Seqenenre Tao (also Seqenera Djehuty-aa or Sekenenra Taa, called 'the Brave') ruled over the last of the local kingdoms of the Theban region of Egypt in the Seventeenth Dynasty during the Second Intermediate Period.
With his queen, Ahhotep I, Seqenenre Tao fathered two pharaohs, Kamose, his immediate successor who was the last pharaoh of the Seventeenth Dynasty, and Ahmose I who, following a regency by his mother, was the first pharaoh of the Eighteenth. Seqenenre Tao is credited with starting the opening moves in a war of revanchism against Hyksos incursions into Egypt, which saw the country completely liberated during the reign of his son Ahmose I.
Reign
The dates of his reign are uncertain, but he may have risen to power in the decade ending in 1560 BC or in 1558 BC (based on the probable accession date of his son, Ahmose I, the first ruler of the Eighteenth Dynasty, see Egyptian chronology).
Quarrel of Apophis and Seqenenre
New Kingdom literary tradition states that Seqenenre Tao came into contact with his Hyksos contemporary in the north, Apepi or Apophis. The tradition took the form of a tale, nowadays called "The Quarrel of Apophis and Seqenenre", in which the Hyksos king Apepi sent a messenger to Seqenenre in Thebes to demand that the Theban hippopotamus pool be done away with, for the noise of these beasts was such that he was unable to sleep in far-away Avaris. Perhaps the only historical information that can be gleaned from the tale is that Egypt was a divided land, the area of direct Hyksos control being in the north, but the whole of Egypt paying tribute to the Hyksos kings.
Seqenenre Tao participated in active diplomatic posturing, which went beyond simply exchanging insults with the Asiatic ruler in the North. He seems to have led military skirmishes against the Hyksos and, judging from the vicious head wounds on his mummy in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, may have died during one of them.[2]
His son and successor Wadjkheperre Kamose, the last ruler of the Seventeenth Dynasty at Thebes, is credited with launching a successful campaign in the Theban war of liberation against the Hyksos, although he is thought to have died in the campaign.[2] His mother, Ahhotep I, is thought to have ruled as regent after the death of Kamose and continued the warfare against the Hyksos until Ahmose I, the second son of Seqenenre Tao and Ahhotep I, was old enough to assume the throne and complete the expulsion of the Hyksos and the unification of Egypt.
Monumental construction
The relatively short length of the reign of Seqenenre Tao did not allow for the construction of many monumental structures, but it is known that he had built a new palace made of mud brick at Deir el-Ballas. On an adjacent hillside overlooking the river, the foundations of a building were found that almost certainly was a military observation post.[3]
A relatively large amount of pottery known as Kerma-ware was found at the site, indicating that a large number of Kerma Nubians were resident at the site. It is thought that they were there as allies of the pharaoh in his wars against the Hyksos.[4]
Attestations
Louvre E 15682
A statue of a young seated man identified as Senior King's Son (sꜣ-nsw smsw) Ahmose, with the royal name of Seqenenre (cartouches with nomen on the back and front left side), also mentions Great King's Daughter (sꜣt-nsw wrt) Ahmose.[5][6][7]
Karnak Sheikh Labib 87CL358
At Karnak, a limestone round-topped stela of King's Daughter Ahmose (cartouche) with the royal name of Seqenenre.[8][9]
Death
Mummy
Mummified head of Seqenenre depicting his wounds. The cut above his eye was made by another weapon, most probably some sort of dagger. The common theory is that he died in a battle against the Hyksos.
The mummy was unwrapped by Eugène Grébaut when Professor Gaston Maspero resigned his office of directorship on June 5, 1886, and was succeeded in the superintendency of excavations and Egyptian archeology by M. Eugene Grebault. In the same month Grebault started upon the work of unbandaging the mummy of Seqenenre, of the eighteenth dynasty. It was under this monarch that a revolt against the Hyksos had originated, in the course of which the Asiatics were expelled from Egypt. The history of this king had been considered legendary, but from the signs of wounds present in the mummy, it looked likely that he had died in battle. In the same season the mummy of Seti I was unbandaged, and also that of an anonymous prince.[11]
A vivid description provides an account of the injury that was done to the pharaoh at his death:
...it is not known whether he fell upon the field of battle or was the victim of some plot; the appearance of his mummy proves that he died a violent death when about forty years of age. Two or three men, whether assassins or soldiers, must have surrounded and despatched him before help was available. A blow from an axe must have severed part of his left cheek, exposed the teeth, fractured the jaw, and sent him senseless to the ground; another blow must have seriously injured the skull, and a dagger or javelin has cut open the forehead on the right side, a little above the eye. His body must have remained lying where it fell for some time: when found, decomposition had set in, and the embalming had to be hastily performed as best it might.[2]
The wound on his forehead was probably caused by a Hyksos axe[12] and his neck wound was probably caused by a dagger while he was prone.[4] There are no wounds on his arms or hands, which suggests he was not able to defend himself.
Until 2009, the main hypotheses had been that he died either in a battle against the Hyksos or was killed while sleeping.[13] A reconstruction of his death by Egyptologist Garry Shaw and archaeologist and weapons expert Robert Mason suggested a third, which they saw as the likeliest, that Seqenenre was executed by the Hyksos king Apepi.[14] Garry Shaw also analysed the arguments for the competing hypotheses and other physical, textual and statistical evidence concluding "that the most likely cause of Seqenenre’s death is ceremonial execution at the hands of an enemy commander, following a Theban defeat on the battlefield."[15]
His mummy appears to have been hastily embalmed. X-rays that were taken of the mummy in the late 1960s show that no attempt had been made to remove the brain or to add linen inside the cranium or eyes, both normal embalming practice for the time. In the opinion of James E. Harris and Kent Weeks, who undertook the forensic examination at the time the X-rays were taken, his mummy is the worst preserved of all the royal mummies held at the Egyptian Museum, and they noted that a "foul, oily smell filled the room the moment the case in which his body was exhibited was opened," which is likely due to the poor embalming process and the absence of the use of absorbing natron salts, leaving some bodily fluids in the mummy at the time of burial.[16] Also, Harris and Weeks noted in 1973 that "his entire facial complex, in fact, is so different from other pharaohs (it is closest in fact to his son Ahmose) that he could be fitted more easily into the series of Nubian and Old Kingdom Giza skulls than into that of later Egyptian kings. Various scholars in the past have proposed a Nubian- that is, non-Egyptian-origin for Sequenre and his family, and his facial features suggest that this might indeed be true."[17]
He was the earliest royal mummy on display in the recently revamped Royal Mummies Hall at the Egyptian Museum, Cairo.[18]
In 2021, a CT scan of his mummy revealed that he died in his forties, possibly on a battlefield, meanwhile his deformed hands imply that he was possibly imprisoned with his hands tied, and his facial fractures correlated well with the Hyksos weapons.[19]
In 2022, biological anthropologist S.O.Y. Keita reviewed studies from various time periods, including the 1973 craniofacial study of Seqenenre Tao which had found affinities with Nubian and Old Kingdom Giza crania. Keita viewed the Giza skulls to be part of a “Nile Valley variation” and commented that it was neither obligatory that those crania series nor King Tao were of Nubian origin, although a “Nubian origin is most certainly possible”. He also stated that it could be inferred “that populations with these traits were ancestral to various later populations”.[21]
Legacy in modern literature
Seqenenre Tao appears in the historical novel Shadow Hawk by Andre Norton, in which he is murdered by priests allied with the Hyksos. The book focuses on an Egyptian officer leading Nubian troops in the service of the Theban kingdom.[22]
Thebes, known to the ancient Egyptians as Waset, was an ancient Egyptian city located along the Nile about 800 kilometers (500 mi) south of the Mediterranean. Its ruins lie within the modern Egyptian city of Luxor. Thebes was the main city of the fourth Upper Egyptian nome and was the capital of Egypt for long periods during the Middle Kingdom and New Kingdom eras. It was close to Nubia and the Eastern Desert, with its valuable mineral resources and trade routes. It was a religious center and the most venerated city during many periods of ancient Egyptian history. The site of Thebes includes areas on both the eastern bank of the Nile, where the temples of Karnak and Luxor stand and where the city was situated; and the western bank, where a necropolis of large private and royal cemeteries and funerary complexes can be found. In 1979, the ruins of ancient Thebes were classified by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site.
Ahmose I was a pharaoh and founder of the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt in the New Kingdom of Egypt, the era in which ancient Egypt achieved the peak of its power. His reign is usually dated to the mid-16th century BC at the beginning of the Late Bronze Age.
The Hyksos, in modern Egyptology, are the kings of the Fifteenth Dynasty of Egypt. Their seat of power was the city of Avaris in the Nile Delta, from where they ruled over Lower Egypt and Middle Egypt up to Cusae.
Thutmose I was the third pharaoh of the 18th Dynasty of Egypt. He received the throne after the death of the previous king, Amenhotep I. During his reign, he campaigned deep into the Levant and Nubia, pushing the borders of Egypt farther than ever before in each region. He also built many temples in Egypt, and a tomb for himself in the Valley of the Kings; he is the first king confirmed to have done this.
Thutmose II was the fourth Pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt, and his reign is generally dated from 1493 to 1479 BC. Little is known about him and he is overshadowed by his father Thutmose I, half-sister and wife Hatshepsut, and son Thutmose III. He died around the age of 30 and his body was found in the Deir el-Bahri Cache above the Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut.
Amenhotep I or Amenophis I, was the second Pharaoh of the 18th Dynasty of Egypt. His reign is generally dated from 1526 to 1506 BC.
Ahmose, son of Ebana, served in the Egyptian military under the pharaohs Ahmose I, Amenhotep I, and Thutmose I. His autobiography, which is inscribed on the wall of his tomb, and remains remarkably intact, is a valuable source of information on the late 17th Dynasty and the early 18th Dynasty of Egypt.
The New Kingdom, also called the Egyptian New kingdom Empire, refers to ancient Egypt between the 16th century BC and the 11th century BC. This period of ancient Egyptian history covers the Eighteenth, Nineteenth, and Twentieth dynasties. Through radiocarbon dating, the establishment of the New Kingdom has been placed between 1570 BC and 1544 BC. The New Kingdom followed the Second Intermediate Period and was succeeded by the Third Intermediate Period. It was the most prosperous time for the Egyptian people and marked the peak of Egypt's power.
Ahmose is an Ancient Egyptian name meaning "The Moon is born" or "Child of the Moon". It was a very popular name in the beginning of the eighteenth dynasty.
Kamose was the last Pharaoh of the Theban Seventeenth Dynasty. He was possibly the son of Seqenenre Tao and Ahhotep I and the brother of Ahmose I, founder of the Eighteenth Dynasty. His reign fell at the very end of the Second Intermediate Period. Kamose is usually ascribed a reign of three years, although some scholars now favor giving him a longer reign of approximately five years.
Ahmose-Nefertari was the first Great Royal Wife of the 18th Dynasty of Ancient Egypt. She was a daughter of Seqenenre Tao and Ahhotep I, and royal sister and wife to Ahmose I. Her son Amenhotep I became pharaoh and she may have served as his regent when he was young. Ahmose-Nefertari was deified after her death.
God's Wife of Amun was the highest-ranking priestess of the Amun cult, an important religious institution in ancient Egypt. The cult was centered in Thebes in Upper Egypt during the Twenty-fifth and Twenty-sixth dynasties. The office had political importance as well as religious, since the two were closely related in ancient Egypt.
Sharuhen was an ancient town in the Negev Desert or perhaps in Gaza. Following the expulsion of the Hyksos from Egypt in the second half of the 16th century BCE, they fled to Sharuhen and fortified it. The armies of Pharaoh Ahmose I seized and razed the town after a three-year siege.
Senakhtenre Ahmose, was a king of the Seventeenth Dynasty of Egypt during the Second Intermediate Period. Senakhtenre reigned for a short period over the Theban region in Upper Egypt at a time where the Hyksos 15th Dynasty ruled Lower Egypt. Senakhtenre died c.1560 or 1558 BC at the latest.
The Seventeenth Dynasty of Egypt was a dynasty of pharaohs that ruled in Upper Egypt during the late Second Intermediate Period, approximately from 1580 to 1550 BC. Its mainly Theban rulers are contemporary with the Hyksos of the Fifteenth Dynasty and succeed the Sixteenth Dynasty, which was also based in Thebes.
Ahhotep I was an ancient Egyptian queen who lived c. 1560–1530 BCE, during the end of the Seventeenth Dynasty and beginning of the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt. Her titles include King's Daughter, King's Sister, Great (Royal) Wife, She who is joined to the White Crown, and King's Mother. She was the daughter of Queen Tetisheri and Pharaoh Senakhtenre Ahmose, and was probably the sister, as well as the queen consort, of Pharaoh Seqenenre Tao.
Retjenu, later known as Khor, was the Ancient Egyptian name for the wider Syrian region, where the Semitic-speaking Canaanites lived. Retjenu was located between the region north of the Sinai Desert and south of the Taurus Mountains in southern Anatolia. The term Retjenu was used to refer to this geographical area since the Middle Kingdom. The geographical area of Retjenu were defined during the New Kingdom and considered to have been a collection of small states ruled by princes. The boundaries of the area considered Retjenu shifted throughout time due to military, political, and economic factors. Retjenu was divided into two geographical regions. Djahy the southernmost region covered the area between Askalon and Mount Lebanon stretching inland to the Sea of Galilee. Amurru the northern region stretched between the Lebanon and Taurus Mountains. During Thutmose III's military campaigns in West Asia, the area of Djahy was referred to as Upper Retjenu and generally covered the area of Canaan. Lower Retjenu was used to refer to the area of Amurru but also incorporated the cities located along Phoenician coast.
Ahhotep II was an ancient Egyptian queen, and likely the Great Royal Wife of Pharaoh Kamose.
Sitdjehuti was a princess and queen of the late Seventeenth Dynasty of Egypt. She was a daughter of Pharaoh Senakhtenre Ahmose and Queen Tetisheri. She was the wife of her brother Seqenenre Tao and was the mother of Princess Ahmose.
The Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt is classified as the first dynasty of the New Kingdom of Egypt, the era in which ancient Egypt achieved the peak of its power. The Eighteenth Dynasty spanned the period from 1550/1549 to 1292 BC. This dynasty is also known as the Thutmoside Dynasty) for the four pharaohs named Thutmose.
References
↑ Clayton, Peter. Chronicle of the Pharaohs, Thames and Hudson Ltd, paperback 2006. p.94
1 2 3 Maspero, Gaston. History Of Egypt, Chaldaea, Syria, Babylonia, and Assyria, Volume 4 (of 12), Project Gutenberg EBook, Release Date: December 16, 2005. EBook #17324. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2015-09-24. Retrieved 2015-03-29.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
↑ Shaw, Ian. The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt. Oxford University Press, 2000. p.198.
1 2 Shaw, Ian. The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt. Oxford University Press, 2000. p199.
Gardiner, Sir Alan. Egypt of the Pharaohs. (Oxford, 1964).
Hayes, William C. Egypt: From the Death of Ammenemes III to Sequenenre II," in Volume 2, Chapter 2 of the "Cambridge Ancient History", Revised Edition (Cambridge, 1965).
Pritchard, James B. (Editor). Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament. Third Edition, with Supplement. (Princeton, 1969).
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