Tadibast (or Tadibastet) III 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
queen consort
A queen consort is the wife of a reigning king, and usually shares her spouse's social Imperial, royal and noble ranks, rank and status. She holds the feminine equivalent of the king's monarchical titles and may be crowned and anointed, but hi ...
during the late
Third Intermediate Period
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 latt ...
, around the second half of the 8th century BCE.
Identification
She is known only by an
electrum
Electrum is a naturally occurring alloy of gold and silver, with trace amounts of copper and other metals. Its color ranges from pale to bright yellow, depending on the proportions of gold and silver. It has been produced artificially and is ...
aegis
The aegis ( ; ''aigís''), as stated in the ''Iliad'', is a device carried by Athena and Zeus, variously interpreted as an animal skin or a shield and sometimes featuring the head of a Gorgon. There may be a connection with a deity named Aex, a ...
of
Sekhmet
In Egyptian mythology, Sekhmet ( or Sachmis , from ; ) is a warrior goddess as well as goddess of medicine.
Sekhmet is also a solar deity, sometimes given the epithet "the Eye of Ra, eye of Ra". She is often associated with the goddesses Hatho ...
from
Bubastis
Bubastis ( Bohairic Coptic: ''Poubasti''; Greek: ''Boubastis'' or ''Boubastos''), also known in Arabic as Tell-Basta or in Egyptian as Per-Bast, was an ancient Egyptian city. Bubastis is often identified with the biblical ''Pi-Beseth'' ( ''p ...
and now on display at the
Louvre
The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is a national art museum in Paris, France, and one of the most famous museums in the world. It is located on the Rive Droite, Right Bank of the Seine in the city's 1st arrondissement of Paris, 1st arron ...
. On the aegis Tadibast is called ''mwt-nTr ḥmt-nswt Tȝ-di-
Bȝstt ˁnḫ-ti'' ("Divine mother, King's wife Tadibast(et), may she live"). Next to this inscription, another one simply reports "
Son of Ra, Osorkon, forever", thus a
pharaoh
Pharaoh (, ; Egyptian language, Egyptian: ''wikt:pr ꜥꜣ, pr ꜥꜣ''; Meroitic language, Meroitic: 𐦲𐦤𐦧, ; Biblical Hebrew: ''Parʿō'') was the title of the monarch of ancient Egypt from the First Dynasty of Egypt, First Dynasty ( ...
named Osorkon who is believed to have been her son.
[Jocelyne Berlandini, ''Petits monuments royaux de la XXIe à la XXVe dynastie'', in ''Hommages a Serge Sauneron: 1927–1976'', vol. 1, 1979, Cairo, Imprimerie de l'Institut d'Archeologie Orientale, pp. 92–98]
Several kings named Osorkon are known, but the only one among these whose mother's name was still unknown is
Osorkon IV
Usermaatre Osorkon, designated Osorkon IV, was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh during the late Third Intermediate Period. Long considered the last king of the 22nd Dynasty, he was '' de facto'' little more than ruler in Tanis and Bubastis, in Lower ...
, and it is generally assumed now that Tadibast III was indeed his mother.
Kenneth Kitchen
Kenneth Anderson Kitchen (1932 – 6 February 2025) was 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 ...
, ''The Third Intermediate Period in Egypt (1100–650 BC)'', 1996, Aris & Phillips Limited, Warminster, , § 92[Aidan Dodson & Dyan Hilton, ''The Complete Royal Families of Ancient Egypt'', Thames & Hudson, 2004, , p. 222]
On this basis, Tadibast's royal husband could have been king Shoshenq V
Aakheperre Shoshenq V was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh of the late 22nd Dynasty.
Despite having enjoyed one of the longest reigns of the entire dynasty – 38 years – and having left a fair amount of attestations, little is known about Shoshenq ...
of the 22nd Dynasty
The Twenty-second Dynasty was an Ancient Egyptian dynasty of ancient Libyan origin founded by Shoshenq I. It is also known as the Bubastite Dynasty, since the pharaohs originally ruled from the city of Bubastis.
The Twenty-first, Twenty-se ...
who was Osorkon IV's purported father and predecessor,[ but this identification is somewhat complicated due to the existence of the shadowy king Pedubast II whose reign is sometimes placed between Shoshenq V and Osorkon IV.
]
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tadibast 03
8th-century BC Egyptian women
Queens consort of the Twenty-second Dynasty of Egypt
8th-century BC Egyptian people