Masaharta
| Masaharta | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
High Priest of Amun | |||||||||||
| Reign | 1054–1045 BC | ||||||||||
| Predecessor | Pinedjem I | ||||||||||
| Successor | Djedkhonsuefankh | ||||||||||
| |||||||||||
| Consort | Tayuheret(?) | ||||||||||
| Father | Pinedjem I | ||||||||||
| Mother | 21st Dynasty | ||||||||||
Masaharta or Masaherta was the
Biography
His father was
His wife is likely to have been the Singer of Amun Tayuheret, whose mummy was found in the Deir el-Bahri cachette.[2] It is possible that he had a daughter called Isetemkheb, since a lady by this name is called the daughter of a high priest on her funerary objects; it is also possible, though, that she was Menkheperre's daughter.[3]
The God's Wife of Amun during Masaharta's reign seems to have been his sister Maatkare.
Sources
Several of his inscriptions are known from the Karnak temple of Amenhotep II, from ram-headed sphinxes also in Karnak, and a large falcon statue.
Masaharta was responsible for the restoration of the mummy of Amenhotep I in the 16th regnal year of Smendes.[4] He is also mentioned in Theban Graffito no. 1572, from a year 16, together with the King's Scribe in the Place of Truth (= Scribe of the Necropolis) Ankhefenamun, the son of King's Scribe Butehamun.[5]
His highest attested year is a year 18.
His mummy was found in
The succession
It is often assumed that he was succeeded as high priest by his brother Djedkhonsuefankh, who served only for a short time and was followed by another brother, Menkheperre. However, the position of Djedkhonsuefankh is not beyond dispute. All we actually know of his existence is the bare mention of his name on the coffin of his son (now lost). There it reads, according to Torr: "[...]re, son of the first prophet of Amun, Djed-Khons-ef-ankh, son of the Lord of the Two Lands, Pinedjem, Beloved of Amun, first prophet of Amun", with the name Pinedjem enclosed in a cartouche.[11]
Djedkhonsuefankh is supposed to have been succeeded as High Priest by his brother Menkheperre, which seems to imply that his son "[...]re" either predeceased him, was too young to succeed or was simply passed over for other reasons.
However, Andrzej Niwiński has suggested that Djedkhonsuefankh was not the son of Pinedjem I, but rather of Pinedjem II, and as such the great grandson of Pinedjem I[12] Niwiński identifies him with the main official mentioned with the burials of Neskhons in year 5 of king Siamun and of Pinedjem II in year 10 of the same king. He postulates that Psusennes II (in this model his brother), who probably succeeded his father Pinedjem II as High Priest and succeeded in uniting this title with that of king had Djed-Khons-ef-ankh act as his deputy in Thebes. The title of High Priest on his coffin would then be given posthumously by his son "[...]re"
Niwiński also points out that theophoric names as Djed-Khons-ef-ankh mainly appear very late in the 21st Dynasty.
If we disregard the ephemeral Djedkhonsuefankh, it seems that Masaharta was succeeded by his brother Menkheperre.
References
- ISBN 0-500-05128-3., pp.200-201
- ^ Dodson & Hilton, p.209
- ^ Dodson & Hilton, p.206
- ^ K. Kitchen, The Third Intermediate Period in Egypt, 2nd revised edition, Warminster 1986, 419, no.27
- ^ M. Barwik, ZÄS 142 (2015), 2-11
- ^ K. Kitchen, The Third Intermediate Period in Egypt, 2nd revised edition, Warminster 1986, 419, no.29
- ^ W. Spiegelberg, Briefe der 21. Dynastie aus El-Hibe, ZÄS 53 (1917), 4, 13
- ^ H.-W. Fischer-Elfert, Two oracle petitions addressed to Horus-khau, JEA 82 (1996), 141-144
- ^ Ad Thijs, In Search of King Herihor and the Penultimate Ruler of the 20th Dynasty, ZÄS 132 (2005), 83
- ^ Dodson & Hilton, op.cit., p.207
- ^ K. A. Kitchen, The Third Intermediate Period in Egypt, 1996, page 68
- ^ Andrzej Niwiński, Three More Remarks in the Discussion of the History of the Twenty-First Dynasty, BES 6 (1984), 81-88