Osorkon II

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Usermaatre Setepenamun Osorkon II was the fifth king [1] 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.

Contents

After succeeding his father, Osorkon II was faced with the competing rule of his cousin, King Harsiese A, who controlled both Thebes and the Western Oasis of Egypt. Potentially, Harsiese's kingship could have posed a serious challenge to the authority of Osorkon, however, when Harsiese died in 860 BC, Osorkon II acted to ensure that no king would replace Harsiese. He appointed his son, Nimlot C, as the high priest of Amun at Thebes, which would have been the source for a successor to Harsiese. This consolidated the king's authority over Upper Egypt and thereafter, Osorkon II ruled over a united Egypt. Osorkon II's reign was a time of prosperity for Egypt and large-scale monumental building ensued.

Osorkon II was the last king of the Twenty-second dynasty to rule Egypt from the Delta to Upper Egypt. His successor, Shoshenq III, lost the effective control of Middle and Upper Egypt that Osorkon II had achieved.

Foreign policy and monumental program

Entrance to the Tomb of Osorkon II Osorkon IIa.jpg
Entrance to the Tomb of Osorkon II

Osorkon II was forced to be aggressive on the international scene. The growing power of Assyria was accompanied with increased meddling in the affairs of Israel and Syria—territories well within Egypt's sphere of influence.

Osorkon II devoted considerable resources into his building projects by adding to the temple of Bastet at Bubastis, [2] which featured a substantial new hall decorated with scenes depicting his Sed festival and images of his queen, Karomama. Monumental construction during his reign also was performed at Thebes, Memphis, Tanis, and Leontopolis. Osorkon II also built Temple J at Karnak during the final years of his reign and it was decorated by his high priest, Takelot F (the future king, Takelot II). Takelot F was the son of the deceased high priest Nimlot C and, thus, Osorkon II's grandson.

All of Osorkon II's sizeable stone statues are known to be re-used works of earlier periods that were re-inscribed for Osorkon II, including the famous "Cairo-Philadelphia statue of Osorkon II". [3]

Many officials may be dated to the reign of Osorkon II. Ankhkherednefer was inspector of the palace, Paanmeny probably was his chief physician, Djeddjehutyiuefankh was the fourth prophet of Amun, [4] and Bakenkhons was another prophet of Amun during his reign. [5]

Reign length

Statue of Osorkon II from the Temple of Baalat Gebal in Byblos, displayed in the National Museum of Beirut. National Museum of Beirut - Osorkon II statue.jpg
Statue of Osorkon II from the Temple of Baalat Gebal in Byblos, displayed in the National Museum of Beirut.

Approximately 837 BC, Osorkon II died and he was buried in Tomb NRT I at Tanis. Currently, he is believed to have reigned for more than 30 years, rather than just 25 years as had been interpreted earlier. The celebration of his first Sed Jubilee previously was thought to have occurred in his Year 22, but the Heb Sed date in his Great Temple of Bubastis is damaged and also may be read as Year 30, as Edward Wente notes. [6] The fact that this king's own grandson, Takelot F, served him as High Priest of Amun at Thebes–as the inscribed walls of Temple J prove – supports the hypothesis of a longer reign for Osorkon II.

Recently, it has been demonstrated that Nile Level Text 14 (dated to Year 29 of an Usimare Setepenamun) belongs to Osorkon II on palaeographical grounds. [7] This finding suggests that Osorkon II likely did celebrate his first Heb Sed in his Year 30 as was traditionally the case with other Libyan era kings, such as Shoshenq III and Shoshenq V. In addition, a Year 22 Stela from his reign preserves no mention of any Heb Sed celebrations in that year, as would be expected (see Von Beckerath, 'infra').

While Osorkon II's precise reign length is unknown, some Egyptologists, such as Jürgen von Beckerath – in his 1997 book Chronology of the Egyptian Pharaohs [8] – and Aidan Dodson have suggested a range of between 38 and 39 years. [9] However, these much higher figures are not verified by the current monumental evidence. Gerard Broekman gives Osorkon II a slightly shorter reign of 34 years. [10] English Egyptologist Kenneth Kitchen, in a 2006 "Agypten und Levante" article, now accepts that if Nile Level Text 14 is correctly attributed to Year 29 of Osorkon II, then the reference to Osorkon's Sed Festival jubilee should be amended from Year 22 to Year 30. [11] Kitchen suggests that Osorkon II would have died shortly afterward, in his Year 31. [12]

Reliefs from the Tomb of Osorkon II Osorkon IIc.jpg
Reliefs from the Tomb of Osorkon II

Marriages and children

Osorkon II is known to have had at least four wives:

Osorkon II and queen Karomama I. From a gateway in the temple at Bubastis, Egypt. 22nd Dynasty, c. 850 BCE. British Museum Egyptian king Osorkon II and queen Karomama I. Temple relief. Red granite, painted. From a gateway in the temple at Bubastis, Egypt. 22nd Dynasty, c. 850 BCE. British Museum.jpg
Osorkon II and queen Karomama I. From a gateway in the temple at Bubastis, Egypt. 22nd Dynasty, c. 850 BCE. British Museum

Other children of record included:

Other possible children attributed to Osorkon II include his successor Shoshenq III and the King's Daughter Tentsepeh (D), the wife of General Ptahudjankhef, who was a son of Nimlot C and hence, a grandson of Osorkon II. [13]

Tomb

Interior photograph of the tomb of Osorkon II, showing the burial chamber of Takelot I Osorkon IIb.jpg
Interior photograph of the tomb of Osorkon II, showing the burial chamber of Takelot I

The French excavator Pierre Montet discovered Osorkon II's plundered royal tomb at Tanis on February 27, 1939. It revealed that Osorkon II was buried in a massive granite sarcophagus with a lid carved from a Ramesside-era statue. Only some fragments of a hawk-headed coffin and canopic jars remained in the robbed tomb to identify him. [17] While the tomb had been looted in antiquity, what jewellery that remained "was of such high quality that existing conceptions of the wealth of the northern Twenty-first and Twenty-second dynasties had to be revised." [18]

Successor

Osorkon II's sarcophagus Sarcophagus of Osorkon II.jpg
Osorkon II's sarcophagus

David Aston has argued in a JEA 75 (1989) paper that Osorkon II was succeeded by Shoshenq III at Tanis rather than Takelot II Si-Ese as Kitchen presumed because none of Takelot II's monuments have been found in Lower Egypt where other genuine Tanite kings, such as Osorkon II, Shoshenq III, and even the short-lived Pami (at 6-7 years) are attested on donation stelas, temple walls, and annal documents. [19] Other Egyptologists, such as Gerard Broekman, Karl Jansen-Winkeln, Aidan Dodson, and Jürgen von Beckerath have endorsed this position as well. Von Beckerath also identifies Shoshenq III as the immediate successor of Osorkon II and places Takelot II as a separate king in Upper Egypt. [20] Gerard Broekman writes in a recent 2005 GM article that, "in light of the monumental and genealogical evidence", Aston's chronology for the position of the twenty-second dynasty kings "is highly preferable" to Kitchen's chronology. [21] The only documents that mention a king Takelot in Lower Egypt, such as a royal tomb at Tanis, a Year 9 donation stela from Bubastis, and a heart scarab featuring the nomen 'Takelot Meryamun' — now have been attributed exclusively to king Takelot I by Egyptologists today, including Kitchen. [22]

The English Egyptologist Aidan Dodson, in his book The Canopic Equipment of the Kings of Egypt, observes that Shoshenq III built "a dividing wall, with a double scene showing Osorkon II" and him "each adoring an unnamed deity" in the antechamber of Osorkon II's tomb. [23] Dodson concludes that while one may argue Shoshenq III erected the wall to hide Osorkon II's sarcophagus, it made no sense for Shoshenq to create such an elaborate relief if Takelot II really had intervened between him and Osorkon II at Tanis for 25 years, unless Shoshenq III was Osorkon II's immediate successor. Shoshenq III must, hence, have wished to associate himself with his predecessor – Osorkon II. [24] Consequently, the case for establishing Takelot II as a Twenty-second Dynasty king and successor to Osorkon II disappears, as Dodson writes. Takelot II instead founded the twenty-third dynasty of Egypt and ruled a divided Egypt by administering Middle and Upper Egypt.

Related Research Articles

Kenneth Anderson Kitchen is a British biblical scholar, Ancient Near Eastern historian, and Personal and Brunner Professor Emeritus of Egyptology and honorary research fellow at the School of Archaeology, Classics and Egyptology, University of Liverpool, England. He specialises in the ancient Egyptian Ramesside Period, and the Third Intermediate Period of Egypt, as well as ancient Egyptian chronology, having written over 250 books and journal articles on these and other subjects since the mid-1950s. He has been described by The Times as "the very architect of Egyptian chronology".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Psusennes II</span> Last king of the 21st Dynasty of Egypt

Titkheperure or Tyetkheperre Psusennes II [Greek Ψουσέννης] or Hor-Pasebakhaenniut II [Egyptian ḥr-p3-sb3-ḫˁỉ-⟨n⟩-nỉwt], was the last king of the Twenty-first Dynasty of Egypt.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Takelot II</span> Egyptian Pharaoh

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Osorkon I</span> Egyptian pharaoh (c. 925 BC – c. 890 BC)

Sekhemkheperre Osorkon I was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh of the 22nd Dynasty. Osorkon's territory included much of the Levant.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Twenty-third Dynasty of Egypt</span> Ancient Egyptian dynasty


The Twenty-third Dynasty was an Ancient Egyptian dynasty of ancient Libyan origin which is usually classified as the third dynasty of the ancient Egyptian Third Intermediate Period. This dynasty consisted of a number of Meshwesh kings, who ruled either as pharaohs or as independent kings of parts of Upper Egypt from 880 BC to 720 BC, and pharaohs from 837 BC to 728 BC.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Takelot I</span> Egyptian pharaoh (885-872BC)

Hedjkheperre Setepenre Takelot I was an ancient Libyan ruler who was pharaoh during the Twenty-second Dynasty of Egypt.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shoshenq II</span> Egyptian pharaoh

Heqakheperre Shoshenq II or Shoshenq IIa was a pharaoh of the Twenty-second Dynasty of Egypt. He was the only ruler of this dynasty whose tomb was not plundered by tomb robbers. His final resting place was discovered within an antechamber of Psusennes I's tomb at Tanis by Pierre Montet in 1939. Montet removed the coffin lid of Shoshenq II on March 20, 1939, in the presence of king Farouk of Egypt himself. It proved to contain many jewel-encrusted bracelets and pectorals, along with a beautiful hawkheaded silver coffin and a gold funerary mask. The facemask had been placed upon the head of the king. Montet later discovered the intact tombs of two Twenty-first Dynasty kings a year later in February and April 1940 respectively. Shoshenq II's prenomen, Heqakheperre Setepenre, means "The manifestation of Ra rules, the chosen one of Ra."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jürgen von Beckerath</span> German Egyptologist (1920–2016)

Jürgen von Beckerath was a German Egyptologist. He was a prolific writer who published countless articles in journals such as Orientalia, Göttinger Miszellen (GM), Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt (JARCE), Archiv für Orientforschung (AfO), and Studien zur Altägyptischen Kultur (SAK) among others. Together with Kenneth Kitchen, he is viewed as one of the foremost scholars on the New Kingdom and the Third Intermediate Period of Egypt.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harsiese B</span>

Harsiese B was a High Priest of Amun in 874 BC. Earlier Egyptologists assumed he was both the High Priest of Amun (HPA) and son of the High Priest Shoshenq C, who may have become a king at Thebes. However, recent research by Karl Jansen-Winkeln shows that all the monuments of the first (King) Harsiese A demonstrate that he was never Theban High Priest of Amun in his own right, merely a regular Priest of Amun. While the earlier Harsiese was certainly a king at Thebes, he is clearly a different person from the later Harsiese, Harsiese B, who is attested as a High Priest of Amun. Jansen-Winkeln further shows that Harsiese A's son, [...du], was only an ordinary Priest of Amun.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harsiese A</span> Egyptian priest (1000–0860)

King Hedjkheperre Setepenamun Harsiese, or Harsiese A, is viewed by the Egyptologist Kenneth Kitchen in his Third Intermediate Period of Egypt to be both a High Priest of Amun and the son of the High Priest of Amun, Shoshenq C. The archaeological evidence does suggest that he was indeed Shoshenq C's son. However, recent published studies by the German Egyptologist Karl Jansen-Winkeln in JEA 81 (1995) have demonstrated that all the monuments of the first (king) Harsiese show that he was never a High Priest of Amun in his own right. Rather both Harsiese A and his son [...du] – whose existence is known from inscriptions on the latter's funerary objects at Coptos – are only attested as Ordinary Priests of Amun. Instead, while Harsiese A was certainly an independent king at Thebes during the first decade of Osorkon II's kingship, he was a different person from a second person who was also called Harsiese: Harsiese B. Harsiese B was the genuine High Priest of Amun, who is attested in office late in Osorkon II's reign, in the regnal year 6 of Shoshenq III and in regnal years 18 and 19 of Pedubast I, according to Jansen-Winkeln.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pedubast I</span> Egyptian pharaoh

Pedubastis I or Pedubast I was an Upper Egyptian Pharaoh of ancient Egypt during the 9th century BC.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shoshenq C</span>

Shoshenq C was the eldest son of the 22nd Dynasty pharaoh Osorkon I and queen Maatkare, and served as the High Priest of Amun at Thebes during his father's reign. Consequently, he was the most important official in Upper Egypt after the king himself. He has generally been equated with Heqakheperre Shoshenq II by the English Egyptologist Kenneth Kitchen and viewed as a short-lived co-regent to his father based on the Nile God British Museum statue 8 which identifies him as the son of Osorkon I and Queen Maatkare, daughter of Hor-Psusennes. In the statue, Shoshenq C is called "the Master of the Two Lands" and the formula "beloved of Amun" is enclosed within a royal cartouche. However, in the text of the statue, he is not given a specific throne name or prenomen, the use of a cartouche by a royal prince is attested in other periods of Egyptian history such as that of Amenmes, son of Thutmose I, and the documents depicts Shoshenq C as a simple High Priest of Amun on the side of the legs of the Nile God, rather than a king.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shoshenq IV</span> Egyptian pharaoh

Hedjkheperre Setepenre Shoshenq IV was an ancient Egyptian ruler of the 22nd Dynasty, between the reigns of Shoshenq III and Pami. In 1986, David Rohl proposed that there were two king Shoshenqs bearing the prenomen Hedjkheperre – (i) the well-known founder of the dynasty, Hedjkheperre Shoshenq I, and (ii) a later pharaoh from the second half of the dynasty, whom Rohl called Hedjkheperre Shoshenq (b) due to his exact position in the dynasty being unknown. Following a proposal, the British Egyptologist Aidan Dodson in 1993 supported the new king's existence by demonstrating that the earlier Hedjkheperre Shoshenq bore simple epithets in his titulary, whereas the later Hedjkheperre Shoshenq's epithets were more complex.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Osorkon III</span> Egyptian pharaoh

Usermaatre Setepenamun Osorkon III Si-Ese was Pharaoh of Egypt in the 8th Century BC. He is the same person as the Crown Prince and High Priest of Amun Osorkon B, son of Takelot II by his Great Royal Wife Karomama II. Prince Osorkon B is best attested by his Chronicle—which consists of a series of texts documenting his activities at Thebes—on the Bubastite Portal at Karnak. He later reigned as king Osorkon III in Upper Egypt for twenty-eight years after defeating the rival forces of Pedubast I/Shoshenq VI who had apparently resisted the authority of his father here. Osorkon ruled the last five years of his reign in coregency with his son, Takelot III, according to Karnak Nile Level Text No. 13. Osorkon III's formal titulary was long and elaborate: Usermaatre Setepenamun, Osorkon Si-Ese Meryamun, Netjer-Heqa-waset.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Takelot III</span> Egyptian pharaoh

Usermaatre Setepenamun Takelot III Si-Ese was Osorkon III's eldest son and successor. Takelot III ruled the first five years of his reign in a coregency with his father, according to the evidence from Nile Quay Text No.13, and succeeded his father as king the following year. He served previously as the High Priest of Amun at Thebes. He was previously thought to have ruled Egypt for only 7 years until his 13th Year was found on a stela from Ahmeida in the Dakhla Oasis in 2005.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Karomama I</span> Egyptian queen

Karomama I was an Egyptian queen, married to Osorkon II. She was part of the Twenty-second Dynasty of Egypt.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">High Priest of Amun</span> Priestly title in ancient Egypt

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nimlot C</span>

Nimlot C was a High Priest of Amun at Thebes during the reign of pharaoh Osorkon II of the 22nd Dynasty.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Karomama II</span> Queen consort of Egypt

Karomama II was an ancient Egyptian queen, Great Royal Wife of pharaoh Takelot II of the 23rd Dynasty of Egypt.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Smendes III</span>

Smendes III was a High Priest of Amun at Thebes during the reign of pharaoh Takelot I of the 22nd Dynasty.

References

  1. ↑ Osorkon (II) Usermaatre, Digital Egypt for Universities.
  2. ↑ Mohamed I. Bakr and Helmut Brandl, "Bubastis and the Temple of Bastet", in: M.I. Bakr, H. Brandl, and F. Kalloniatis (eds.), Egyptian Antiquities from Kufur Nigm and Bubastis. M.i.N. (Museums in the Nile Delta) 1, Cairo/Berlin 2010, pp. 27-36
  3. ↑ H. Sourouzian, "Seti I, not Osorkon II. A new join to the statue from Tanis, CG 1040 in the Cairo Museum", in: O. El-Aguizy – M. Sherif Ali (eds), Echoes of Eternity. Studies presented to Gaballa Aly Gaballa, Philippika 35, Wiesbaden 2010, pp. 97–105; Helmut Brandl, Bemerkungen zur Datierung von libyerzeitlichen Statuen aufgrund stilistischer Kriterien, in: G. P. F. Broekman, R. J. Demarée, O. E. Kaper (eds.), The Libyan Period in Egypt. Egyptologische Uitgaven 23, Leiden 2008, pp. 60-66, pl. I-II. (https://www.academia.edu/8241577/Bemerkungen_zur_Datierung_von_libyerzeitlichen_Statuen_aufgrund_stilistischer_Kriterien
  4. ↑ Statue, Cairo CG 42206, 42207
  5. ↑ Cairo CG 42213
  6. ↑ Edward Wente, Review of Kenneth Kitchen's The Third Intermediate Period in Egypt c.1100-650 BC, JNES 35(1976), pp.275-278
  7. ↑ Gerard Broekman, "The Nile Level Records of the Twenty-Second and Twenty-Third Dynasties in Karnak," JEA 88(2002), pp.174-178
  8. ↑ Jürgen von Beckerath, Chronologie des Pharaonischen Ägypten, MAS:Philipp von Zabern, (1997), p.98 & p.191
  9. ↑ Aidan Dodson, A new King Shoshenq confirmed?, GM 137(1993), p.58
  10. ↑ Gerard Broekman, 'The Reign of Takeloth II, a Controversial Matter,' GM 205(2005), pp.31 & 33
  11. ↑ Kenneth Kitchen, Agypten und Levante 16 (2006), p.299 point No.7
  12. ↑ Kitchen, Agypten und Levante 16 (2006), p.301 section 16
  13. 1 2 3 4 Aidan Dodson & Dyan Hilton: The Complete Royal Families of Ancient Egypt. Thames & Hudson, 2004, ISBN   0-500-05128-3
  14. ↑ Kitchen, The Third Intermediate Period in Egypt (1100–650 BC). 3rd ed. Warminster: Aris & Phillips Limited. 1996
  15. ↑ . Nos ancêtres de l'Antiquité , 1991. Christian Settipani, p.153 and 166
  16. ↑ Nicolas Grimal, A History of Ancient Egypt, Blackwell Books, 1992. p.325
  17. ↑ "San el-Hagar". Archived from the original on 2009-01-20. Retrieved 2006-02-18.
  18. ↑ Bob Brier, Egyptian Mummies: Unravelling the Secrets of an Ancient Art, William Morrow & Company Inc., New York, 1994. p.144
  19. ↑ Aston, pp.139-153
  20. ↑ Jürgen von Beckerath, "Chronologie des Pharaonischen Ägypten," MÄS 46 (Philipp von Zabern), Mainz: 1997. p.94
  21. ↑ Gerard Broekman, 'The Reign of Takeloth II, a Controversial Matter,' GM 205(2005), pp.31
  22. ↑ K.A. Kitchen, in the introduction to his 3rd 1996 edition of "The Third Intermediate Period in Egypt (c.1100-650 BC)," Aris & Phillips Ltd. pp.xxxii-xxxiii
  23. ↑ Aidan Dodson, "The Canopic Equipment of the Kings of Egypt," (Kegan Paul Intl: 1994), p.95
  24. ↑ Dodson, The Canopic Equipment of the Kings of Egypt, p.95

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