| Masaharta | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Mummy of Masaharta, found in DB320 | |||||||||||
| Pharaoh | |||||||||||
| Reign | 1054–1045 BC | ||||||||||
| Predecessor | Pinedjem I | ||||||||||
| Successor | Djedkhonsuefankh | ||||||||||
| |||||||||||
| Consort | Tayuheret(?) | ||||||||||
| Father | Pinedjem I | ||||||||||
| Mother | Duathathor-Henuttawy(?) | ||||||||||
| Dynasty | Concurrent with the 21st Dynasty | ||||||||||
Masaharta or Masaherta was the High Priest of Amun at Thebes between 1054 and 1045 BC.
His father was Pinedjem I, who was the Theban High Priest of Amun and de facto ruler of Upper Egypt from 1070 BC, then declared himself pharaoh in 1054 BC and Masaharta succeeded him as high priest. His mother was probably Duathathor-Henuttawy, the daughter of Ramesses XI, last ruler of the 20th dynasty. His aunt Tentamun, another daughter of Ramesses married Pharaoh Smendes I, who ruled Lower Egypt. One of Masaharta's brothers was Psusennes I, who followed Smendes's successor, the short-lived Amenemnisu as pharaoh. [1]
His wife is likely to have been the Singer of Amun Tayuheret, whose mummy was found in the Deir el-Bahri cachette. [2] It is possible that he had a daughter called Isetemkheb, since a lady by this name is called the daughter of a high priest on her funerary objects; it is also possible, though, that she was Menkheperre's daughter. [3]
The God's Wife of Amun during Masaharta's reign seems to have been his sister Maatkare.
Several of his inscriptions are known from the Karnak temple of Amenhotep II, from ram-headed sphinxes also in Karnak, and a large falcon statue.
Masaharta was responsible for the restoration of the mummy of Amenhotep I in the 16th regnal year of Smendes. [4] He is also mentioned in Theban Graffito no. 1572, from a year 16, together with the King's Scribe in the Place of Truth (= Scribe of the Necropolis) Ankhefenamun, the son of King's Scribe Butehamun. [5]
His highest attested year is a year 18. [6] It is sometimes derived from the combination of two letters found in el-Hiba, the first mentioning an untitled Masaharta praying for his health, and the second a letter of thanks to the local god by the High Priest Menkheperre, that Masaharta died of illness at el-Hiba around the 24th regnal year of Smendes, [7] [8] but this is no more than an unproven hypothesis. In fact, it has been pointed out that such a scenario ill fits the content of the letters. [9]
His mummy was found in the Deir el-Bahri cache along with several family members; it is now in the Mummification Museum in Luxor. [10]
It is often assumed that he was succeeded as high priest by his brother Djedkhonsuefankh, who served only for a short time and was followed by another brother, Menkheperre. However, the position of Djedkhonsuefankh is not beyond dispute. All we actually know of his existence is the bare mention of his name on the coffin of his son (now lost). There it reads, according to Torr: "[...]re, son of the first prophet of Amun, Djed-Khons-ef-ankh, son of the Lord of the Two Lands, Pinedjem, Beloved of Amun, first prophet of Amun", with the name Pinedjem enclosed in a cartouche. [11]
Djedkhonsuefankh is supposed to have been succeeded as High Priest by his brother Menkheperre, which seems to imply that his son "[...]re" either predeceased him, was too young to succeed or was simply passed over for other reasons.
However, Andrzej Niwiński has suggested that Djedkhonsuefankh was not the son of Pinedjem I, but rather of Pinedjem II, and as such the great grandson of Pinedjem I [12] Niwiński identifies him with the main official mentioned with the burials of Neskhons in year 5 of king Siamun and of Pinedjem II in year 10 of the same king. He postulates that Psusennes II (in this model his brother), who probably succeeded his father Pinedjem II as High Priest and succeeded in uniting this title with that of king had Djed-Khons-ef-ankh act as his deputy in Thebes. The title of High Priest on his coffin would then be given posthumously by his son "[...]re"
Niwiński also points out that theophoric names as Djed-Khons-ef-ankh mainly appear very late in the 21st Dynasty.
If we disregard the ephemeral Djedkhonsuefankh, it seems that Masaharta was succeeded by his brother Menkheperre.
Pinedjem I was the High Priest of Amun at Thebes in Ancient Egypt from 1070 to 1032 BC and the de facto ruler of the south of the country from 1054 BC. He was the son of the High Priest Piankh. However, many Egyptologists today believe that the succession in the Amun priesthood actually ran from Piankh to Herihor to Pinedjem I.
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.
Psusennes I was the third pharaoh of the 21st Dynasty who ruled from Tanis between 1047 and 1001 BC. Psusennes is the Greek version of his original name Pasibkhanu or Pasebakhaenniut, which means "The Star Appearing in the City" while his throne name, Akheperre Setepenamun, translates as "Great are the Manifestations of Ra, chosen of Amun." He was the son of Pinedjem I and Henuttawy, Ramesses XI's daughter by Tentamun. He married his sister Mutnedjmet.
Djedptahiufankh served as Second Prophet of Amun and Third Prophet of Amun during the reign of Shoshenq I of the 22nd Dynasty.
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.
Usermaatre Amenemope was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh of the 21st Dynasty who ruled between 1001–992 BC or 993–984 BC.
Pinedjem II was a High Priest of Amun at Thebes in Ancient Egypt from 990 BC to 969 BC and was the de facto ruler of the south of the country. He was married to his full sister Isetemkheb D (both children of Menkheperre, the High Priest of Amun at Thebes, by Isetemkheb III, hence both nephew, niece and grandchildren of Psusennes I and also to his niece Nesikhons, the daughter of his brother Smendes II. He succeeded Smendes II, who had a short rule.
Djedkhonsuefankh was a High Priest of Amun in Thebes believed to have been in office from 1046–1045 BC.
Smendes II was a High Priest of Amun at Thebes in Ancient Egypt. He briefly governed from around 992 to 990 BC.
The High Priest of Amun or First Prophet of Amun was the highest-ranking priest in the priesthood of the ancient Egyptian god Amun. The first high priests of Amun appear in the New Kingdom of Egypt, at the beginning of the Eighteenth Dynasty.
Neskhons, once more commonly known as “Nsikhonsou”, was a noble lady of the 21st Dynasty of Egypt.
Duathathor-Henuttawy, Henuttawy or Henttawy("Adorer of Hathor; Mistress of the Two Lands") was an ancient Egyptian princess and later queen.
Maatkare(Mutemhat) was an ancient Egyptian high priestess, a God's Wife of Amun during the 21st Dynasty.
Mutnedjmet was an ancient Egyptian queen of the 21st Dynasty. She was the Great Royal Wife of her brother, Psusennes I.
Gautseshen was an ancient Egyptian priestess, the singer of Montu. She lived during the Twenty-first Dynasty of Egypt.
Tjanefer was an ancient Egyptian priest during the reign of the Twenty-first Dynasty of Egypt.
Isetemkheb D was the sister-wife of the Theban High Priest of Amun Pinedjem II during the Twenty-first Dynasty of Egypt.
Nodjmet, Nedjmet, or Notmit was an ancient Egyptian noblewoman of the late 20th-early 21st dynasties of Egypt, mainly known for being the wife of High Priest of Amun at Thebes, Herihor.
Henuttawy or Henettawy, was an ancient Egyptian princess and priestess during the 21st Dynasty.
