Tutkheperre Shoshenq

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Tutkheperre Shoshenq or Shoshenq IIb [2] is an obscure Third Intermediate Period ancient Egyptian pharaoh whose existence was, until recently, doubted. In 2004, a GM 203 German article by Eva R. Lange on a newly discovered stone block decoration from the Temple of Bubastis that bore his rare royal prenomen, Tutkheperre, confirmed his existence because his name is found in Lower and Upper Egypt. [3] Tutkheperre's prenomen translates approximately as "Appearance (or Coming Forth) of the Image of Re."

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Evidence for existence

This king was first attested in Ostracon Louvre E.31886 discovered at Abydos in Upper Egypt by Émile Amélineau (1850–1915) in his 19th century excavations. This ostracon is now in the Louvre Museum and was examined by M. A. Bonheme in a 1995 paper titled "Les Chechanquides: Qui, Combien?" [4] According to Bonheme, the Ostracon contains the name 'Tutkheperre [...]Amun| (Shoshenq MeryAmun)|' written in black ink and was discovered among votive deposits, starting from the New Kingdom onwards near the First Dynasty 'Tomb of Osiris' at Abydos in Upper Egypt. [5]

The ostracon evidence was not considered conclusive evidence for this king's existence since the writer of this object was assumed to have mistakenly written the small bird or chick symbol for 'Tut' instead of the White Crown symbol for Hedj, as in king Hedjkheperre Shoshenq I. However, in her 2004 GM paper, Lange notes that the name Tutkheperre cannot be a mistake for either Shoshenq I or for "Tjetkheperre", Psusennes II's prenomen, because their hieroglyphic symbols are completely different. [6] Secondly, the prenomen Tutkheperre is inscribed in an architectural building in Bubastis (Lower Egypt). Lange's GM 203 article established that this king was genuine and distinct from Shoshenq I or Psusennes II. It examines an architectural fragment from the Great Temple of Bubastis which mentions his unique prenomen and nomen: 'Tutkheperre Shoshenq'. The likelihood of an error here is remote because these stone architectural blocks were created by professionally trained royal artisans who would not mistakenly transcribe a king's throne name onto a royal monument or temple. Tutkheperre Shoshenq's reign was probably brief because he is unattested beyond these two documents.

Twenty-second Dynasty timeline

Karl Jansen-Winkeln surmises in a footnote at the conclusion of Lange's paper that this new king should be dated to the first half of the 22nd Dynasty because his rule is attested in Upper and Lower Egypt. This is a logical deduction since Shoshenq III of the 22nd Dynasty lost effective control over Upper Egypt in his 8th year with the accession of Pedubast I at Thebes. Secondly, Lange notes that Tutkheperre Shoshenq is documented at the Temple of Bubastis where other early 22nd Dynasty monarchs such as Osorkon I and Osorkon II are well known for their building projects there. Thus, he should be placed somewhere between these two kings.

While his precise location in the framework of the 22nd Dynasty is a mystery, Tutkheperre is more likely to have been one of the unknown "3 Kings" — apart from Shoshenq II who ruled Egypt between Osorkon I and Takelot I, as Africanus' generally more accurate copy of Manetho's Epitome states. [7] [8] The only fact which is certain is that he could not intervene in the transition between Shoshenq I to Osorkon I because Osorkon I certainly succeeded his father. This leaves a short interregnum of a few years in the transition between Osorkon I to Takelot I during the 880s BC before Takelot I becoming king. Tutkheperre certainly ruled Egypt before the reign of Osorkon II who adopts the generic Ramesses II-based prenomen of 'Usimare Setepenre/Setepenamun' for his royal name.

Several short-lived kings could plausibly fit into this transition period such as Shoshenq II at 2–3 years and Tutkheperre Shoshenq because Takelot I was a relatively minor son of Osorkon I by Queen Tashedkhons, who was a lesser wife of this king. Takelot I may, thus, have been obliged to wait a while before assuming power in favour of other higher ranking royal family members with stronger claims to the throne.

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">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 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 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-second Dynasty of Egypt</span> Ancient Egyptian dynasty

The Twenty-second Dynasty of Egypt is also known as the Bubastite Dynasty, since the pharaohs originally ruled from the city of Bubastis. It was founded by Shoshenq I.

<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">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)

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

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

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

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

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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.

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

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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

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.

References

  1. Based on the style of 22nd dynasty royal names, the missing part is likely to be "setep-en-Amun". Lange, p.69.
  2. At the October 2007 Egyptological Conference on the History and Chronology of the Libyan Period in Egypt at Leiden University, the conference members voted unanimously to designate him as Shoshenq IIb; this does not, however, imply that his existence is recognized by all scholars at this time; there is agreement as to how to refer to him.
  3. Eva R. Lange, Ein Neuer König Schoschenk in Bubastis, GM 203(2004), pp.65-71.
  4. M. A. Bonheme, Les Chechanquides: Qui, Combien?, BSFE 134(1995), pp.53-54.
  5. Bonheme, op. cit., pp.53-54
  6. Lange, op. cit., p.68
  7. Jürgen von Beckerath, Chronology of the Egyptian pharaohs (Chronologie des Pharaonischen Ägypten), Mainz am Rhein: Verlag Philipp von Zabern. (1997) p.95
  8. Thomas Schneider, Contributions to the Chronology of the New Kingdom and the Third Intermediate Period, Egypt and the Levant 20, 2010. pp.375-376

Further reading