King Usermaatre Setepenre Shoshenq III of the

22nd 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. The Twenty-first, Twenty-second, Twenty-third, Twenty-fourth, and Twenty-f ...

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 The Sed festival (''ḥb-sd'', Egyptian language#Egyptological_pronunciation, conventional pronunciation ; also known as Heb Sed or Feast of the Tail) was an ancient Egyptian ceremony that celebrated the continued rule of a pharaoh. The name is ...

Jubilee in his

regnal year A regnal year is a year of the reign of a sovereign, from the Latin ''regnum'' meaning kingdom, rule. Regnal years considered the date as an ordinal, not a cardinal number. For example, a monarch could have a first year of rule, a second year of ...

30. He was not a son of

Osorkon II 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. After ...

but instead a grandson through his dead father prince Takelot. As he was only a grandson, his cousin

Takelot II 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 ...

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 Hedjkheperre Setepenre Shoshenq IV was an ancient Egyptian ruler of the 22nd Dynasty, between the reigns of Shoshenq III and Pami. In 1986, David Rohl proposed that there were two king Shoshenqs bearing the prenomen Hedjkheperre – (i) the wel ...

, who later died childless as well and was succeeded by Shoshenq III's 7th son

Pami Usermaatre Setepenre Pami was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh of the 22nd Dynasty who ruled for 7 years. "Pami" in Egyptian, means "the Cat" or "He who belongs to the Cat astet" Identity Pami's precise relationship with his immediate predecessor ...

. From Shoshenq III's eighth regnal year, his reign was marked by the loss of Egypt's political unity, with the appearance of

Pedubast I Pedubastis I or Pedubast I was an Upper Egyptian Pharaoh of ancient Egypt during the 9th century BC. Biography Based on lunar dates which are known to belong to the reign of his rival Takelot II in Upper Egypt and the fact that Pedubast I first ...

at Thebes. Henceforth, the kings of the 22nd Dynasty only controlled

Lower Egypt Lower Egypt ( ar, مصر السفلى '; ) is the northernmost region of Egypt, which consists of the fertile Nile Delta between Upper Egypt and the Mediterranean Sea, from El Aiyat, south of modern-day Cairo, and Dahshur. Historically, ...

. The Theban High Priest Osorkon B (the future

Osorkon III 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 a ...

) did date his activities at Thebes and (

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 ...

) to Shoshenq III's reign, but this was solely for administrative reasons since Osorkon did not declare himself king after the death of his father,

. On the basis of Osorkon B's well known ''Chronicle'', most Egyptologists today accept that Takelot II's 25th regnal year is equivalent to Shoshenq III's 22nd year.

Family

Shoshenq III married Djed-Bast-Es-Ankh, the daughter of Takelot, a

High Priest of Ptah The High Priest of Ptah was sometimes referred to as "the Greatest of the Directors of Craftsmanship" ('' wr-ḫrp-ḥmwt''). This title refers to Ptah as the patron god of the craftsmen.Dodson and Hilton, ''The Complete Royal Families of Ancie ...

Memphis Memphis most commonly refers to: * Memphis, Egypt, a former capital of ancient Egypt * Memphis, Tennessee, a major American city Memphis may also refer to: Places United States * Memphis, Alabama * Memphis, Florida * Memphis, Indiana * Memp ...

, and Tjesbastperu,

's daughter.'' Nos ancêtres de l'Antiquité'', 1991.

Christian Settipani Christian Settipani (born 31 January 1961) is a French genealogist, historian and IT professional, currently working as the Technical Director of a company in Paris. Biography Settipani holds a Master of Advanced Studies from the Paris-Sorbo ...

, p.153,163,164 and 166 He had at least four sons and one daughter: Ankhesen-Shoshenq, Bakennefi A, Pashedbast B,

Pimay Pimay was an ancient Egyptian prince, son of pharaoh Shoshenq III, who served as a ''Great Chief of the Ma'' during his father's reign. Identity While it was traditionally assumed that Pimay succeeded his father, newer archaeological evidence un ...

the 'Great Chief of the Ma', and Takelot C, a Generalissimo. A certain Padehebenbast may also have been another son of Shoshenq III, but this is not certain. They all appear to have predeceased their father through his nearly four-decade-long rule. Shoshenq III's third son,

('The Lion' in Egyptian), was once thought to be identical with king

('The Cat' in Egyptian), but it is now believed that they are two different individuals, due to the separate orthography and meaning of their names. Instead, it was an unrelated individual named

who ultimately succeeded Shoshenq III. Shoshenq III was buried in the looted Royal Tomb NRT V at

Tanis Tanis ( grc, Τάνις or Τανέως ) or San al-Hagar ( ar, صان الحجر, Ṣān al-Ḥaǧar; egy, ḏꜥn.t ; ; cop, ϫⲁⲛⲓ or or ) is the Greek name for ancient Egyptian ''ḏꜥn.t'', an important archaeological site in the ...

. File: Shoshenq III tomb.jpg, Tomb of Shoshenq III at Tanis. File:Shoshenq III 2.jpg, Reliefs on the south wall of Shoshenq III's tomb. Image:Shoshenq IIIb.jpg, Reliefs on the walls of the tomb.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shoshenq Iii 9th-century BC births 798 BC deaths 9th-century BC Pharaohs 8th-century BC Pharaohs Pharaohs of the Twenty-second Dynasty of Egypt Year of birth unknown