptologists have questioned the historical accuracy of this story.
Menkheperre Ini was an Egyptian king reigning at Thebes during the 8th century BC following the last king of the 23rd Dynasty, Rudamun.
Sekhemre Wahkhau Rahotep was an Egyptian pharaoh who reigned during the Second Intermediate Period, when Egypt was ruled by multiple kings. The Egyptologists Kim Ryholt and Darrell Baker believe that Rahotep was the first king of the 17th Dynasty.
Ankhnesneferibre was an ancient Egyptian princess and priestess during the 26th Dynasty, daughter of pharaoh Psamtik II and his queen Takhuit. She held the positions of Divine Adoratrice of Amun and later God's Wife of Amun between 595 and 525 BC, during the reigns of Psamtik II, Apries, Amasis II and Psamtik III, until the Achaemenid conquest of Egypt.
Sekhemre Seusertawy Sobekhotep VIII was an ancient Egyptian ruler during the Second Intermediate Period whose exact chronological placement remains uncertain. He may have ruled over the Theban region in Upper Egypt. Scholars debate whether he belonged to the 13th, 16th, or 17th Dynasty. If Sobekhotep VIII was a king of the 16th Dynasty, it is thought that he is listed in the Turin Canon (11:2), which credits him with a 16-year reign.
Khahotepre Sobekhotep VI was an Egyptian king of the late 13th Dynasty during the Second Intermediate Period.
Senusret IV Seneferibre was an ancient Egyptian Theban king during the late Second Intermediate Period that is attested only through finds from Upper Egypt. The chronological position of Senusret IV is unclear and even the dynasty to which he belongs is debated.
Merkawre Sobekhotep was an Ancient Egyptian king during the Second Intermediate Period.
Seth Meribre was an Ancient Egyptian petty king during the early 13th Dynasty during the late Middle Kingdom.
Nerikare was an Egyptian pharaoh of the 13th Dynasty during the Second Intermediate Period.
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