Harsiesi (? – 130 BC) was an ancient Egyptian rebel against the rule of

Ptolemy VIII Physcon Ptolemy VIII Euergetes II Tryphon ( gr, Πτολεμαῖος Εὐεργέτης Τρύφων, ''Ptolemaĩos Euergétēs Tryphon'' "Ptolemy the Benefactor; c. 184 BC – 28 June 116 BC), nicknamed Physcon ( "Fatty"), was a king of the Ptolema ...

of the Ptolemaic Dynasty.

Biography

Probably the same person of "Harsiesi, son of Paious" (''Paious'' meaning "Enemy of the gods"), he was arguably the last native Egyptian to call himself "

Pharaoh Pharaoh (, ; Egyptian: '' pr ꜥꜣ''; cop, , Pǝrro; Biblical Hebrew: ''Parʿō'') is the vernacular term often used by modern authors for the kings of ancient Egypt who ruled as monarchs from the First Dynasty (c. 3150 BC) until the ...

", although ruling only in the southern part of

Upper Egypt Upper Egypt ( ar, صعيد مصر ', shortened to , , locally: ; ) is the southern portion of Egypt and is composed of the lands on both sides of the Nile that extend upriver from Lower Egypt in the north to Nubia in the south. In ancient E ...

and only for a brief period. Taking advantage of the civil war between Ptolemy VIII and his sister

Cleopatra II Cleopatra II (Greek: Κλεοπάτρα; c. 185 BC – 116/115 BC) was a queen of Ptolemaic Egypt who ruled from 175 to 115 BC with two successive brother-husbands and her daughter—often in rivalry with her brother Ptolemy VIII. She co- ...

, Harsiesi captured Thebes in the summer of 131 BC and likely assumed pharaonic titles, although only his '' nomen'' is known, ''Ḥr-sA-Js(t ) sA-Wsjr'', meaning "Harsiesi, son of

Osiris Osiris (, from Egyptian ''wsjr'', cop, ⲟⲩⲥⲓⲣⲉ , ; Phoenician: 𐤀𐤎𐤓, romanized: ʾsr) is the god of fertility, agriculture, the afterlife, the dead, resurrection, life, and vegetation in ancient Egyptian religion. He wa ...

" (literally " Horus-son-of-

Isis Isis (; ''Ēse''; ; Meroitic: ''Wos'' 'a''or ''Wusa''; Phoenician: 𐤀𐤎, romanized: ʾs) was a major goddess in ancient Egyptian religion whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. Isis was first mentioned in the Old Kin ...

, son of Osiris"), as reported on the

demotic Demotic may refer to: * Demotic Greek, the modern vernacular form of the Greek language * Demotic (Egyptian), an ancient Egyptian script and version of the language * Chữ Nôm, the demotic script for writing Vietnamese See also * * Demos (disa ...

papyrus Karara 1, 2. Ptolemy's forces recaptured the city in November of the same year, yet Harsiesi led the rebellion until his death, which likely occurred in September 130 BC.

References

* 2nd-century BC Pharaohs Non-dynastic pharaohs 2nd-century BC rulers in Africa Egyptian rebels 130 BC deaths Year of birth unknown People of the Ptolemaic Kingdom Ancient rebels {{AncientEgypt-bio-stub