Osorkon I
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Sekhemkheperre Osorkon I was an
ancient Egypt Ancient Egypt () was a cradle of civilization concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in Northeast Africa. It emerged from prehistoric Egypt around 3150BC (according to conventional Egyptian chronology), when Upper and Lower E ...
ian pharaoh of the 22nd Dynasty. Osorkon's territory included much of the
Levant The Levant ( ) is the subregion that borders the Eastern Mediterranean, Eastern Mediterranean sea to the west, and forms the core of West Asia and the political term, Middle East, ''Middle East''. In its narrowest sense, which is in use toda ...
. The Osorkon Bust found at
Byblos Byblos ( ; ), also known as Jebeil, Jbeil or Jubayl (, Lebanese Arabic, locally ), is an ancient city in the Keserwan-Jbeil Governorate of Lebanon. The area is believed to have been first settled between 8800 and 7000BC and continuously inhabited ...
is one of the five Byblian royal inscriptions.


Biography

According to the stela of Pasenhor, Osorkon I was the son of Shoshenq I and his chief consort Karomama A, and the second king of ancient Egypt's 22nd Dynasty who ruled around 922 BC – 887 BC. He succeeded his father Shoshenq I, who probably died within a year of his successful 923 BC campaign against the Philistines and the kingdom of
Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...
. Osorkon I's reign is known for many temple building projects and was a long and prosperous period of Egypt's history. His highest known date is a "Year 33" date found on the bandage of Nakhtefmut's mummy, which held a
menat In ancient Egyptian religion, a menat (, ) was a necklace closely associated with the goddess Hathor. Operation The menat was held in the hand by its counterpoise and used as a Rattle (percussion instrument), rattle by Hathor's priestesses. It ...
-tab necklace inscribed with Osorkon I's nomen and
prenomen The praenomen (; plural: praenomina) was a first name chosen by the parents of a Ancient Rome, Roman child. It was first bestowed on the ''dies lustricus'' (day of lustration), the eighth day after the birth of a girl, or the ninth day after the ...
: ''Osorkon Sekhemkheperre''. This date can only belong to Osorkon I since no other early Dynasty 22 king ruled for close to 30 years until
Osorkon II Usermaatre Setepenamun Osorkon II was the fifth pharaoh, king of the Twenty-second dynasty of Egypt, 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 Ta ...
. Other mummy linens, which belong to his reign, include three separate bandages dating to his regnal years 11, 12, and 23 on the mummy of Khonsmaakheru in Berlin. The bandages are anonymously dated but definitely belong to his reign because Khonsmaakheru wore leather bands that contained a ''menat-tab'' naming Osorkon I. Secondly, no other king who ruled around Osorkon I's reign had a 23rd regnal year including Shoshenq I who died just before the beginning of his 22nd. While
Manetho Manetho (; ''Manéthōn'', ''gen''.: Μανέθωνος, ''fl''. 290–260 BCE) was an Egyptian priest of the Ptolemaic Kingdom who lived in the early third century BCE, at the very beginning of the Hellenistic period. Little is certain about his ...
gives Osorkon I a reign of 15 years in his ''Ægyptiaca'', this is most likely an error for 35 years based on the evidence of the second Heb Sed bandage, as Kenneth Kitchen notes. Osorkon I's throne name, ''Sekhemkheperre'', means "Powerful are the Manifestations of Re".


Succession

Although Osorkon I is thought to have been directly succeeded by his son Takelot I, it is possible that another ruler, Heqakheperre Shoshenq II, intervened briefly between these two kings because Takelot I was a son of Osorkon I through Queen Tashedkhons, a secondary wife of this king. In contrast, Osorkon I's senior wife was Queen Maatkare B, who may have been Shoshenq II's mother. However, Shoshenq II could also have been another son of Shoshenq I since the latter was the only other king to be mentioned in objects from Shoshenq II's intact royal tomb at
Tanis Tanis ( ; ; ) or San al-Hagar (; ; ; or or ; ) is the Greek name for ancient Egyptian ''ḏꜥn.t'', an important archaeological site in the northeastern Nile Delta of ancient Egypt, Egypt, and the location of a city of the same name. Tanis ...
aside from Shoshenq II himself. These objects are inscribed with either Shoshenq I's praenomen ''Hedjkheperre Shoshenq'' (though this is not certain as it requires reading the objects as a massive hieroglyphic text), or ''Shoshenq, Great Chief of the Meshwesh'', which was Shoshenq I's title before he became king. Since Derry's forensic examination of his mummy reveals him to be a man in his fifties upon his death, Shoshenq II could have lived beyond Osorkon's 35-year reign and Takelot I's 13-year reign to assume the throne for a few years. An argument against this hypothesis is that most kings of the period were commonly named after their grandfathers, and not their fathers. While the British scholar Kenneth A. Kitchen views Shoshenq II to be the high priest of Amun at Thebes Shoshenq Q, and a short-lived coregent of Osorkon I who predeceased his father, the German Egyptologist
Jürgen von Beckerath Jürgen von Beckerath (19 February 1920 – 26 June 2016) was a German Egyptology, Egyptologist. He was a prolific writer who published countless articles in journals such as '':fr:Orientalia, Orientalia'', ''Göttinger Miszellen'' (GM), ''Journa ...
in his 1997 book ''Chronologie des Pharaonischen Ägypten'' maintains that Shoshenq II was rather an independent king of Tanis who ruled the 22nd Dynasty in his own right for about two years. Von Beckerath's hypothesis is supported by Shoshenq II's employment of a complete royal titulary along with a distinct prenomen Heqakheperre and his intact tomb at Tanis was filled with numerous treasures including jeweled pectorals and bracelets, an impressive falcon-headed silver coffin and a gold face mask—items which indicate a genuine king of the 22nd Dynasty. More significantly, however, no mention of Osorkon I's name was preserved on any ushabtis, jars, jewelry or other objects within Shoshenq II's tomb. This situation would be improbable if he was indeed Osorkon I's son, and was buried by his father, as Kitchen's chronology suggests. These facts, taken together, imply that Sheshonq II ruled on his own accord at Tanis and was not a mere coregent.
Manetho Manetho (; ''Manéthōn'', ''gen''.: Μανέθωνος, ''fl''. 290–260 BCE) was an Egyptian priest of the Ptolemaic Kingdom who lived in the early third century BCE, at the very beginning of the Hellenistic period. Little is certain about his ...
's Epitome states that "3 Kings for 25 years" separate Osorkon I from a Takelot (Takelothis). This could be an error on Manetho's part or an allusion to Shoshenq II's reign. It may also be a reference to the recently discovered early Dynasty 22 king Tutkheperre, whose existence is now corroborated by an architectural block from the Great Temple of Bubastis, where Osorkon I and Osorkon II are well attested monumentally.Eva Lange, GM 203, pp. 70. Osorkon I's reign in Egypt was peaceful and uneventful; however, both his son and grandson, Takelot I and
Osorkon II Usermaatre Setepenamun Osorkon II was the fifth pharaoh, king of the Twenty-second dynasty of Egypt, 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 Ta ...
respectively, later encountered difficulties controlling Thebes and
Upper Egypt Upper Egypt ( ', shortened to , , locally: ) is the southern portion of Egypt and is composed of the Nile River valley south of the delta and the 30th parallel North. It thus consists of the entire Nile River valley from Cairo south to Lake N ...
within their own reigns since they had to deal with a rival king: Harsiese A. Osorkon I's tomb has never been found.


See also

* Pi-Sekhemkheperre – a now-lost stronghold in Middle Egypt, founded by Osorkon I


Gallery

File:King Osorkon I, ca. 924-889 B.C.E. 57.92.jpg, King Osorkon I, ca. 924–889 BC
Brooklyn Museum The Brooklyn Museum is an art museum in the New York City borough (New York City), borough of Brooklyn. At , the museum is New York City's second largest and contains an art collection with around 500,000 objects. Located near the Prospect Heig ...


References


Bibliography

*El-Alfi, Mostafa, "A Donation Stela from the time of Osorkon I", Discussions in Egyptology 24 (1992), pp. 13-19. *Altenmüller, Hartwig,
Lederbänder und Lederanhänger von der Mumie des Chonsu-maacheru
and
Die Mumienbinden des Chonsu-maacheru
in Alt-Ägypten 30 (2000), pp. 73–76, 88–89, 102–114. . . *
Jürgen von Beckerath Jürgen von Beckerath (19 February 1920 – 26 June 2016) was a German Egyptology, Egyptologist. He was a prolific writer who published countless articles in journals such as '':fr:Orientalia, Orientalia'', ''Göttinger Miszellen'' (GM), ''Journa ...
, Chronologie des Pharaonischen Ägypten or 'Chronology of the Egyptian Pharaohs', (Mainz: 1997), Philip Zon Zabern * Clayton, Peter A., Chronology of the Pharaohs, Thames & Hudson Ltd, (1994) * Kitchen, Kenneth A.
The Third Intermediate Period in Egypt (1100–650 BC)
4th ed, 986(Warminster: 2009), Aris & Phillips Limited *Jaquet-Gordon, Helen K., The illusory year 36 of osorkon I, '' JEA'' 53 (1967), pp. 63–68. *Lange, Eva, "Ein Neuer König Schoschenk in Bubastis", GM 203 (2004), pp. 65–71. *Lange, Eva, "Legitimation und Herrschaft in der Libyerzeit", Zeitschrift für Ägyptische Sprache und Altertumskunde 135 (2008), pp. 131-141.


External links


Osorkon Dynasty
at ancientworlds.net {{Authority control 10th-century BC births 880s BC deaths 10th-century BC pharaohs 9th-century BC pharaohs Pharaohs of the Twenty-second Dynasty of Egypt Year of birth unknown