Takelot II

Last updated

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. [3] 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. [4] Most Egyptologists today, including Aidan Dodson, [5] Gerard Broekman, [6] Jürgen von Beckerath, [7] M.A. Leahy, and Karl Jansen-Winkeln, also accept David Aston's 1989 hypothesis [8] 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:

Contents

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. [9]

Takelot II rather ruled a separate kingdom that embraced Middle and Upper Egypt, distinct from the Tanite Twenty-second Dynasty, which only controlled Lower Egypt. Takelot F, the son and successor of the High Priest of Amun Nimlot C, served for a period of time under Osorkon II as a High Priest of Amun, before he proclaimed himself as king Takelot II in the final three regnal years of Osorkon II.[ citation needed ] This situation is attested by the relief scenes on the walls of Temple J at Karnak which was dedicated by Takelot F – in his position as High Priest – to Osorkon II, who is depicted as the celebrant and king. [10] All the documents which mention Takelot II Si-Ese and his son, Osorkon B, originate from either Middle or Upper Egypt (none from Lower Egypt) and a royal tomb at Tanis, which named a king Hedjkheperre Setepenre Takelot along with a Year 9 stela from Bubastis are now recognised as belonging exclusively to Takelot I. While both Takelot I and II used the same prenomen, Takelot II added the epithet Si-Ese ("Son of Isis") to his royal titulary both to affiliate himself with Thebes and to distinguish his name from Takelot I.

The Crown Prince Osorkon

Titulary of Takelot II on a doorway in the temple of Ptah at Karnak. Karnak Ptah 08.jpg
Titulary of Takelot II on a doorway in the temple of Ptah at Karnak.

Takelot II controlled Middle and Upper Egypt during the final 3 Years of Osorkon II and the first 2 decades of Shoshenq III. The majority of Egyptologists today concede that king Osorkon III was the illustrious "Crown Prince and High Priest Osorkon B," son of Takelot II. A misunderstanding arose over his identity because in the Crown Prince's Chronicle, which was carved on the Bubastite Portal at Karnak, Osorkon dates his actions by both the regnal years of Takelot II (years 11 through 24) – with a short year 25 left unmentioned – and then by those of the Tanite king, Shoshenq III (from regnal years 22 through 29). [11] While Kenneth Kitchen has interpreted this to mean that Shoshenq III succeeded Takelot II at Tanis, in fact Takelot II and Shoshenq III were likely close contemporaries because immediately after the death of his father in year 25 of Takelot II, Osorkon B started dating his activities to year 22, and not year 1, of Shoshenq III onwards. Consequently, there was never a two decade long break in Osorkon B's struggle to regain control of Thebes (from Year 1 to Year 22 of Sheshonq III) as Kitchen's chronology implies because year 25 of Takelot II is equivalent to year 22 of Sheshonq III. [12] Osorkon B did not immediately ascend to his father's throne presumably because he was involved in a prolonged civil war with his rival Pedubast I and, later, Shoshenq VI, for control of Thebes. Instead, he merely dated his activities to the serving Dynasty 22 Pharaoh at Tanis: Shoshenq III.

The Crown Prince Osorkon B was not outmaneuvered to the throne of Tanis by Shoshenq III because both men ruled over separate kingdoms with the 22nd Dynasty controlling Lower Egypt, and Takelot II/Osorkon B ruling over most of Upper Egypt from Herakleopolis Magna to Thebes, where they are monumentally attested. In 1983, a donation stela was discovered by Japanese excavators (Heian Museum 1983) at Tehna which reveals that Osorkon III was once a High Priest of Amun himself. [13] This person can only be the well-known High Priest Osorkon B since no other Theban High Priests named Osorkon are known until the reign of Takelot III half a century later when the latter's son Osorkon F served in this office. [14]

Theban Uprising and Conflict

In Year 11 of Takelot II, an insurrection began under Pedubast I whose followers challenged this king's authority at Thebes. Takelot reacted by dispatching his son, Osorkon B, to sail southwards to Thebes and quell the uprising. Osorkon B succeeded in retaining control of the city and then proclaimed himself as the new High Priest of Amun. Some of the rebels' bodies were deliberately burned by Osorkon to permanently deny their souls any hope of an afterlife. However, just four years later, in year 15 of Takelot II, a second major revolt broke out and this time Osorkon B's forces were expelled from Thebes by Pedubast I. This caused a prolonged period of turmoil and instability in Upper Egypt as a prolonged struggle broke out between the competing factions of Takelot II/Osorkon B and Pedubast I/Shoshenq VI for control of Thebes. This conflict would last for 27 long years – from Year 15 to Year 25 of Takelot II and then from Year 22 to Year 39 of Shoshenq III when Osorkon B finally defeated his enemies and conquered this great city. Osorkon B proclaimed himself as king Osorkon III sometime after his victory.

On other matters, the Chronicle of Prince Osorkon B, which is carved on the Bubastis Portal at Karnak, records Osorkon's activities between regnal years 11 and 24 of his father and then from regnal years 22 through 29 of Shoshenq III. However, Takelot II's brief 25th year is attested by a donation stela made by his son in his position as High Priest at Thebes shortly before Takelot died; it granted 35 aurourae of land to Takelot II's daughter, Karomama E. [15] Papyrus Berlin 3048 has also now been conclusively dated to Takelot II's (and not Takelot III's) reign due to the attestation of a certain Harsiese—designated the fourth prophet of Amun—in this document who is known to have served in office during king Takelot II's reign. [16] This papyrus contains several year dates including a year 13, year 14, year 16, year 23 and even a year 26—although a Year 26 date for Takelot II is unknown for this ruler and could pertain to another pharaoh instead. [16] As of 2008, no tomb or final resting place has been found for this king.

Marriages and children

Takelot II married his sister and Great Royal Wife Karomama Merymut II; they were the parents of:

Takelot II also married a lady whose name was only partially preserved as Tashep[...]. They had a son:

Takelot also had a wife named Tabektenasket (I), they had a daughter:

Other children:

Possible further children:

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. His royal name means "Image of the transformations of Re" in Egyptian. Psusennes II is often considered the same person as the High-Priest of Amun known as Psusennes III. The Egyptologist Karl Jansen-Winkeln notes that an important graffito from the Temple of Abydos contains the complete titles of a king Tyetkheperre Setepenre Pasebakhaenniut Meryamun "who is simultaneously called the HPA and supreme military commander." This suggests that Psusennes was both king at Tanis and the High Priest in Thebes at the same time, meaning he did not resign his office as High Priest of Amun during his reign. The few contemporary attestations from his reign include the aforementioned graffito in Seti I's Abydos temple, an ostracon from Umm el-Qa'ab, an affiliation at Karnak and his presumed burial – which consists of a gilded coffin with a royal uraeus and a Mummy, found in an antechamber of Psusennes I's tomb at Tanis. He was a High Priest of Amun at Thebes and the son of Pinedjem II and Istemkheb. His daughter Maatkare B was the Great Royal Wife of Osorkon I.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Osorkon II</span> Egyptian king

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.

<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 of Egypt 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">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">Shoshenq VI</span> Egyptian pharaoh

Shoshenq VI is known to be Pedubast I's immediate successor at Thebes based upon the career of the Letter Writer to Pharaoh Hor IX, who served under Osorkon II and Pedubast I. Since Shoshenq VI's prenomen is inscribed on Hor IX's funerary cones, this indicates that Hor IX outlived Pedubast I and made his funeral arrangements under Shoshenq VI instead. His prenomen or royal name was "Usermaatre Meryamun Shoshenq" which is unusual because it is the only known example where the epithet "Meryamun" appears within a king's cartouche. Shoshenq VI's High Priest of Amun was a certain Takelot who first appears in office in Year 23 of Pedubast I.

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

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.

<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">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">Shoshenq III</span> Egyptian pharaoh of the 22nd Dynasty

King Usermaatre SetepenreShoshenq III of the 22nd Dynasty ruled for 39 years according to contemporary historical records. Two Apis Bulls were buried in the fourth and 28th years of his reign and he celebrated his Heb Sed Jubilee in his regnal year 30. He was not a son of Osorkon II but instead a grandson through his dead father prince Takelot. As he was only a grandson, his cousin Takelot II contested his succession and Egypt was divided. He married his aunt Tjesbastperu to strengthen his claim. He outlived his first five sons and was thus succeeded by his 6th son Shoshenq IV, who later died childless as well and was succeeded by Shoshenq III's 7th son Pami.

<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">Rudamun</span> Final pharaoh of the Twenty-third Dynasty of Egypt

Rudamun was the final pharaoh of the Twenty-third Dynasty of Egypt. His titulary simply reads as Usermaatre Setepenamun, Rudamun Meryamun, and excludes the Si-Ese or Netjer-Heqawaset epithets employed by his father and brother.

<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">Iuwelot</span>

Iuwelot or Iuwlot was a High Priest of Amun at Thebes and military commander during the reign of pharaohs Osorkon I and Takelot I of the 22nd Dynasty.

<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. 1 2 Henri Gauthier, Le Livre des rois d'Égypte, recueil de titres et protocoles royaux, 3, De la XIXe à la XXIVe dynastie, MIFAO 19, Cairo 1914, p. 354.
  2. ↑ Jürgen von Beckerath, Handbuch der Ägyptischen Königsnamen (MÄS 49), Philip Von Zabern, 1999, pp. 194-95.
  3. ↑ Karl Jansen-Winkeln, "Historische Probleme Der 3. Zwischenzeit," JEA 81(1995) p.129, 138
  4. ↑ Rolf Krauss, in Erik Hornung, Rolf Krauss, and David Warburton (editors), Handbook of Ancient Egyptian Chronology (Handbook of Oriental Studies), Brill: 2006, pp. 408–411
  5. ↑ Aidan Dodson, "A new King Shoshenq confirmed?" GM 137(1993), p.58
  6. ↑ Gerard Broekman, "The Reign of Takeloth II: a Controversial Matter," GM 205(2005), pp.21-33
  7. ↑ Jürgen von Beckerath, "Chronologie des Pharaonischen Ägypten," MÄS 46 (Philipp von Zabern, Mainz: 1997. p.94
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Aston, D. A. (1989). "Takeloth II: A King of the 'Theban Twenty-Third Dynasty'?". The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology. 75 (1): 139–153. S2CID   192273193.
  9. ↑ Aidan Dodson & Dyan Hilton, The Complete Royal Families of Ancient Egypt, Thames & Hudson, (2004), p. 224
  10. ↑ Aston (1989), p. 147
  11. ↑ Aston (1989), p. 143
  12. ↑ Aston, (1989), pp. 143 and 148–149
  13. ↑
    • 大城 道則 [Ōhshiro Michinori] (1999). "The Identity of Osorkon III: The Revival of an Old Theory (Prince Osorkon = Osorkon III)". 古代オリエント博物館紀要 [Bulletin of the Ancient Orient Museum]. 20: 33–49. [article language is English]
  14. ↑ Kitchen, Kenneth (1996). The Third Intermediate Period in Egypt (1100–650 BC), 3rd edition (Warminster: Aris & Phillips), pp. 565 & 581
  15. ↑ Broekman, (2005), p.30
  16. 1 2 Frédéric Payraudeau, Takeloth III: Considerations on Old and New Documents in 'The Libyan Period in Egypt.' Historical and Cultural Studies into the 21st-24th Dynasties: Proceedings of a Conference at Leiden University 25–27 October 2007, G. Broekman, RJ Demaree & O.E. Kaper (eds), Peeters Leuven 2009, p.294
  17. 1 2 3 4 5 Kitchen, Kenneth A. The Third Intermediate Period in Egypt, 1100-650 B.C. (Book & Supplement) Aris & Phillips. 1986 ISBN   978-0-85668-298-8

Further reading


This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.