Tefnakht II

Last updated

Tefnakht II (Ancient Greek: ΣτεφινάτηςStephinátēs, ΣτεφινάθιςStephináthis; Latin: Stephinates, Stephinathis) was an ancient Egyptian ruler of the city of Sais during the early 7th century BC. He is recognized as an early member of the so-called "Proto-Saite Dynasty", [3] which directly preceded the 26th Dynasty of Egypt.

Contents

Biography

Tefnakht II is mainly known by Manetho's Aegyptiaca, under the name Stephinates. Based on Manetho's work, Sextus Julius Africanus called Stephinates the founder of the 26th Dynasty while another historian, Eusebius, placed a certain Ammeris "the Nubian" just before him. In both cases, the two historians credited Stephinates with a 7-year-long reign. [4]

In 1917, Flinders Petrie was the first to argue that "Stephinates" was probably an Ancient Greek render of the Egyptian name Tefnakht, and first called this ruler "Tefnakht II" in order to distinguish him by the namesake Great Chief of the West who few decades earlier clashed against pharaoh Piye of the Kushite 25th Dynasty and later rose to kingship under the name Shepsesre Tefnakht (I), founding the short-lived Saite 24th Dynasty. [5]

Kenneth Kitchen hypothesized that Tefnakht II may have been a relative of pharaoh Bakenranef – son and successor of Tefnakht I – who was probably killed by Shebitqo and then replaced by a faithful governor, the aforementioned Ammeris. Thus, according to Kitchen, Tefnakht II effectively restored a Saite dynasty, and ruled from 695 to 688 BC. [4] He was then succeeded by another relative called Nekhepsos in Greek, and identified with the Egyptian Nekauba. It is possible that many scarabs datable to this period, and bearing the otherwise unknown throne names Menibre and Iribre, belongs indeed to Tefnakht II and Nekauba. [5]

In 2011, Kim Ryholt made a case for Tefnakht II being the father of the later pharaoh Necho I: according to a papyrus from Tebtunis, the latter was the son of a king named Tefnakht, with the most likely choice being Tefnakht II. [6]

Tefnakht I and Tefnakht II

Year 8 stela of king Shepsesre Tefnakht. Oliver Perdu suggested to identify him with Tefnakht II rather than Tefnakht I Tefnakht Athens stela (T. Efthimiadis).jpg
Year 8 stela of king Shepsesre Tefnakht. Oliver Perdu suggested to identify him with Tefnakht II rather than Tefnakht I

Since the initial claim by Petrie, there were scholars whom questioned the distinction between Tefnakht I and Tefnakht II. In 1956, Wolfgang Helck equated the two figures, [7] [5] a position later rejected by Karl-Heinz Priese, who stated that there was no compelling reason to identify Tefnakht II with Tefnakht I aside from the similarity of their names. [8]
In more recent times, Oliver Perdu noticed close similarities in style, form and content between a newly discovered donation stela dating to Year 2 of Necho I, and a Year 8 donation stela of Shepsesre Tefnakht (I). Perdu argued that these two Saite rulers were more close contemporaries than usually believed, and suggested that Shepsesre Tefnakht is in fact Tefnakht II and not Tefnakht I, the former having lived just few years before Necho I while the latter, several decades before. [9]
Perdu's arguments were put in discussion by Dan'el Kahn who note that his epigraphic criteria here – such as the use of the tripartite wig, the slender figure of the king and the method through which the falcon-headed god keeps his head upright in stelas and temple wall reliefs contemporary with Tefnakht I's time – appear in use already in the early 25th Dynasty during Piye's or Shabaka's reign and even in Shoshenq V's Year 38 donation stela of the Chief of the Ma Tefnakht (I), who was Piye's rival. [10]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Menes</span> Founder of Manethos 1st dynasty and unifier of Egypt

Menes was a pharaoh of the Early Dynastic Period of ancient Egypt credited by classical tradition with having united Upper and Lower Egypt and as the founder of the First Dynasty.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Piye</span> Ancient Kushite king and Egyptian pharaoh

Piye was an ancient Kushite king and founder of the Twenty-fifth Dynasty of Egypt, who ruled Egypt from 744–714 BC. He ruled from the city of Napata, located deep in Nubia, modern-day Sudan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Necho I</span> Ancient Egyptian ruler of the city of Sais, father of Psammetich I

Menkheperre Necho I was a ruler of the ancient Egyptian city of Sais. He was the first securely attested local Saite king of the 26th Dynasty of Egypt who reigned for 8 years (672–664 BCE) according to Manetho's Aegyptiaca. Egypt was reunified by his son Psamtik I.

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

Neferkare Shabaka, or Shabako was the third Kushite pharaoh of the Twenty-fifth Dynasty of Egypt, who reigned from 705 to 690 BC. The Greek sources called him Sabacon (Σαβακῶν) and is mentioned by both Herodotus and Manetho.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Third Intermediate Period of Egypt</span> Period of Ancient Egypt (1077-664 BCE)

The Third Intermediate Period of ancient Egypt began with the death of Pharaoh Ramesses XI in 1077 BC, which ended the New Kingdom, and was eventually followed by the Late Period. Various points are offered as the beginning for the latter era, though it is most often regarded as dating from the foundation of the Twenty-Sixth Dynasty by Psamtik I in 664 BC, following the departure of the Nubian Kushite rulers of the Twenty-fifth Dynasty after they were driven out by the Assyrians under King Ashurbanipal. The use of the term "Third Intermediate Period", based on the analogy of the well-known First and Second Intermediate Periods, was popular by 1978, when British Egyptologist Kenneth Kitchen used the term for the title of his book on the period. While Kitchen argued that the period was 'far from being chaotic' and hoped that his work would lead to the abolishment of the term, with his own preference being the 'Post-Imperial epoch', his use of the term as a title seems only to have entrenched the use of the term.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shebitku</span> Second pharaoh of the 25th Dynasty of Egypt

Shebitku also known as Shabataka or Shebitqo, and anglicized as Sethos, was the second pharaoh of the Twenty-fifth Dynasty of Egypt who ruled from 714 BC – 705 BC, according to the most recent academic research. He was a son of Piye, the founder of this dynasty. Shebitku's prenomen or throne name, Djedkare, means "Enduring is the Soul of Re." Shebitku's queen was Arty, who was a daughter of king Piye, according to a fragment of statue JE 49157 of the High Priest of Amun Haremakhet, son of Shabaka, found in the temple of the Goddess Mut in Karnak.

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

Shepsesre Tefnakht was a prince of Sais and founder of the relatively short Twenty-fourth Dynasty of Egypt; he rose to become a Chief of the Ma in his home city. He is thought to have reigned roughly 732 BCE to 725 BCE, or seven years. Tefnakht I first began his career as the "Great Chief of the West" and Prince of Sais and was a late contemporary of the last ruler of the 22nd Dynasty: Shoshenq V. Tefnakht I was actually the second ruler of Sais; he was preceded by Osorkon C, who is attested by several documents mentioning him as this city's Chief of the Ma and Army Leader, according to Kenneth Kitchen, while his predecessor as Great Chief of the West was a man named Ankhhor. A recently discovered statue, dedicated by Tefnakht I to Amun-Re, reveals important details about his personal origins. The statue's text states that Tefnakht was the son of a certain Gemnefsutkapu and the grandson of Basa, a priest of Amun near Sais. Consequently, Tefnakht was not actually descended from either lines of Chiefs of the Ma and of the Libu as traditionally believed but rather came from a family of priests, and his ancestors being more likely Egyptians rather than Libyans.

Almost nothing is known of Nekauba. He is listed as one of the early kings of the 26th Saite Dynasty in Manetho's Epitome and ruled for six years. However, his status as king is not confirmed by any contemporary documents and he may well be an invention of later Saite rulers to legitimise their kingship. Manetho writes that Nekauba is supposed to have succeeded Stephinates the founder of the 26th Dynasty—perhaps Tefnakht II—and was, in turn, followed by the well known Necho I, father of Psamtik I. Nekauba would have reigned as a local Saite king under the Nubian Dynasty between 678 BC to 672 BC if he did have an independent reign. If not, he would merely have been a local mayor of Sais who served in office for this period of time prior to the accession of king Necho I.

<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">Sheshi</span> Egyptian pharaoh

Maaibre Sheshi was a ruler of areas of Egypt during the Second Intermediate Period. The dynasty, chronological position, duration and extent of his reign are uncertain and subject to ongoing debate. The difficulty of identification is mirrored by problems in determining events from the end of the Middle Kingdom to the arrival of the Hyksos in Egypt. Nonetheless, Sheshi is, in terms of the number of artifacts attributed to him, the best-attested king of the period spanning the end of the Middle Kingdom and the Second Intermediate period; roughly from c. 1800 BC until 1550 BC. Hundreds of scaraboid seals bearing his name have been found throughout the Levant, Egypt, Nubia, and as far away as Carthage, where some were still in use 1,500 years after his death.

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

Usermaatre Osorkon IV was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh during the late Third Intermediate Period. Traditionally considered the last king of the 22nd Dynasty, he was de facto little more than ruler in Tanis and Bubastis, in Lower Egypt. He is generally – though not universally – identified with the King Shilkanni mentioned by Assyrian sources, and with the biblical So, King of Egypt mentioned in the second Books of Kings (17:4).

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

The Twenty-fourth Dynasty of Egypt is usually classified as the fourth Dynasty of the Ancient Egyptian Third Intermediate Period.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Twenty-fifth Dynasty of Egypt</span> Kushite rule in Egypt during the third intermediate period

The Twenty-fifth Dynasty of Egypt, also known as the Nubian Dynasty, the Kushite Empire, the Black Pharaohs, or the Napatans, after their capital Napata, was the last dynasty of the Third Intermediate Period of Egypt that occurred after the Nubian invasion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nimlot of Hermopolis</span> Ancient Egyptian pharaoh

Nimlot was an ancient Egyptian ruler ("king") of Hermopolis during the 25th Dynasty.

Ammeris was a governor of Sais attributed to the so-called "Proto-Saite Dynasty" of ancient Egypt.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Twenty-sixth Dynasty of Egypt</span> Last native dynasty of the Late Period of Ancient Egypt (664–525 BCE)

The Twenty-sixth Dynasty of Egypt dynasty was the last native dynasty to rule Egypt before the Persian conquest in 525 BC. The dynasty's reign is also called the Saite Period after the city of Sais, where its pharaohs had their capital, and marks the beginning of the Late Period of ancient Egypt.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pi-Sekhemkheperre</span> Ancient Egyptian stronghold

Pi-Sekhemkheperre or Per-Sekhemkheperre, was an ancient Egyptian stronghold. Its name means "The estate of Sekhemkheperre", a reference to Sekhemkheperre Osorkon I, the pharaoh of the early 22nd Dynasty who founded the fortress during his reign. It has been suggested that its erection may be a symptom of the state of general insecurity in the country during the period.
Pi-Sekhemkheperre is at yet undiscovered but it is believed that it lies somewhere at the entrance of the Faiyum, just north to Herakleopolis Magna in Middle Egypt.

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

Yanassi was a Hyksos prince, and possibly king, of the Fifteenth Dynasty. He was the eldest son of the pharaoh Khyan, and possibly the crown prince, designated to be Khyan's successor. He may have succeeded his father, thereby giving rise to the mention of a king "Iannas" in Manetho's Aegyptiaca, who, improbably, was said to have ruled after the pharaoh Apophis.

References

  1. Jaeger, B. (1993). Les scarabées à noms royaux du Museo civico archeologico de Bologna. N°114
  2. ↑ Jaeger, B. (1993). Les scarabées à noms royaux du Museo civico archeologico de Bologna. N°114
  3. ↑ Kitchen, Kenneth A. (1996). The Third Intermediate Period in Egypt (1100–650 BC). Warminster: Aris & Phillips Limited. ISBN   0-85668-298-5., revised Table 4
  4. 1 2 Kitchen, op. cit., § 116
  5. 1 2 3 Kitchen, op. cit., § 117
  6. ↑ Ryholt, Kim (2011). "King Necho I son of king Tefnakhte II". In Feder, F.; Morenz, L.; Vittman, G. (eds.). Von Theben nach Giza. Festmiszellen für Stefan Grunert zum 65. Geburtstag. Göttinger Miszellen Beihefte 10. pp. 123–127.
  7. ↑ Helck, Wolfgang (1956). Untersuchungen zu Manetho, p. 48
  8. ↑ Priese, Karl-Heinz (1970). "Der Beginn der kuschitischen Herrschaft in Ägypten". ZÄS. 98: 16–32.
  9. ↑ Perdu, Oliver (2002). "De Stéphinatès à Néchao ou les débuts de la XXVIe dynastie". Comptes rendus des séances de l'Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres. 146 (4): 1215–1244. doi:10.3406/crai.2002.22514.
  10. ↑ Kahn, Dan'el (2007). "The Transition from Libyan to Nubian Rule in Egypt: Revisiting the Reign of Tefnakht". In Broekman, G.P.F.; Demarée, R.J.; Kaper, O.E. (eds.). 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. pp. 139–148.
Preceded by
Ammeris
(as governor of Sais)
 Pharaoh of Egypt
Proto-Saite Dynasty 		Succeeded by
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.